A "direct attack" on trans mental health [View all]

Suicide hotline changes are a “direct attack” on trans youth
Republicans are ending federal support for suicide-prevention services utilized by trans youth

By Russell Payne
Staff Reporter
Published July 17, 2025 6:30AM (EDT)


(Salon) Thursday, July 17, will be the last day that the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline will have services available for LGBTQ+ youth. This comes after President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans decided to cut off funds for suicide prevention efforts that they had previously signed off on, the latest step in the Republican campaign to marginalize transgender Americans.

On June 17, in the middle of Pride Month, the Trump administration’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced that it “will no longer silo LGB+ youth services.”

The administration’s stated purpose is that the lifeline can now “focus on serving all help seekers,” including those it previously served. However, LGBTQ+ health advocates have noted that the wording of the announcement deliberately erases trans and queer people, referring to LGBTQ+ youth as just “LGB.”

The move is part of a larger push from Trump and the Republican Party to eliminate all references to trans people in American government. The conservative movement has also set more extreme goals, with one CPAC speaker in 2023 saying that “transgenderism must be eradicated from public life entirely.” .................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2025/07/17/suicide-hotline-changes-are-a-direct-attack-on-trans-youth/