Trump kills LGBTQ 988 suicide hotline; forces Trevor Project to quit work

Photo: Gerald Farinas.

This decision will kill people. Let’s say it plainly.

The Trump administration has just ordered The Trevor Project to stop its work with the 988 suicide prevention hotline, ending the option for LGBTQ callers to press 3 and speak to someone who understands their lives, their pain, their struggle.

That wasn’t just a button.

That was a lifeline.

And now it’s been ripped away.

This isn’t about budget.

This isn’t about “efficiency.”

This is cruelty.

Pure and simple.

It is a political stunt meant to erase LGBTQ people from public life—starting with our most vulnerable: those in crisis, those on the edge, those who just need someone to tell them their life matters.

You don’t get rid of suicide by getting rid of the hotline.

You don’t help struggling youth by silencing the one group trained to speak their language.

You don’t “protect” America by condemning queer kids to suffer in silence.

Make no mistake—this will result in more deaths.

Kids will call.

They’ll wait.

They won’t get the help they need.

And some of them won’t make it.

And every one of those deaths will be on the hands of those who made this decision.

This is state-sponsored neglect.

This is what happens when hate is allowed to rule policy.

We’re talking about teenagers, young adults, people already facing bullying, rejection, homelessness, and fear.

And now, when they reach out for help, there’s no one there.

Press 3 used to mean, “You are not alone.”

Now it means, “We’ve decided your life doesn’t matter.”