The Trump administration is cutting a program for LGBTQ+ youth from the national suicide and crisis hotline.
SAMHSA will end the service, known as the “Press 3” option, on July 17, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced this week.
The Trevor Project, a leading LGBTQ+ advocacy group that works with the government to help administer the Press 3 option for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, warned that the decision could have grave consequences.
“This is devastating, to say the least,” Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black said in a statement Wednesday. “Suicide prevention is about people, not politics. The administration’s decision to remove a bipartisan, evidence-based service that has effectively supported a high-risk group of young people through their darkest moments is incomprehensible.”
SAMHSA said the decision was made to maximize efficiency, writing in a statement Tuesday that it would no longer “silo LGB+ youth services” with a focus on instead “serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option.”
“The fact that this news comes to us halfway through Pride Month is callous — as is the administration’s choice to remove the ‘T’ from the acronym ‘LGBTQ+’ in their announcement. Transgender people can never, and will never, be erased,” Black said.
A 2024 survey from the Trevor Project found that nearly 40 percent of LGBTQ+ young people had “seriously considered” suicide in the past year. And half of the survey’s respondents who reported wanting mental health care in the previous year had not been able to access it. The LGBTQ+ hotline has received roughly 1.3 million calls since its pilot program in 2022.
At least one Republican, Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, has come out against the decision.
“This is wrong,” Lawler wrote on X. “According to studies, LGBTQ+ young people have an elevated risk of suicide and are more likely than their peers to attempt it. We should ensure they have the resources necessary to get help. The 988 hotline has been a lifesaver. This decision should be reversed.”
When asked for comment, the White House referred POLITICO back to SAMHSA’s statement from Tuesday. HHS had already proposed removing funding for the hotline in its fiscal year 2026 budget.