A Queer Therapist’s Perspective on the Trump Administration Ending the LGBTQ+ Youth Suicide Lifeline

The Trump administration just ordered the termination of the national LGBTQ+ youth suicide lifeline — one of the only affirming, culturally competent crisis resources created specifically for queer and trans youth.

As a queer therapist, a social worker, and someone who once was that scared LGBTQ+ kid — I am gutted. Furious. And honestly? Not surprised.

Because let’s be clear: this administration is not pro-life.

It’s pro white. Pro straight. Pro cis. Pro male.

The rest of us? Considered expendable.

I don’t work directly with LGBTQ+ youth.

I work with the adults they become — the ones who made it through despite a system that told them, over and over again, that they weren’t supposed to.

I sit with queer and trans folks healing from religious trauma, bullying, family rejection, suicidal thoughts, and the daily impact of living in a world that sees them as political targets instead of people.

And even if this decision doesn’t shock me — it still devastates me.

Because I know what’s at stake:

 LGBTQ+ youth are 4x more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers.

 41% of transgender adults have attempted suicide — and 92% of those attempts happened before age 25.

 Having just one supportive adult in a young queer person’s life can reduce their suicide risk by 40%.

(Sources: The Trevor Project, GLSEN, CDC)

Removing suicide lifelines is not just harmful — it's deadly.

Because suicide hotlines are often a last line of defense.

They're the bridge between despair and one more day.

They're the voice that reminds someone they are not broken, not alone, and not beyond help.

This isn’t just about LGBTQ+ youth — it’s about everyone who struggles with the weight of staying alive.

I lost my best friend to suicide.

She wasn’t LGBTQ+, but she was deeply loved. She was kind, bright, and battling things most people never saw.

And the system failed her.

She didn’t have access to the care she needed. Not in time.

And while she was already an adult, she never got the chance to finish her life — to grow into all the chapters she deserved to live.

To heal.

To rebuild.

To discover who she might’ve become, had the world made more room for her pain and more space for her hope.

Her death didn’t have to happen.

And when I see lifelines — any lifeline — being shut down, I think of her.

And everyone like her.

So yes, I’m speaking as a queer person. As a therapist. As someone who once needed a lifeline.

But I’m also speaking as someone who’s been left with the grief.

And who knows we can do better.

To every LGBTQ+ young person right now:

You deserve so much more than survival. You deserve joy. Celebration. Awkward teenage heartbreaks. First kisses. Pride parades. Chosen family. Safe sleep. Deep rest. And a future that feels wide and possible.

To the adults reading this: We owe them better.

And we owe everyone better.

As our girl Taylor Swift once said:

“Shade never made anybody less gay.”

But this isn’t shade — this is cruelty.

This is policy designed to disappear people. This is deadly.

So speak up. Donate. Hold your lawmakers accountable.

Vote like lives depend on it — because they do.

Let’s build a world where no one has to die waiting for a phone to ring.