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Right-wing media mocked and denied LGBTQ suicide rates. Now the Trump administration aims to gut the suicide hotline.

Since mid-2022, 1.2 million callers have been routed to 988’s LGBTQ line

Special Programs LGBTQ

Written by Vesper Henry

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Content warning: This article discusses sensitive topics related to mental health and suicide. If you or someone you know are struggling with thoughts of suicide, crisis counselors are available 24/7 through The Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386, or by texting START to 678678. At the time of writing, the 988 crisis line and its LGBTQ-youth services are also still active and counselors can be reached by calling or texting 988.

A leaked memo has revealed that President Donald Trump's Department of Health and Human Services is poised to eliminate the LGBTQ youth line of the 988 suicide prevention hotline. While right-wing media have mocked and denied the issue of suicide in the LGBTQ community — often targeting trans people in particular — about 1.2 million callers have been routed to 988’s lifesaving LGBTQ line since July 2022. 

Democratic lawmakers are pushing back against the Trump administration's proposed cuts, which would further weaken 988 after hiring freezes impacted the helpline for veterans. Other funding cuts in the memo would harm even more Americans, particularly low-income families, those in rural areas, and people with chronic illnesses.

  • Right-wing media have mocked and denied trans youth suicide rates

  • A member of the anti-trans organization Do No Harm told Fox host Laura Ingraham that “the suicide myth” had been “thoroughly debunked” without backing up the claim. Gender-affirming care is backed by every major medical association and health authority across the globe, and it is documented to decrease suicidality in trans people. [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 1/29/25; GLAAD, 6/26/24; JAMA Network Open, 2/25/22; UCLA Williams Institute, 9/1/21; Forbes, 12/14/21]

  • Fox host Greg Gutfeld accused California Gov. Gavin Newsom of lying when he raised concerns about trans people and suicidality in his interview with Charlie Kirk. Gutfeld instead claimed gender-affirming surgery leads to regret and depression. Newsom recently reaffirmed his stance following news about the suicide hotline cuts, telling Politico, “Suicide is the second leading cause of death among LGBTQ youth. Cutting off kids’ access to help is indefensible.” [Fox News, The Five, 3/6/25; CalMatters, 3/6/25; Politico, 4/25/25] 

  • On Hannity, anti-trans activist Riley Gaines celebrated the U.K.’s ban on puberty blockers, claiming they do nothing to prevent suicide, but the decision has been called politically motivated. A pro-trans group in the U.K. argued to a high court that the decision was influenced by the personal views of the health secretary at the time, who was swayed by the Cass Review. That study has been challenged by the Endocrine Society and American Academy of Pediatrics. [Fox News, Hannity, 4/16/25; The Guardian, 7/12/24; Erin In The Morning, 5/13/24; Scientific American, 8/7/24]

  • Fox host Jesse Watters mocked the idea there would be a “rash of teenage suicides” following Trump’s anti-trans executive orders. After Trump released his executive order restricting trans athletes — one of many anti-trans actions at the onset of his presidency — Watters asked co-host Jessica Tarlov, “How many trans teens killed themselves today, Jessica? …You guys said that if you wouldn't let trans teens do whatever they wanted, they were going to become suicidal, so I'm just wondering, you know, between this and the no-surgeries, we should see a rash in teenage suicides this year, right?” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that in 2023, transgender students had a “higher prevalence of violence, poor mental health, suicidal thoughts and behaviors … and a lower prevalence of school connectedness than their cisgender peers.” The study highlighted bathroom and sports bans as among the “unique challenges” trans students face at school. [Fox News, The Five, 2/5/25; Centers for Disease Control, 10/10/24]

  • Fox’s Brian Kilmeade dismissed concerns of suicide for trans youth who cannot access gender-affirming care. In coverage of oral arguments over the Supreme Court case for youth gender-affirming care, Kilmeade said, “Don’t tell me it’s suicidal — kids are extreme. There’s always suicide tendencies. It’s sad to say, but usually if someone says, ‘If I don’t change my gender, I’m gonna kill myself,’ usually there’s a lot more going on there than that.” [Fox News, America Reports, 12/5/24]

  • One America News host and former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) claimed parents of trans youth were being “held hostage by [their] kids” with direct threats of suicide. Gaetz claimed trans youth were going to their parents and saying, “Give me the gender blockers or I’ll kill myself.” Detransitioner Chloe Cole said that “by talking about suicide in such a black and white manner, it’s actually going to facilitate more suicides happening. And no medical professionals should be talking about suicide in such a way.” [One America News, The Matt Gaetz Show, 2/7/25]

  • The Daily Signal attacked the Biden-era HHS for asserting that gender-affirming care is lifesaving. The Daily Signal claimed gender-affirming surgery led to increased risk of suicide, citing a study that made no clear distinction between trans people who have or have not had surgery. Such a study could only affirm the mental health issues trans people continue to face in comparison to cis people. [The Daily Signal, 9/4/24]

  • Anti-trans policies and legislation have been harmful to trans people’s mental and physical health — even if they fail to become law

  • Between 2018-2022, trans youth in states that enacted gender-affirming care bans increasingly attempted suicide, with an up to 72% increase in attempts. Backed by The Trevor Project, the study of over 60,000 trans and nonbinary people ages 13-24 was the first to establish a causal link between anti-trans legislation and mental health outcomes. [NBC News, 9/30/24]

  • From July 2019 to July 2020, there was an increase of suicide- and depression-related internet searches in correlation with the passage of anti-trans legislation. The study found that the passage of a bill in a state led to a 13%-17% increase in “suicide” searches on Google in that state, whereas two bills passing in a state led to increases between 26%-34%. Meanwhile, when bills failed, there was a 1%-1.9% decrease in “depression” searches. [National Library of Medicine, 12/22/22]

  • The U.S. Professional Association for Transgender Health says the strain of anti-trans policies on trans people’s mental health can go on to damage their physical health. Dr. Carl Streed of the U.S. Professional Association for Transgender Health told The 19th that the wave of anti-trans policies would create “worse health outcomes” for trans people in the coming years. These outcomes stem from increased isolation, which leads to worse cardiovascular fitness — where high cholesterol and hypertension increase the risk of heart attack and stroke — and is associated with cognitive decline. [The 19th, 3/19/24]

  • While there are growing efforts to defend the crisis line, it is just one of many proposed cuts

  • Lawmakers are advising HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. against cuts to the 988 hotline. House and Senate Democrats have sent separate letters to Kennedy and the HHS criticizing the proposed elimination. “Ending this mental health support for youth in distress would devastate a vital resource for some of our nation’s most vulnerable young people … Surely you can agree that every American deserves the resources necessary to prevent suicide and self-injury, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” wrote lawmakers. [The Hill, 5/13/25]

  • This proposed helpline cut is nestled in a 64-page memo laden with funding cuts that would be damaging to many Americans. According to The Washington Post, programs advancing rural health care would be eliminated, as would domestic HIV programs and those for chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes — the first and eighth leading causes of death for Americans as of 2024, respectively — and for obesity, a risk factor for the two aforementioned diseases. Funding for Head Start, a child-care and education program for low-income families, would also be scratched. [The Washington Post, 4/16/25; Centers for Disease Control, accessed 5/15/25; American Heart Association, 4/22/21]