LGBTQ+ Youth Crisis Line Is Coming Back Without Trevor Project

The federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration abruptly shuttered its specialized 988 crisis hotline service for LGBTQ+ youth, commonly known as “Press 3,” last summer. (It claimed it wished to “no longer silo” LGBTQ+ callers.) The “Press 3” option is slated to return this fall — but without the support of The Trevor Project, which piloted the program.

The Trevor Project served as the crisis line’s first provider and once handled roughly half of its contact volume. “The 988 Lifeline administrators informed us that The Trevor Project’s proposal to join the restored ‘Press 3’ LGBTQ+ youth specialized services was rejected,” the nonprofit’s CEO Jaymes Black said in a statement to The Advocate earlier this month. “The exclusion of our nearly 30 years of expertise is of course disappointing.” It was also deliberate and unsurprising.

Congress swiftly took action to restore the service last year, directing the Trump administration to allocate $33.1 million to supporting LGBTQ+ services. But when applications for partners reopened, the network’s administrator limited them to “current and active” 988 providers. This cut out The Trevor Project, which had been removed from the 988 provider network. The other six centers involved in the old network stayed “active” because they also served the general population.

Moreover, every organization tied to “Press 3” must comply with Trump’s Executive Order 14168. That mandate directs the federal government to recognize only two sexes, directs agencies to not ask for gender identity on forms and bars federal funds from being used to “promote gender ideology” — a mandate squarely at odds with The Trevor Project’s work advocating for trans and nonbinary youth.

Asked point-blank by The Advocate about who was selected, by what criteria and whether the new service will provide affirming services to trans callers at all, SAMHSA officials touted the size of its broader network and did not address whether counselors will be allowed to acknowledge trans and nonbinary identities, names and pronouns. They also did not explain why The Trevor Project’s application was rejected. Vibrant Emotional Health, the nonprofit administrator receiving $255 million to run the 988 network, didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The decision to exclude The Trevor Project from the hotline and follow Trump’s executive order threatens lives. Black said that The Trevor Project will keep pushing for the service to follow clinical best practices for all LGBTQ+ young people, “including and especially transgender youth,” who carry a disproportionately high suicide risk. In the meantime, its own crisis lines remain open 24/7, all 365 days of the year, to any LGBTQ+ young person who needs them.