Trump administration wants to cut LGBTQ+ suicide crisis line’s funding

A leaked budget draft obtained by The Washington Post shows that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) plans to cut funding for suicide prevention programs specialized in handling situations with LGBTQ+ youth. This includes completely defunding the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services, starting in October.

Though The Washington Post published their story last Wednesday, there was little to no mention of plans to cut funding for LGBTQ+ youth programs within government-funded mental health services, and mainly focused on cuts to federal agencies that focus on public health and research.

But yesterday, the Trevor Project reported that the leaked budget draft proposed eliminating all funding to the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services, the federal program that provides emergency crisis support for LGBTQ+ youth at risk of suicide.

On page 14 of the PDF for the budgeting proposal, it states that the Trump administration plans to…

Read full story, and more, from Source: Trump administration wants to cut LGBTQ+ suicide crisis line’s funding

Editor’s note: This article mentions suicide. If you need to talk to someone now, call the Trans Lifeline at 1-877-565-8860. It’s staffed by trans people, for trans people. The Trevor Project provides a safe, judgment-free place to talk for LGBTQ youth at 1-866-488-7386. You can also call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.

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