Overview
- The HHS’s leaked budget draft proposes eliminating the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s $50 million LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services effective October 1, 2025.
- Since its 2022 launch under the National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, the 988 program has handled nearly 1.3 million crisis contacts from LGBTQ+ youth seeking affirming care.
- Over 100 entertainment figures, including Ariana Grande, Pedro Pascal and Daniel Radcliffe, signed an open letter urging Congress to restore and protect the funding in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
- More than 100 House Democrats and two Republicans have written to the administration warning that defunding specialized 988 services would have life-threatening consequences for vulnerable queer youth.
- The Trevor Project could lose an estimated $25 million in federal support even as LGBTQ+ young people remain over four times more likely to attempt suicide and 1.8 million consider it each year.