JOHN YANG: Next month, the Trump administration will end specialized Support on the 988 National Suicide Hotline for Young LGBTQ callers, a group that has disproportionately high suicide rates.

The administration announced the change by saying the hotline will no longer silo LGB plus Youth Services, emitting the T for Transgender and focus on serving all help seekers.

Lindsey Dawson is director of LGBTQ Health at KFF.

Lindsay, how long has this been an option on the suicide hotline and how did it come about?

LINDSEY DAWSON, Director of LGBTQ Health Policy, KFF: So this became an option early on.

When Congress started 988, they included directions to have a report to study how to best serve LGBTQ people who do face desperate mental health challenges, including higher rates of suicidality.

They first piloted the line in 2022 and then in July 2023 launched the service nationwide.

JOHN YANG: And what's the argument for having these specialized services?

LINDSEY DAWSON: The argument for the service is that because of the higher rates of suicidality and mental health challenges more generally due to experiences like stigma and discrimination, higher rates of violence and loneliness, that LGBTQ youth and young adult could benefit from a service that specifically meets their needs and challenges.

JOHN YANG: How many users do we know?

LINDSEY DAWSON: So since the line launched, including in that pilot phase, there have been over 1.3 million contacts to the service, and those contacts include calls, chats, and texts.

JOZHN YANG: What's the administration saying about why they're doing this?

LINDSEY DAWSON: There's two reasons the administration is saying that this line is being cut.

The first is that 988 overall can handle the calls that the LGBTQ service would have received.

And the second is the administration is saying that the service was fostering gender ideology beliefs among young people and trying to convince young people of gender ideologies.

This is patently not what's happening when somebody calls the line.

They're calling a line because they're in crisis, and the line is helping resolve that moment for the individual.

JOHN YANG: And what does the administration mean when they say gender ideology?

LINDSEY DAWSON: The administration means that somebody has a gender identity that differs from their sex assigned at birth, and they believe that there are only two sexes, which effectively erases trans people and trans identities, when, in fact, we know that transgender people are a part and fabric of the society.

JOHN YANG: And this is not the only thing the administration is doing to sort of pull back on access to services and help for the LGBTQ community in health.

What else are they doing?

LINDSEY DAWSON: So the administration, more broadly, is seeking to challenge LGBTQ people's access to health care.

One area that has received a significant amount of attention is youth access to gender affirming care.

JOHN YANG: So with this going away at the 988 call, are there other services available to LGBTQ youth?

LINDSEY DAWSON: So LGBTQ youth can still call that 988 number, and they will get the same services that anybody else who is calling would get, but they may not get an operator who is especially trained to meet their needs or to understand their experiences.

They can also call the services that the Trevor Project has and that some other projects have that provide support for issues beyond suicide ideation or suicidality.

However, some of these projects, like the Trevor Project receive funding for this service.

And so to the extent that they're able to continue to provide the services they can today is something to watch moving forward.

JOHN YANG: And the funding isn't changing for the 988 overall.

Right?

LINDSEY DAWSON: Right.

So the funding overall for the line is going to maintain at 520 million.

The federal government is saying that the funds for the LGBTQ service have been exhausted for this year.

And so another area that's important to watch is what Congress appropriates in the FY26 budget.

JOHN YANG: Lindsey Dawson of KFF, thank you very much.

LINDSEY DAWSON: Thank you.