When the presidential race was called for Donald Trump in the early hours of Wednesday, calls and texts to a leading LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention organization exploded in a massive outpouring of anxiety over the election results.
The Trevor Project saw an overall 700 percent increase in calls, texts and chats compared to prior weeks. The organization offers a lifeline via phone, online chat or text to LGBTQ+ youth who struggle with thoughts of depression, self-harm or suicide while navigating coming out to their families or facing discrimination. Right now, the services are experiencing long hold times at an especially vulnerable time for LGBTQ+ people.
LGBTQ+ youth are afraid, confused and anxious about the outcome of the election in these conversations, a spokesperson for the Trevor Project said. Their crisis services usually focus on supporting the mental health of queer and trans youth from ages 13 to 24 while they navigate relationships, gender identity and coming out. Now, the vast majority of young LGBTQ+ Americans are seeking emergency help due to what they described in text and chat messages to the helpline as “election anxiety.”
These pleas for help are not happening in a vacuum. They are the result of a political environment that has brought transphobia into the political mainstream, especially from Trump’s campaign. The former president’s campaign spent over $20 million on ads portraying trans people as harmful to society or attacking Vice President Kamala Harris’ support of trans people. Trump has pledged to enact extreme anti-LGBTQ+ policies in his second term, such as attempting to charge teachers with sex discrimination for affirming students’ gender identities. Some of his proposals mimic state anti-LGBTQ+ laws that have gone into effect in the past few years.
Those state laws and the vitriolic rhetoric surrounding them have been steadily eroding the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth. Prior research from the Trevor Project, in partnership with the polling firm Morning Consult, found that state proposals restricting the rights of LGBT+ youth in schools, sports and doctor’s offices negatively affect their mental health. New research by the Trevor Project, published in the journal Nature Human Behavior, found that state laws targeting transgender people caused trans and nonbinary youth to be more likely to attempt suicide within the past year.
The spike in crisis services outreach is alarming, said Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project. But, Black added, the organization is not surprised that the wave of anti-LGBTQ+ policies of the past few years continues to harm young people’s mental health. “The current political environment in the U.S. is heavy, but it is so important for LGBTQ+ young people to know that they do not have to shoulder this weight alone,” Black said.
“LGBTQ+ young people: your life matters, and you were born to live it,” Black added.
The Trevor Project encourages LGBTQ+ youth to take a break from news and social media, silencing notifications when trying to relax and finding community wherever possible, whether in person or online. Additional resources include calling the Trans Lifeline, which has specific resources and upcoming meetings for those “dealing with post-election grief;” texting hotlines such as THRIVE Lifeline and Steve Fund; calling the LGBT National Youth Talkline; or reaching out to a counselor through the Crisis Text Line.
Another way to seek help when in crisis or contemplating suicide is by reaching out to a trusted friend, community or family member.
Lambda Legal, an LGBTQ+ legal group, has compiled a list of state-level resources for LGBTQ+ youth, including mentorship programs and community centers. To connect with new friends and discuss shared hobbies, Q Chat Space offers an online community for LGBTQ+ teenagers. Parents of LGBTQ+ youth looking for supportive spaces can find state and local PFLAG chapters across the country, or join virtual meetings.
If you or a loved one are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741.
We’re not backing down in the face of Trump’s threats.
As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
As a dizzying number of corporate news organizations – either through need or greed – rush to implement new ways to further monetize their content, and others acquiesce to Trump’s wishes, now is a time for movement media-makers to double down on community-first models.
At Truthout, we are reaffirming our commitments on this front: We won’t run ads or have a paywall because we believe that everyone should have access to information, and that access should exist without barriers and free of distractions from craven corporate interests. We recognize the implications for democracy when information-seekers click a link only to find the article trapped behind a paywall or buried on a page with dozens of invasive ads. The laws of capitalism dictate an unending increase in monetization, and much of the media simply follows those laws. Truthout and many of our peers are dedicating ourselves to following other paths – a commitment which feels vital in a moment when corporations are evermore overtly embedded in government.
Over 80 percent of Truthout‘s funding comes from small individual donations from our community of readers, and the remaining 20 percent comes from a handful of social justice-oriented foundations. Over a third of our total budget is supported by recurring monthly donors, many of whom give because they want to help us keep Truthout barrier-free for everyone.
You can help by giving today. Whether you can make a small monthly donation or a larger gift, Truthout only works with your support.