Federal Government Ends Specialized LGBT Option at Suicide Prevention Service

A government spokesman said it will not fund a chat service promoting “radical gender ideology” to children “without consent or knowledge of their parents.”

A teenager poses for a picture in Arlington, Virginia, on June 11, 2021. OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

The Trump administration is terminating the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline’s specialized services for LGBT youth and will instead focus on serving all individuals seeking help through the hotline, the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced on June 17.

SAMHSA, an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement that the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline will no longer use its “LGB+” youth services, also known as the “Press 3 option,” beginning July 17.

The agency will instead “focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option,” according to the statement.

SAMHSA said that everyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will continue to receive access to “skilled, caring, culturally competent” crisis counselors who can help them with suicidal, substance-related, or mental health crises, as well as any other kind of emotional distress.

“Anyone who calls the Lifeline will continue to receive compassion and help,” it said.

The Press 3 option was established as a pilot program in fiscal year 2022 via a government contract with the nonprofit Trevor Project. It describes itself as “the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention nonprofit organization for LGBTQ+ young people” and provides 24/7 year-round information and support.

The specialized service allowed individuals contacting the 988 Lifeline via phone, text, or chat to “Press 3” or “reply PRIDE” to connect with counselors trained specifically to assist people who identify as LGBT and are age 25 or younger.

The project initially served as the sole provider for the pilot phase of the specialized service, before transitioning to serve as one of seven centers that currently make up the “LGBTQ+ Youth Subnetwork,” according to a statement from the organization.

Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, called the government agency’s announcement “devastating,” adding that the program has provided life-saving services to more than 1.3 million LGBT youth.

“Suicide prevention is about people, not politics,” Black said. “The administration’s decision to remove a bipartisan, evidence-based service that has effectively supported a high-risk group of young people through their darkest moments is incomprehensible.”

Black noted the federal government’s decision to pull the service comes midway through Pride Month, describing it as “callous.”

He also criticized SAMHSA’s removal of the “T” from the abbreviation “LGBTQ+” in its announcement regarding ending the specialized service.

“Transgender people can never, and will never, be erased,” Black said.

SAMHSA said the fiscal year 2023 Omnibus bill included $29.7 million to fund the specialized services offered through the crisis lifeline, while federal funding in fiscal year 2024 for the Press 3 services increased to $33 million.

As of June 2025, more than $33 million in funds have been spent to support the subnetworks, thereby “expending the monies allocated” for the lifeline’s specialized services.

A spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget said funding would remain in place for 988 Lifeline, a wider suicide prevention hotline.

“The president’s Budget funds the 988 at $520 million – the same number as under [President Joe] Biden. It does not, however, grant taxpayer money to a chat service where children are encouraged to embrace radical gender ideology by ‘counselors’ without consent or knowledge of their parents,” the spokesman said.

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death in the United States; more than 49,000 people died by suicide in 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to the latest data from SAMHSA, since July 2022, the 988 Lifeline has received more than 14.5 million calls, texts, or chats that have been transferred to a crisis contact center.

The Epoch Times has contacted the White House Office of Management and Budget for further comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.