If you need support right now: in the U.S., call or text 988, or use the chat at 988lifeline.org. LGBTQ+ young people can also call 1-866-488-7386, text START to 678-678, or chat with The Trevor Project. Both services are available 24/7.
i posted this today because apparently World Suicide Prevention Day now requires a small asterisk.
the country still has 988. you can call it. you can text it. a counselor will answer, and that matters. but the dedicated “Press 3” service that connected LGBTQ+ young people with specially trained counselors ended on July 17, 2025. the 988 Lifeline’s own FAQ still says the LGBTQ+ subnetwork is closed.
Congress has since directed $33 million toward bringing specialized service back. in June, the Associated Press reported that the administration intends to relaunch it by the end of 2026, although the Trevor Project—the organization that helped build the service and handled about half of its 1.6 million contacts—may be excluded from the new network.
so, on suicide prevention day, the dedicated service is currently a promise with an end-of-year deadline. an extremely federal form of hope: please remain in crisis until the procurement process concludes.
staying alive is not an endorsement
to the queer and trans kids who keep receiving the message that their existence is a budget problem, a political issue, a school-board agenda item, or an awkward subject adults would prefer to discuss without them: you do not have to become inspirational about any of this.
you do not owe the world a triumphant speech. you do not have to forgive anybody. you do not have to prove that pain made you stronger, or turn survival into a tasteful before-and-after photo.
you are allowed to stay alive because you love someone. because someone loves you. because your cat would be confused. because a game comes out next month. because you still need to hear one particular song live. because spite is renewable energy. because the version of you five years from now is doing something extremely ordinary and does not yet know how hard you worked to get them there.
staying alive is not an endorsement of the conditions you are surviving. it is refusing to let those conditions write the ending.
check on your people like you mean it
“reach out if you need anything” is a kind sentiment and a terrible user interface. ask the second question. send food. sit on the phone. help make the appointment. offer a ride. stay while they text a counselor. if somebody tells you they are thinking about suicide, take them seriously, ask directly whether they are in immediate danger, and help connect them with crisis support.
and if you have money, donate to the places still doing the work. The Trevor Project continues to provide free, confidential, affirming crisis care around the clock without the federal Press 3 contract. institutions love to describe community care as resilience after they have finished making it necessary.
queer and trans kids deserve adulthood. boring errands. ugly apartments. friends who become family. jobs they complain about. haircuts they regret. group chats that outlive three phones. the chance to discover that growing up does not solve everything, but it does make the world larger than the room where somebody first told them they were wrong.
stay alive. stay long enough to become inconvenient evidence that they failed to erase you.
Need help now? Call or text 988. LGBTQ+ young people can contact The Trevor Project by calling 1-866-488-7386, texting START to 678-678, or using online chat. If there is immediate physical danger, call emergency services or go to the nearest emergency department.