Currently, Congress and lawmakers are passing and attempting to pass harmful legislation removing access to gender affirming care and sending a clear message of anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment across the country. Censorship of LGBTQ+ affirming messages and spaces is being carried out, and the gender expansive community continues to face numerous barriers to well-being, including discrimination, exclusion from family, harassment, and reduced access to gender and identity-affirming education, medical, and mental health care (Christensen et al., 2023).
The Trevor Project (2022) found that 85% of transgender and nonbinary youth reported that recent debates about anti-trans policies have negatively affected their mental health. On July 17, 2025, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) officially ended the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ youth Lifeline, which had supported an estimated 1.5 million LGBTQ+ young people since its inception in 2022. In response to the administration’s decision which poses significant public health risks, The Trevor Project, provides free and confidential crisis services via a 24/7 hotline operated by trained volunteer crisis counselors (crisis line number listed below) offering support to young people considering suicide. Gabby Doyle of The Trevor Project, a human services organization providing education, research, and advocacy in service to the LGBTQ+ community, launched a petition, already signed by 50,000 people, to urge Congress to reverse the administration’s proposal to eliminate all federal federal funding of the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ youth Lifeline Youth Specialized Services as of October 1, 2025.
As mentioned in the petition’s statement, “LGBTQ+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers. The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ+ young people in the United States seriously consider suicide each year, and at least one attempts suicide every 45 seconds” (The Trevor Project, 2025). Though a difficult subject for many, conversations surrounding suicide, and understanding the complexity of its dimensions and contributing factors, is imperative. Today, suicide is a public health crisis, as it is the second leading cause of death in 10–14-year-olds, and the third leading cause of death in young people ages 15-24 (SAMHSA, 2025).
After noting how there is scant research of positive events and their impact on the mental health of LGBTQ+ youth, the Trevor Project conducted a study of mental health and positive experiences for young LGBTQ+ young people utilizing The Trevor Project’s 2024 U.S. National Survey on the Mental Health of LGBTQ+ Young People. The results of the survey found that a large majority of youth participants had experienced positive events in the month prior, with the five most commonly reported positive events they had experienced being: giving support to friends (90%), doing enjoyable things with friends (84%), doing something enjoyable just for themselves (81%), receiving support from friends (77%), and receiving positive feedback from a teacher or boss (74%). Lower rates of depression in LGBTQ+ youth were associated with positive experiences such as helping friends, spending quality time with friends, feeling a sense of financial stability and/or security in one’s job, and acts of self-care for oneself. Additionally, the research showed that LGBTQ+ youth who had experienced at least one interaction wherein they felt accepted by adult decreased the risk of these youth attempting suicide by 40%.
In this uncertain and concerning times for LGBTQ+ young people, some actions we can take to support as allies and supportive community members include: providing inclusive and affirming spaces that uplift and empower LGBTQ+ young people, provide safe and safer spaces in schools which promote identity affirmation and inclusive community for gender expansive students of color, and support families with spaces of education, peer support, and LGBTQ+ resources and advocacy for building resiliency and strength as a community. Though the current administration seeks to erase the dignity and sovereignty of trans and gender expansive young people, as a community we will continue to support our LGBTQ+ young people and community members, and prevent suicide through building awareness and supporting organizations, including but not limited to, The Trevor Project, The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, PFLAG, The Q Center, the Sexual & Gender Minority Youth Resource Center.
Sources:
Christensen, M.C., Jeon, J., Hostetter, R., Doyle, M., & Kynn, J. (2023). Facilitators and barriers to sexual and gender minority youth development: Addressing accessibility and “Isms”, building collaborations, and supporting mental health in community-based organizations. Children and Youth Services Review (Vol. 152). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107079.
The Trevor Project (2025). Positive Events and Mental Health Among LGBTQ+ Young People. https://doi.org/10.70226/TDEJ1121
Suicide Prevention & Awareness Resources for LGBTQ+ Families and Allies:
Mental Health Support 24/7 with The Trevor Project
24/7 Crisis Counseling Hotline number: 1-866-488-7386
Text ‘START’ to 678-678
Suicide Prevention and Awareness Toolkit (SAMHSA, 2025)
Oregon Alliance to Prevent Suicide – Resources