September marks National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, a time to shed light on and confront a public health crisis that disproportionately impacts youth — particularly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people, and LGBTQ youth are more than four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. At The Trevor Project, we estimate that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ youth between the ages of 13 and 24 in the U.S. seriously consider suicide each year — and at least one LGBTQ young person attempts suicide every 45 seconds.
Founded in 1998 by the creators of the Academy Award®-winning short film TREVOR, The Trevor Project is the world’s largest crisis intervention and suicide prevention organization for LGBTQ young people under 25. We started as a 24/7 national phone Lifeline reaching several thousand LGBTQ youth per year and have since become the preeminent resource for LGBTQ young people in crisis. Last fiscal year alone, we directly served over 200,000 crisis contacts from LGBTQ youth who’ve reached out for support. In addition to TrevorLifeline, we offer 24/7 digital crisis services including TrevorText and TrevorChat, as well as peer-to-peer support platform TrevorSpace, the largest safe space social networking site for LGBTQ youth across the globe.
In a world affected by isolation as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, our services are more vital than ever — the volume of youth reaching out to our crisis services programs has significantly increased, at times nearly double our pre-COVID volume. According to our 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, which captures the experiences of nearly 35,000 LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 24 across the U.S., 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth.
Right now, many LGBTQ young people are in dire need of mental health support. Our research showed that 70% of LGBTQ young people stated that their mental health was “poor” most of the time or always during COVID-19. Nearly half of LGBTQ youth reported they wanted counseling from a mental health professional, but were unable to receive it in the past year. Additionally, at a time where we are encouraged to stay at home and shelter-in-place, more than 80% of LGBTQ young people stated that COVID-19 made their living situation more stressful, and only 1 in 3 LGBTQ youth found their home to be LGBTQ-affirming.
The past year has been incredibly difficult for so many LGBTQ young people because of multiple crises, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the hostile political climate and repeated acts of racist and transphobic violence. This data makes clear that LGBTQ youth face unique mental health challenges and continue to experience disparities in access to affirming care, family rejection, and discrimination.
— Amit Paley, CEO & Executive Director, The Trevor Project
In our continuous efforts to improve access to mental health services and be a leading voice in suicide prevention among LGBTQ young people, we have developed a multi-pronged approach with five key program areas: crisis services, peer support, research, education and public awareness, and advocacy.
Through these programs, we are working to drastically increase the number of LGBTQ youth we serve 24/7 via phone, text, and chat, as well as through our safe space social networking community. Beyond the annual release of our National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health, our research team publishes original, intersectional monthly research briefs to inform the work of academics, medical professionals, policymakers, and advocates in support of LGBTQ young people. We utilize education as a tool to build allies for the LGBTQ community through training programs and exercises focused around issues relevant to LGBTQ youth and the adults who support them. We’ve also expanded our advocacy efforts on the local, state, and federal levels to protect the rights of LGBTQ people, including a nationwide campaign to end the dangerous practice of conversion therapy.
We recently released our three-year strategic plan, which provides a comprehensive roadmap outlining the organization’s mission to serve the more than 1.8 million LGBTQ youth who seriously consider suicide each year in the U.S. by the end of 2023. While the journey to reaching our goals is long and requires hard work, we are deeply committed and are working tirelessly to get there. We envision a future where every LGBTQ young person feels not only accepted, but valued, worthy and celebrated for who they are — and we hope you will join us in making this world come true.
The Trevor Project’s key program areas are made possible by contributions from generous supporters like the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation.
If you or someone you know needs help or support, The Trevor Project’s trained crisis counselors are available 24/7 at 1-866-488-7386, via chat www.TheTrevorProject.org/Help, or by texting START to 678678.