https://fox59.com/news/national-world/lgbtq-youth-crisis-calls-jumped-700-after-trump-win/
In the hours following President-elect Donald Trump‘s win, a leading suicide prevention organization for LGTBQ+ youth saw a spike in outreach.
The Trevor Project‘s data, pulled from Nov. 6, found its lifeline, chat and text features saw an overall volume increase of 700% compared to use in the weeks leading up to the election.
The organization said the content of its calls also took a massive political turn in the day following Trump’s victory. Election-related content in conversations increased by nearly 5,200% compared to averages ahead of Nov. 5.
A national survey conducted by the organization found that 90% of LGBTQ+ young people said “their well-being was negatively impacted due to recent politics.”
“The Trevor Project wants LGBTQ+ young people to know that we are here for you, no matter the outcome of any election, and we will continue to fight for every LGBTQ+ young person to have access to safe, affirming spaces – especially during challenging times,” said Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, in a statement.
Roughly one-third of the post-election contacts identified as Black, Indigenous or a person of color (BIPOC) and LGBTQ+. It’s a population that straddles two of Trump’s least-tapped voter bases and is the subject of some of his most controversial policy plans.
“LGBTQ+ young people: your life matters, and you were born to live it. The Trevor Project will always be here to support you, to listen, and to offer you the care you deserve,” Black said.
Resources from the project include the call-based Trans Lifeline and LGBT National Youth Talkline as well as text-based THRIVE Lifeline, Steve Fund and Crisis Text Line.
Trump’s DEI, LGBTQ plans
As president, Trump rolled back Obama-era anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, rejected requests from U.S. embassies to fly rainbow flags during Pride Month and barred transgender individuals from serving openly in the military — a policy he has said he will reinstate once in office. The president-elect has called for rolling back societal emphasis on diversity and legal protections for LGBTQ citizens. Trump has also called for ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs in government institutions, using federal funding as leverage.
On transgender rights, Trump promises generally to end “boys in girls’ sports,” a practice he insists, without evidence, is widespread. He spent tens of millions on anti-trans ads in the final months of the election cycle.
Among other ideas, Trump would roll back the Biden administration’s policy of extending Title IX civil rights protections to transgender students, and he would ask Congress to require that only two genders can be recognized at birth.
During his time as an Ohio senator, Vice President-elect JD Vance was the primary sponsor of at least two pieces of federal legislation threatening to sharply roll back transgender rights, including one proposal that aims to ban gender-affirming medical care for minors nationwide.
He’s also repeated the false and inflammatory claim that LGBTQ people are “grooming” children to abuse them, and after a deadly shooting at a Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tennessee, last year, suggested the shooter’s gender identity may have been a motivating factor.