Trump’s election sparks jump in suicide watches

Crisis hotlines for LGBTQ+ youth experienced an influx of calls leading up to and after President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris earlier this month.
The Trevor Project, an organization aimed at preventing suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ youth, said it experienced a high volume of calls the morning after Trump clinched the White House. In an update posted Nov. 6, the organization later confirmed it experienced a nearly 700 percent increase in calls the day after the election.
“Beginning November 5 approximately around midnight ET through now, The Trevor Project’s classic crisis services (lifeline, chat, text) are experiencing significantly high outreach from LGBTQ+ young people needing support in direct response to election results – an approximately 125% increase in crisis contact volume on election day through this morning compared to normal days,“ the organization wrote.
Recent research from The Trevor Project found that 90 percent of LGBTQ+ young people said their well-being was negatively impacted due to recent politics. The research also found that 39 percent of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered suicide in the past year and about 12 percent attempted suicide.
The Rainbow Youth Project, a separate LGBTQ advocacy group, surpassed its monthly average in phone calls as it took more than 3,810 calls by Nov. 6, according to The Washington Post. The Post noted that about 25 percent of the calls made to The Rainbow Youth Project as of Nov. 6 came from worried parents or grandparents, which is an increase from the 8 percent it usually sees.
“We are receiving these calls out of fear,” Lance Preston, executive director at The Rainbow Youth Project, told The Washington Post. “Fear that we will lose our children to suicide and fear of the challenges this new administration will set up for us.”
Preston also told The Post that the trans community was scared because Trump has threatened to strip gender-affirming care for minors.
The increase in crisis hotline calls came after the Trump campaign railed against transgender rights in the final weeks leading up to the election. The anti-trans ads played on airwaves across the country as Trump has repeatedly vowed to ban transgender athletes from participating in women’s sports and ending gender-affirming care for youths.
Anti-trans momentum has been growing for several years, with Republican-governed states enacting dozens of laws restricting trans people’s options for medical care, sports participation and public restroom access.
Activists fear the movement will grow, with the Trump administration taking power as many Americans question the trans-rights agenda. Overall, 55% of voters — and 85% of Trump backers — said support for transgender rights in government and society has gone too far, according to AP VoteCast, a survey of more than 120,000 people who cast ballots nationwide.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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