988 crisis line restores LGBTQ+ youth specialized support

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline has restored the “Press 3” option connecting LGBTQ+ youth to targeted support services, more than a year after the option disappeared from the hotline.

Starting Sept. 30, people who call or text 988 can once again be connected directly with counselors trained to support young LGBTQ+ people. The lifeline began offering the Press 3 option in 2022 in partnership with the Trevor Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to suicide prevention for queer and trans youth.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration announced last year that it would “no longer silo LGB+ youth services” from the general hotline, starting in July 2025. The usual “T” in the acronym that stands for “transgender” was conspicuously absent from the announcement, following an executive order signed earlier that year declaring that federal agencies can recognize only two sexes that are “not changeable.” A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday that the Press 3 option was halted because its funding ran out.

Along with veterans, LGBTQ+ are one of two groups known to be at higher risk for suicide who are offered the option to connect with specially trained counselors when they contact the 988 lifeline. Young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning or transgender are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their straight, cisgender peers are, according to the Trevor Project.

More than 1.3 million queer young people in the U.S. used the “Press 3” service between its launch in 2022 and its suspension in July 2025. The option for veterans, who die from suicide at 1.5 times the rate of peers in the general population, was not affected by the SAMHSA policy change.

A bipartisan health funding bill passed in January required the administration to restore the LGBTQ+ youth support option.