Students Engaged in Advancing Texas (SEAT), a movement demonstrating youth visibility in policymaking, issued a statement on June 18 condemning the Trump Administration ending LGBTQ+ suicide prevention resources through the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

“The 988 Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Subnetwork is a bipartisan program that was signed into law during President Trump’s first term,” said SEAT’s Federal Policy Director, Ayaan Moledina (He/Him), a 10th-grade-student in Austin, Texas. “We had hoped that mental health support and suicide prevention for vulnerable communities would become more of a bipartisan issue, but we are again disappointed by the attacks on LGBTQ+ children.”

“Given the vulnerability of our community, LGBTQ+ young people deserve specialized resources from counselors who understand our unique experiences and can provide tailored support,” said SEAT’s Executive Director, Cameron Samuels (they/them), an LBJ School student in Katy, Texas. “Our group of young high school and college students, many of whom are members of the LGBTQ+ community, demand Congressional leaders to put politics aside and put forward the humanity we know they have inside. The budget reconciliation bill would be a whole lot more beautiful if it supported all young Americans, regardless of their gender identity.” Samuels is an American activist and Katy native[2] who and is perhaps best known for their advocacy and opposition of LGBTQ website and book bans in schools.

“Eliminating this resource undermines the bipartisan spirit in which the 988 system was created and jeopardizes the national goal of reducing youth suicide,” said SEAT’s State Policy Director, Hayden Cohen (They/Them), a social work student in Houston, Texas. “Eliminating the LGBTQ+ subnetwork does not make the 988 system neutral — it makes it less effective. Counselors trained to support LGBTQ+ youth can de-escalate crises more effectively, saving time, resources, and most importantly, lives.” Since being implemented in 2022, the program has provided an estimated 1.3 million crisis contacts with life-saving, LGBTQ+-inclusive crisis services, according to SEAT. Suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people aged 10 to 14, and the third leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds. 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.