The Trump administration is ending a suicide hotline dedicated to young people who identify as LGBT next month. 

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will terminate the LGBT Lifeline implemented under the Biden administration, effective July 17, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. 

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SAMHSA’s announcement this week comes after the Department of Health and Human Services proposed eliminating the LGBT program earlier this month when it rolled out its proposed budget for 2026. 

Instead of using a special “Press 3 option,” youth who identify as LGBT and are struggling with suicidal thoughts will be directed to use the general hotline number. 

“Everyone who contacts the 988 Lifeline will continue to receive access to skilled, caring, culturally competent crisis counselors who can help with suicidal, substance misuse, or mental health crises, or any other kind of emotional distress. Anyone who calls the Lifeline will continue to receive compassion and help,” SAMHSA said.

“The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline will no longer silo LGB+ youth services, also known as the ‘Press 3 option,’ to focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option,”  SAMHSA’s statement continued. 

The Press 3 option rolled out in 2022 in a government contract with the Trevor Project, giving people up to the age of 25 the option to connect to a special hotline dedicated for those who identify as LGBT. The option received nearly 1.3 million contacts from LGBT people since it began in 2022, according to the Trevor Project. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) in April backed a California bill to print the phone number for a suicide hotline and LGBT crisis center on the back of all public middle and high school student ID cards. He slammed President Donald Trump over the plan to cut funding for the LGBT-specific hotline.

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Trevor Project CEO Jaymes Black called the decision to terminate the special option “devastating,” as federal data shows that youth who identify as LGBTQ are more than three times as likely to seriously consider suicide than their straight peers. 

“The fact that this news comes to us halfway through Pride Month is callous — as is the administration’s choice to remove the ‘T’ from the acronym ‘LGBTQ+’ in their announcement. Transgender people can never, and will never, be erased,” he said in a statement Wednesday.