LGBTQ advocacy groups have reported a flood of calls and chats to their crisis communications hotlines after Donald Trump won this week’s election following a campaign rife with anti-trans attacks.
The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that provides mental health crisis services to LGBTQ people, reported a nearly 700% increase in calls to its crisis services on November 6, the day after the election. The organization said it saw “significant outreach to LGBTQ+ youth who need support in direct response to the election results.” A third of those who contacted crisis services after the election identified themselves as Black, Indigenous or people of color, the organization said.
The day after the election, The Washington Post reported that the Rainbow Youth Project, a nonprofit organization for LGBTQ youth, had received more calls in the first six days of November than in an average month.
Trump’s promise to deprive transgender people of their rights was a big part of his election pitch. He flooded the airwaves with ads targeting trans rights and vilifying trans women in sports. Republicans have also spent much of the past few years passing legislation to restrict transgender rights and demonize trans people.
NBC News exit polls show that a large majority of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender voters surveyed supported Harris in this election, while fewer LGBT voters cast ballots for the Republican candidate in this race than in any of the previous three presidential elections. Still, after a painful defeat, some Democrats have suggested that the party not “cave in to the far left” — a proposal that my colleague Hayes Brown called “an instinct based on fear that must be loudly and decisively rejected from all corners of the party.” party.”
Transgender Americans have said the president-elect’s brutal attacks on their community are taking a toll. A high school student in North Carolina told the Post on Monday that it was hard to see “so much hate for my community.” Austin Johnson, research director at the Campaign for Southern Equality and professor of sociology at Kenyon College, told The New York Times about the Trump-backed anti-trans ads: “There’s a little shame, or embarrassment, like a loss of dignity, when I look at watch one of those ads, even though I know my friends or colleagues are watching it.
Research has shown that trans adults experience suicide and suicide attempts at higher rates than their cisgender counterparts. A study by the Trevor Project found that between 2018 and 2022, there was a significant increase in suicide attempts among transgender and non-binary youth in states where anti-trans laws were passed, with those under the age of 18 experiencing the sharpest increase in number of suicide attempts. rates.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live on 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for extra support.
If you are an LGBTQ youth in crisis, feeling suicidal, or in need of a safe and judgment-free place to talk, call the TrevorLifeline now at 1-866-488-7386 or the Rainbow Youth Project at 1- 317-643- 4888.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
