Danger! Danger! Press "3"

Danger! The Trump administration opened up the 988 Press 3 crisis hotline for trans people and LGBTQ+ people, but they have to follow Trump's Executive Order and refer to us by our sex assigned at birth!

988 is back... but without The Trevor Project!

Congress passed a law that funded the LGBTQ+ crisis hotline, but the Trump administration didn't contract with The Trevor Project! Inquiries about trans people have gone unanswered at HHS!

Medical Daily writes;

LGBTQ+ Youth Can Again Press 3 on the 988 Lifeline as Specialized Crisis Counseling Returns After 14 Months

By Elena Vega

Oct 02, 2026

LGBTQ+ young people who call or text 988 can once again press 3 to reach counselors trained to support them. The specialized option inside the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline resumed on Sept. 30, 2026, according to Sen. Tammy Baldwin's office, more than 14 months after the federal government ended it on July 17, 2025.

Help through 988 never stopped during the pause. Only the specialized menu option did. Anyone in emotional distress, or worried about someone else, can call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org at any time, for free. The Lifeline's website now states that the LGBTQ+ youth service "has been restored pursuant to funding and congressional direction."

For parents, teachers and friends, the return restores a direct path to a counselor trained in the pressures LGBTQ+ young people may face. The instruction is simple: contact 988, then press 3.

But it all hasn't been restored...

One important change is that The Trevor Project, which helped build the original service, is not part of the restored version. The group said it was formally notified on Aug. 3, 2026, that it was ineligible to participate, after a June 2026 federal letter said the services must comply with what Trevor described as an anti-transgender executive order. Public announcements reviewed by MedicalDaily do not identify which crisis centers are now answering Press 3 contacts, and federal officials have not publicly detailed how the new service is structured.

As far as I can tell, no agency has been contracted to provide our care!

Trump reopened an LGBTQ+ suicide hotline. But the department that runs it vows to ‘restore biological truth’

While organizations celebrate the reinstatement of the ‘press 3’ option by Samsha, details about rollout and training counselors remain secret

The Guardian

Melissa Hellmann

Tue 27 Oct 2026

For nearly three years, counselors through the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline for LGBTQ+ individuals answered more than 1.5m calls, texts and online chats – until the Trump administration terminated it in July 2025. But now, more than a year later, the service is back online.

The federal agency that oversees the lifeline, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (Samhsa), shuttered the specialized national lifeline service known as the “press 3” option for financial reasons last year, though critics cited political motivations. After pressure from activists, LGBTQ+ organizations and politicians, Congress approved legislation to allocate more than $33m to services for queer youth, including to the specialized lifeline. While suicide prevention and LGBTQ+ rights groups celebrate the reinstatement, details about the rollout and how the counselors will be trained remain shrouded in secrecy.

This is the scary part...

According to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the department “remains fully aligned with President Trump’s Executive Orders to defend women from gender ideology extremism and restore biological truth to the federal government”, a spokesperson said in a statement to the Guardian. But LGBTQ+ rights groups and allies question how the department’s directive will affect the service’s inclusivity. HHS did not respond to repeated requests for details about policy changes to the service. The Guardian messaged the press 3 option through its live chat function following its reinstatement, during which a counselor offered gender affirming sentiments, asking questions such as: “what makes you feel most yourself and affirmed in your identity?” Toward the end of the chat, the counselor encouraged remaining in “spaces where you feel seen, heard and most definitely the safest”.

Do you get a warm, fuzzy feeling from this? The Advocate writes...

In a Thursday morning response to The Advocate, an HHS spokesperson confirmed that the specialized service had resumed as directed by Congress. But when asked whether counselors would recognize transgender and nonbinary young people’s identities and use their chosen names and pronouns, the department reiterated its commitment to the administration’s policies.

“HHS remains fully aligned with President Trump’s Executive Orders to defend women from gender ideology extremism and restore biologicapoll truth to the federal government,” the spokesperson said.

The crisis hotline has been restored under legal compulsion, but the Trump adminstration has stripped it of the operational transparency and clinical standards that made it effective for trans youth. It has complied with the letter of the law but not the spirit of the law.

And there is nothing to stop the Trump administration from hiring a right-wing Christian organization to operate the crisis line!

So beware! Beware when you us 988 Press 3!