More than 100 celebrities across the entertainment industry are calling on President Trump’s administration to protect an LGBTQ youth crisis service’s funding amid broader spending cuts.
An internal budget document first reported by The Washington Post would eliminate specialized services for LGBTQ youth who contact 988, the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, a proposal that would have “devastating, life-threatening consequences for young people across the country,” reads an open letter organized and published Monday by the Trevor Project, a nonprofit group that responds to roughly half of 988’s calls and texts from LGBTQ youth.
“As artists, creators, and public figures, our platforms come with responsibility. And today, that responsibility is clear: we must speak out to protect the mental health and lives of LGBTQ+ youth. We will not stay silent,” states the letter, with signatures from actors Pedro Pascal, Daniel Ratcliffe, Margaret Cho and Sarah Paulson.
Musicians, including Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Diplo and Dua Lipa also signed, alongside notable figures including influencer Dylan Mulvaney, celebrity chef Amanda Freitag and Carl Nassib, a former defensive lineman and the first NFL player to publicly come out as gay.
“This is about people, not politics,” the letter states. “At a time of deep division, let this be something we as people can all agree on: no young person should be left without help in their darkest moment. Stripping away this lifeline leaves LGBTQ+ youth with the message that their lives are not worth saving. We refuse to accept that message. We call on the administration and Congress to do the right thing: restore and protect funding for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ Youth Specialized Services in the Fiscal Year 2026 budget.”
“We rise together — loudly and determined — for hope, for dignity, and for every LGBTQ+ young person to know that their lives are worthy and that there will always be someone on the other end of the line,” the letter states.
The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.
The service for LGBTQ youth has received nearly 1.3 million calls, texts and online chat messages since its launch in 2022, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In February, the program received an average of 2,100 crisis contacts daily.
More than 100 House Democrats — and two Republicans, in a separate letter — have also urged the Trump administration to spare 988’s specialized services for LGBTQ youth from funding cuts, arguing that such a move would have “lethal consequences if enacted.”
The proposed cuts, which need approval from Congress, would not take effect until October.
Trump signed the bipartisan National Suicide Hotline Designation Act in October 2020, and the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline officially launched in 2022 under former President Biden’s administration. Congress increased funding for the hotline’s LGBTQ youth specialized services last year on a bipartisan basis.
“I am deeply grateful to the influential voices in entertainment who are speaking out and reminding the public that suicide prevention is about people – not politics,” Jaymes Black, the Trevor Project’s CEO, said in a statement on Monday.
“LGBTQ+ young people disproportionately experience rejection, stigma, and discrimination, and are navigating a world that too often tells them they don’t belong. We must send a louder message back: millions of people are fighting for you to lead the happy, healthy lives you deserve,” Black said.
A report released by the group last year found that 39 percent of LGBTQ 13- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. considered suicide over the past year, including 46 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth. Half of LGBTQ young people who wanted mental health care said they were unable to access it.