The Trevor Project Celebrates Defeat of Anti-Transgender Bills in Texas
August 15, 2017 - The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth, applauded the defeat on Tuesday night of dangerous anti-transgender bathroom bills in Texas.
Of the approximately 178 contacts per day (on average) received by The Trevor Project, 7.3 percent typically self-identify as transgender. However, in the week after the special session of Texas legislature introduced the anti-trans "bathroom bills," contacts from transgender young people doubled to 14.7 percent.
"All of us at The Trevor Project know how dangerous these bills are because we heard it directly from trans youth in Texas," said Trevor Project CEO and Executive Director Amit Paley. "After the introduction of this disgraceful legislation, our counselors saw a huge spike in contacts from LGBTQ youth to our crisis services. The number of transgender youth reaching out to us actually doubled. The stories we heard were heart-breaking."
Paley continued, "We congratulate all those who worked so hard to ensure that transgender people are afforded basic human dignity and respect. This is an important victory for equality, but we cannot be complacent. These bills may be re-introduced in future legislative sessions. We remind elected officials that fair-minded Texans do not want to see these bills brought forward.
"This documented and dramatic spike in crisis contacts makes clear that our elected officials cannot ignore the impact of their anti-transgender agenda on LGBTQ youth. Elected officials must stop throwing young people into crisis for political gain."
The Trevor Project is available 24/7/365 for LGBTQ young people who need someone to talk with. Call the Trevor Lifeline at 1-866-488-7386. Text and chat counseling is available from 3-10pm EST every day at www.thetrevorproject.org/help.
The Trevor Project is the leading and only accredited national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) young people under the age of 25. The Trevor Project offers a suite of crisis intervention and suicide prevention programs, including TrevorLifeline, TrevorText, and TrevorChat as well as a peer-to-peer social network support for LGBTQ young people under the age of 25, TrevorSpace. Trevor also offers an education program with resources for youth-serving adults and organizations, a legislative advocacy department fighting for pro-LGBTQ legislation and against anti-LGBTQ rhetoric/policy positions, and conducts research to discover the most effective means to help young LGBTQ people in crisis and end suicide. If you or someone you know is feeling hopeless or suicidal, our Trevor Lifeline crisis counselors are available 24/7/365 at 866.488.7386. www.TheTrevorProject.org