November 11, 2016

Gay suicide hotlines spike after election

Mother Jones - Two LGBT suicide prevention hotlines told Mother Jones that calls to their services have spiked since Donald Trump was elected president.

Trans Hotline, a nonprofit that focuses on suicide prevention for transgender people, has received at least five times the call volume it normally gets. And the Trevor Project, the nation's only LGBT youth-focused suicide prevention hotline, received more calls, texts, and online chats on Wednesday than it's gotten on a single day in four years, more than double its normal daily volume.

"We started getting increased call volume at about 10 p.m. on election night, and it hasn't slowed down at all," said Gretta Martela, director of Trans Hotline, on Thursday afternoon. "In fact, it's on the rise still." The hotline receives about 100 calls a day normally. In the 24 hours prior to speaking with Mother Jones, Martela said it had received 523 calls.

No comments: