Trans Lifeline

Last updated

Trans Lifeline
Formation2014
FounderGreta Martela, Nina Chaubal
Type Nonprofit organization
Purpose Peer support for transgender people
Executive Director
kai alviar horton [1] [2]
Chair of the Board
Ace Sutherland [2]
Website https://translifeline.org/

Trans Lifeline is a peer support and crisis hotline 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization offering phone support to transgender people. [3] [4] It is the first transgender crisis hotline to exist in the United States as well as Canada. [5] [6] [7] It is also the only suicide hotline whose operators are all transgender. [8] [9] [6] [7] In 2019, the organization had approximately 95 volunteers in addition to a small paid staff. [8] The US number is (877) 565-8860. [10] The Canada number is (877) 330-6366. [10] The hotline is available Monday–Friday, 10 AM to 6 PM, Pacific time (1 PM to 9 PM Eastern time). [11] [10] It is closed during some holidays. [10]

Contents

Services

Trans Lifeline offers peer support for transgender people with a wide range of needs, from feeling lonely to being in crisis. [12] The organization's hotline does not engage in non-consensual active rescue, meaning operators never call 911, police, or emergency services on callers without an expressed request and consent, based on research associating involuntary hospitalization with increased suicide attempts after discharge. [13] Additionally, they believe that calling the police on transgender people in crisis, particularly trans people of color, causes more harm. [1]

The organization previously offered a microgrant program, but suspended it in November 2023 for lack of available funds. [14] [15]

History

Establishment

Trans Lifeline was founded in 2014 to address the epidemic of suicidality and lack of national resources for the trans community. [16] [17] It was founded by Nina Chaubal and Greta Gustava Martela, two San Francisco software engineers. [5] [16] [17] From founding the organization to their dismissal in 2018, Martela and Chaubal served as Trans Lifeline's Executive Director and Director of Operations, respectively.

By January 2015, the hotline was receiving about 60 calls per day and had about 60 volunteers. [18] [19]

Leadership transitions

In November 2016, in response to a Tumblr post accusing Trans Lifeline's founders of embezzlement and harassment, the organization published an article on their Medium page denying the allegations of embezzlement and explaining their decision to directly confront individuals who they believe facilitate transphobia. [20] However, Chaubal and Martela were dismissed by the organization's board of directors in 2018 after an internal review found they had diverted money to unapproved personal purchases and side projects. [21] [22] [23] Chaubal and Martela were able to repay $8,585, and in June 2018, agreed to mediation with Trans Lifeline in which they would repay the remaining amount over the next ten years, in lieu of lawsuit or other recovery. [22]

They were replaced by Sam Ames as interim Executive Director and Tiffany St. Bunny as Director of Operations. [21] [3] Then-Deputy Executive Director Elena Rose Vera succeeded Ames in March 2019 before stepping down herself in September 2021. [24] [25] [26]

Microgrants

In 2017, the organization merged with Trans Assistance Project in order to address a socioeconomic component of the trans support. The merger became the organization's microgrants program, which gifted small grants to trans people who were in need of funds to cover the fees associated with legal name and gender marker changes, as well as with updated identification documents. [8] The organization's guiding ethos was "justice-oriented collective community aid," [9] a concept the organization promoted based on the belief that both economic justice and having affirming trans community are part of and key to trans liberation.

The organization also oversaw a program to support incarcerated trans people, called Inside Advocacy. The project provided funds for trans people's commissaries so that they could afford "basic comforts" while imprisoned. [27] The program also worked to provide microgrants to trans people in ICE detention.

Trans Lifeline suspended its microgrants program at the end of November 2023, citing falling donations and increased demand for services caused by an increase in anti-trans legislative efforts. [14] [15] At time of its suspension, the program had donated approximately $1.5 million USD in grants averaging $500 per person, with later grants slightly larger due to inflation. [15]

Expansions and reductions

As of June 2020, the organization had set in motion a Spanish language extension in order to serve Spanish-speakers calling the hotline. [28] This involved recruiting multilingual volunteer staff to answer calls. [28] The new service serving the Spanish speaking community went into effect on July 1, 2020. [29] [30]

Facing a $2.5 million USD budget shortfall at the end of 2023, the hotline suspended operations for a two-week hiatus, beginning December 18. It resumed in the new year with reduced operating days and hours. [15] [11]

Fundraisers and partnerships

In a June 2019 interview on the podcast Queery , Trans Lifeline Executive Director Elena Rose Vera stated that 85% of the organization's budget comes from members of the general public in the form of small donations. [31]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Riedel, Samantha (October 11, 2024). "Trans Lifeline Calls on Crisis Hotline 988 to Halt Nonconsensual Police Interventions". Them. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Exciting Additions: Meet Trans Lifeline's New Board Members". Trans Lifeline. February 2025. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  3. 1 2 McNamara, Brittney (October 24, 2018). "Calls to the Trans Lifeline Quadrupled After the Trump Administration's Gender Policy Memo". Teen Vogue. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  4. ↑ "About - Trans Lifeline - Peer support services, hotline and resources for Transgender People Trans Lifeline". Trans Lifeline.
  5. 1 2 Mechanic, Jesse (December 22, 2017). "America's First Transgender Suicide Hotline Is Now Live". HuffPost. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  6. 1 2 "A Volunteer With Trans Lifeline Talks About Why People Are Scared—and Dialing". Willamette Week. October 31, 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Trans Lifeline provides suicide prevention by and for the trans community". GLAAD. November 21, 2014.
  8. 1 2 3 "The Only Crisis Hotline by Trans People, For Trans People". PAPER. July 22, 2019.
  9. 1 2 "Trans Lifeline | Office of LGBTQ Resources". lgbtq.yale.edu.
  10. 1 2 3 4 "Hotline". Trans Lifeline. Retrieved November 14, 2025.
  11. 1 2 "End-of-Year Pause in Hotline Operations & New Hours in 2024". Trans Lifeline. December 15, 2023 [2023-11-15]. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  12. ↑ Lozano, Alicia Victoria (June 8, 2017). "LGBTQ+ Community Battles Staggering Suicide Rates". NBC 10 Philadelphia. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  13. ↑ "Why no non-consensual active rescue?". Trans Lifeline. June 2, 2018. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  14. 1 2 "Navigating Change: Trans Lifeline Initiaties Restructure for Long-Term Resilience". Trans Lifeline. December 1, 2023 [2023-11-30]. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Grabenstein, Hannah (December 14, 2023). "After a year of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, a lifeline for trans and nonbinary people faces cuts". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
  16. 1 2 Steinmetz, Katy (November 20, 2014). "New Crisis Line Aims to Help Transgender People at Risk of Suicide". Time. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  17. 1 2 Constante, Agnes (March 8, 2017). "Nina Chaubal helps build community, save lives with Trans Lifeline". NBC News. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  18. ↑ "In Preventing Trans Suicides, 'We Have Such A Long Way To Go'". NPR. January 3, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  19. ↑ Ferguson, David (January 2, 2015). "'Trans Lifeline' activist hopes to prevent future tragedies like the suicide of Leelah Alcorn". Raw Story. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  20. ↑ Lifeline, Trans (November 15, 2016). "Debunking Misinformation, a response to a recent Tumblr article". Medium.
  21. 1 2 Trans Lifeline Executive Team & Board of Directors (February 21, 2019). "The Leadership Transition, 2017 Taxes, and How We're Moving Forward". Trans Lifeline. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  22. 1 2 Suozzo, Andrea; Glassford, Alec; Ngu, Ash; Roberts, Brandon (May 9, 2013). "Nonprofit Explorer — TransLifeline — Full Filing". ProPublica. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  23. ↑ Newberry, Laura (September 7, 2020). "A crisis hotline for transgender people, by transgender people". LA Times. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  24. ↑ Trans Lifeline Board of Directors (March 11, 2019). "Passing the Torch". Trans Lifeline. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  25. ↑ Rose Vera, Elena (September 29, 2021). "Elena Rose Vera's Outgoing Letter to Our Community". Trans Lifeline. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  26. 1 2 Klepek, Patrick (May 2, 2019). "Today, We're Streaming 72 Hours to Raise Money for Trans Lifeline". Vice. Retrieved November 13, 2025.
  27. ↑ "The Holiday Commissary Campaign - Trans Lifeline - Peer support services, hotline and resources for Transgender People Trans Lifeline". Trans Lifeline.
  28. 1 2 "Álvaro Gamio Cuervo talks Spanish Language Services and the Future of the Hotline". TransLifeline. November 11, 2019. Archived from the original on September 20, 2020.
  29. ↑ Romine, Taylor (July 4, 2020). "Transgender advocacy group launches Spanish language hotline service". CNN. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  30. ↑ Rodriguez-Jimenez, Jorge (July 9, 2020). "Trans Advocacy Group Establishes First Spanish-Language Trans Hotline". we are Mitú. 100% American & Latino. Retrieved April 21, 2025.
  31. ↑ "Elena Rose Vera, episode #93 of Queery with Cameron Esposito on Earwolf". www.earwolf.com.
  32. ↑ VanHoose, Benjamin (June 26, 2020). "Kim Petras on Helping Young Trans People Vote as Their 'True Self': 'Everybody Just Wants Equality'". People. Retrieved July 9, 2020.
  33. ↑ Chancey, Tyler (February 14, 2025). "Tolarian Community College Fundraises $460,000 for Trans Lifeline". TechRaptor. Retrieved February 15, 2025.
  34. ↑ Gupta, Alisha Haridasani (April 18, 2025). "A Simple Slogan Creates a Shirt and a Sensation". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 12, 2025.
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