Trans Lifeline is a peer support and crisis hotline 501(c)(3) non-profit organization offering phone support to transgender people. [1] [2] It is the first transgender crisis hotline to exist in the United States as well as Canada. [3] [4] [5] It is also the only suicide hotline whose operators are all transgender. [6] [7] [4] [5] As of 2019, the organization was host to approximately 95 volunteers in addition to a small paid staff. [6] The US number is (877) 565-8860. The Canada number is (877) 330-6366. [8] As of January 1, 2024, budgetary restrictions have forced a reduction in operating hours; the hotline is available Monday–Friday, 10 AM to 6 PM, Pacific time (1 PM to 9 PM Eastern time). [9]
The organization previously offered a microgrant program, but suspended it in November 2023 for lack of available funds. [10] [11]
Trans Lifeline was founded in 2014 to address the epidemic of suicidality and lack of national resources for the trans community. It was founded [3] [2] by Nina Chaubal and Greta Gustava Martela, two San Francisco software engineers. [12] [13] [14] [15]
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. [12] However, Chaubal and Martela were dismissed by the organization's board of directors in 2018 after an internal review found they had diverted $353,703 to unapproved personal purchases and side projects. [16] [17] [18] 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. [17]
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. [19] The organization's guiding ethos was "justice-oriented collective community aid," [7] 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. 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. [10] [11] 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. [11]
The organization's hotline does not engage in non-consensual active rescue, [20] 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. [21] [22] Additionally, they believe that calling the police on transgender people in crisis, particularly trans people of color, causes more harm.
The organization also oversees a program the Inside Advocacy project to support incarcerated trans people. The project provides funds for trans people's commissaries so that they may afford "basic comforts" while imprisoned. [23] The program also works to provide microgrants to trans people in ICE detention.
As of June 2020, the organization had set in motion a Spanish language extension [24] in order to serve Spanish-speakers calling the hotline. This involved recruiting multilingual volunteer staff to answer calls. [24] The new service serving the Spanish speaking community went into effect on July 1, 2020.[ citation needed ]
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. [11] [9]
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.
From founding the organization to their dismissal in 2018, Martela and Chaubal served as Trans Lifeline's Executive Director and Director of Operations, respectively. They were replaced by Sam Ames as interim Executive Director and Tiffany St. Bunny as Director of Operations. [16] [1] Then-Deputy Executive Director Elena Rose Vera succeeded Ames in March 2019 before stepping down herself in September 2021. [25] [26] [27]
Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to social gender roles. Transphobia is a type of prejudice and discrimination, similar to racism, sexism, or ableism, and it is closely associated with homophobia. Transgender people of color can experience many different forms of discrimination simultaneously.
A crisis hotline is a phone number people can call to get immediate emergency telephone counseling, usually by trained volunteers. The first such service was founded in England in 1951 and such hotlines have existed in most major cities of the English speaking world at least since the mid-1970s. Initially set up to help those contemplating suicide, many have expanded their mandate to deal more generally with emotional crises. Similar hotlines operate to help people in other circumstances, including rape, bullying, self-harm, runaway children, human trafficking, and people who identify as LGBT or intersex. Despite crisis hotlines being common, their effectiveness in reducing suicides is not clear.
The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) is a nonprofit social equality organization founded in 2003 by transgender activist Mara Keisling in Washington, D.C. The organization works primarily in the areas of policy advocacy and media activism with the aim of advancing the equality of transgender people in the United States. Among other transgender-related issue areas, NCTE focuses on discrimination in employment, access to public accommodations, fair housing, identity documents, hate crimes and violence, criminal justice reform, federal research surveys and the Census, and health care access.
Telephone counseling refers to any type of psychological service performed over the telephone. Telephone counseling ranges from individual, couple or group psychotherapy with a professional therapist to psychological first aid provided by para-professional counselors. In-person therapists often advise clients to make use of telephone crisis counseling to provide the client with an avenue to obtain support outside of therapy if they cannot be reached in an emergency or at the conclusion of a therapeutic relationship.
The Trevor Project is an American nonprofit organization founded in 1998. Focused on suicide prevention efforts among lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth, they offer a toll-free telephone number where confidential assistance is provided by trained counselors. The stated goals of the project are to provide crisis intervention and suicide prevention services for youth, as well as to offer guidance and resources to parents and educators in order to foster safe, accepting, and inclusive environments for all youth, at home, schools and colleges.
The Samaritan Befrienders Hong Kong (SBHK) is a non-government organisation. It is a local voluntary agency which provides counselling services to people with suicidal tendencies or behaviour. This organisation was the first of its kind in Asia.
Shadi Petosky is a television show runner. She is best known for her work on Danger & Eggs and The Sandman.
988 is a telephone number used in some NANP countries for a suicide prevention helpline. It is known as 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the United States and as 9-8-8 Suicide Crisis Helpline in Canada.
Lifeline is a non-profit organisation that provides free, 24-hour telephone crisis support service in Australia. Volunteer crisis supporters provide suicide prevention services, mental health support and emotional assistance, not only via telephone but face-to-face and online.
Switchboard of Miami, Inc., commonly referred to as Switchboard, was a private, nonprofit and registered 501(c)(3) organization located in Miami, Florida, United States that provided Miami-Dade County with comprehensive telephone counseling and referral services to thousands of social service programs beginning in 1968. The organization also offered counseling services and prevention programs, such as initiatives aimed at assisting high-risk youth and their families through partnerships with local schools. Since 1968, these services have been offered to the community at no charge. Callers can seek advice confidentially, as no information is needed by the company in order to receive the services. Switchboard shut down in 2016 following a "major financial emergency".
Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) is a non denominational, non-profit suicide prevention centre. Since its establishment in 1969, SOS has developed into a professionally run and managed organisation. It adopts a holistic approach to suicide, focussing on suicide prevention, intervention and postvention.
Leelah Alcorn was an American transgender girl whose suicide attracted international attention; she had posted a suicide note to her Tumblr blog about societal standards affecting transgender people and expressing the hope that her death would create a dialogue about discrimination, abuse, and lack of support for transgender people.
Recovering from Religion (RfR) is an international non-profit organization that helps people who have left religion, are in process of leaving, or are dealing with problems arising out of theistic doubt or non-belief. RfR provides support groups, telephone and chat helplines, an online peer support community, and online meetings for "people in their most urgent time of need". It is headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas.
Crisis Text Line is a global nonprofit organization providing free and confidential text-based mental health support and crisis intervention by texting HOME to 741741. The organization launched in 2013, and its services are available 24 hours a day throughout the United States, Canada, UK, and Ireland. As of August 2023, the organization reported that it had supported over 8 million support conversations.
The health access and health vulnerabilities experienced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or questioning, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA) community in South Korea are influenced by the state's continuous failure to pass anti-discrimination laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The construction and reinforcement of the South Korean national subject, "kungmin," and the basis of Confucianism and Christian churches perpetuates heteronormativity, homophobia, discrimination, and harassment towards the LGBTQI community. The minority stress model can be used to explain the consequences of daily social stressors, like prejudice and discrimination, that sexual minorities face that result in a hostile social environment. Exposure to a hostile environment can lead to health disparities within the LGBTQI community, like higher rates of depression, suicide, suicide ideation, and health risk behavior. Korean public opinion and acceptance of the LGBTQI community have improved over the past two decades, but change has been slow, considering the increased opposition from Christian activist groups. In South Korea, obstacles to LGBTQI healthcare are characterized by discrimination, a lack of medical professionals and medical facilities trained to care for LGBTQI individuals, a lack of legal protection and regulation from governmental entities, and the lack of medical care coverage to provide for the health care needs of LGBTQI individuals. The presence of Korean LGBTQI organizations is a response to the lack of access to healthcare and human rights protection in South Korea. It is also important to note that research that focuses on Korean LGBTQI health access and vulnerabilities is limited in quantity and quality as pushback from the public and government continues.
Janetta Louise Johnson is an American transgender rights activist, human rights activist, prison abolitionist, and transgender woman. She is the Executive Director of the TGI Justice Project. She co-founded the non-profit TAJA's Coalition in 2015. Along with Honey Mahogany and Aria Sa'id, Johnson is a co-founder of The Transgender District, established in 2017. Johnson's work is primarily concerned about the rights and safety of incarcerated and formerly-incarcerated transgender and gender-non-conforming people. She believes that the abolition of police and the prison industrial complex will help support the safety of transgender people, and she identifies as an abolitionist.
Crisis Center of Tampa Bay is a private nonprofit organization in Tampa, Florida, that provides services and support for a variety of crisis situations including sexual assault, sexual abuse, domestic violence, financial distress, substance abuse, medical emergency, or suicidal thoughts.
Dr. Kim Fountain is the Deputy CEO of The San Diego LGBT Community Center. She was previously the Chief Operating Officer of the Center on Halsted, the Midwest's largest LGBTQ+ community center, located in Chicago, Illinois,. the executive director of the Pride Center of Vermont and the co-director for the New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project. Fountain has served on the New York State Crime Victims Board and is a trainer for the Office of Victims of Crime and the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs' Reports Committee. She serves on the board of the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum.
Nina Chaubal is the co-founder and former Director of Operations at Trans Lifeline, the first transgender suicide hotline to exist in the United States and Canada. As a leading LGBTQ+ activist and trans woman, when Chaubal was held in immigration detention, the story made national headlines in publications such as The New York Times and Chicagoist. In 2019, Chaubal was the subject of the first episode of America in Transition, a documentary about transgender people of color.
