While listing these suicide prevention numbers in response to the news of the LGBTQ rights and civil rights pages disappearing from the Whitehouse.gov website, I’m thinking about some of my former students who were horrified by the 2016 Election results. First things first, we (rainbow, Black, Latinx, artists, women, people with disabilities, the poor, people who need healthcare and don’t know where the money’s going to come from, and the list goes on…) need all hands on deck and if you want a chance in the fight you have to stay on the planet. You have to take care of your own well being. You have to breathe — keep breathing.
“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” — Audre Lorde*
*Thanks to Jessica Young for this quotation.
The GLBT National Help Center
Hotline: 1-888-THE-GLNH (888-843-4564)
Youth Talkline: 1-800-246-PRIDE (800-246-7743)
From their website:
HOURS:
Monday thru Friday from 1pm to 9pm, pacific time
(Monday thru Friday from 4pm to midnight, eastern time)
Saturday from 9am to 2pm, pacific time
(Saturday from noon to 5pm, eastern time)
Email: help@GLBThotline.org
The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) National Hotline provides telephone, online private one-to-one chat and email peer-support, as well as factual information and local resources for cities and towns across the United States.
All of our services are free and confidential.
We speak with callers of all ages about coming-out issues, relationship concerns, bullying, workplace issues, HIV/AIDS anxiety and safer-sex information, and lots more!
We also maintain the largest resource database of its kind in the world, with 15,000 listings. Our database contains information on social and support groups, as well as gay-friendly religious organizations, sports leagues, student groups and more. We also have information on LGBT-friendly businesses including lawyers, doctors and various counseling professionals.
There are many others, but I’ll include these two for now:
The Trevor Project: 1-866-4-U-TREVOR (866-488-7386)
24/7 crisis intervention and suicide prevention lifeline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning young people ages 13 to 24.
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
This one’s for anyone and everyone
DebRLewis 