By: Steven Guy, MPA
In the early 1990s, as a student at UCLA, I summoned the courage to seek much needed support at the campus walk-in counseling clinic. I didn’t have the language for everything I was feeling. I just knew I was struggling. I told the counselor I was having a hard time and trying to deal with maybe being gay.
Without hesitation, he replied, “Oh, I don’t work with those issues. That’s someone else. They’re not here now, but I’ll leave a note.”
I was stunned. I asked why I couldn’t just talk with him. He said something about being a Christian counselor or offering faith-based support. Whatever the exact words, the message landed with cruel clarity: You don’t belong here or with me.
I left that appointment ashamed, rejected, and more alone than ever. When another counselor followed up days later, I lied and said I was fine. But I wasn’t. I spiraled emotionally, academically, and socially. I nearly got kicked out of school.
What saved me was an academic advisor who noticed. They asked the right questions, listened, and helped me regain my footing. That person didn’t specialize in mental health. But they believed in me. They showed up.
What Option 3 Meant
That’s what Option 3 on the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline did for so many LGBTQ+ youth: it showed up.
Launched in 2022, 988 has answered more than 16 million calls, texts, and chats. It is a landmark public health achievement. About 10 percent of those contacts came from LGBTQ+ individuals, even though they represent a much smaller portion of the population.
Option 3 was created in response to overwhelming evidence that LGBTQ+ youth face dramatically higher risk:
- LGBTQ+ youth are 4 to 5 times more likely to attempt suicide than straight peers
- 40 percent of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered suicide last year
- 26 percent of transgender youth attempted suicide in the past 12 months
- Alongside veterans, LGBTQ+ youth are among the most vulnerable populations in the
country
These are not abstract numbers. They are real young people reaching out for someone who understands. They need more than a script. They need someone who knows what it feels like to be bullied, rejected, or terrified to come out.
Why Cutting Option 3 Is a Mistake
Eliminating Option 3 under the banner of “integration” ignores the data. It is not equity. It is erasure. It assumes every counselor is equipped to meet every need. They are not. That is not their fault. But it is our responsibility to train and staff appropriately.
This decision will not save money. Option 3 cost less than 7 percent of the 988 budget yet served 10 percent of all users. That is not inefficiency. That is targeted, life-saving care.
Take away the tools designed for the most at-risk, and you do not create fairness. You create silence. And silence is deadly.
We Must Do Better
If you are struggling, please call or text Trevor Project or 988 or text HOME to 741741. There are good people on the line. But in these moments when LGBTQ+ are being even more targeted, we need more than good intentions on the most used resource like 988. We need trauma-informed, identity-aware, culturally competent care.
I am one of the lucky ones who made it through. Barely. But many won’t.
Cutting Option 3 is not just misguided. It is dangerous.
It is not saving money. It’s costing valuable young lives.