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Advocacy

Progress in Virginia: Protecting Youth from Conversion Therapy

2020 legislative sessions have begun across the nation and Virginia is the first to take action on protecting LGBTQ youth from the dangerous and discredited practice of conversion therapy. A subcommittee of the Virginia Senate Education and Health Committee voted this morning to move SB 245, which prohibits licensed health care providers from subjecting minors to conversion therapy, to a full committee vote as soon as this Thursday. Casey Pick, The Trevor Project’s Senior Fellow for Advocacy and Government Affairs, was in Richmond this morning to testify before the subcommittee in favor of these vital protections. From her prepared remarks,…
Education

Approaching Conversations on the Intersection of Race and LGBTQ Identity

By: Kendra Gaunt (she/they), Data + AI Product Owner, The Trevor Project As communities around the world join together in the movement to address systemic racism, white supremacy, and end the unjust killings of Black people in the United States of America, The Trevor Project hears from LGBTQ youth who experience a range of intense emotions and feelings. LGBTQ young people, including those who feel heartfelt solidarity at protests or sadness from seeing how racism and police brutality impacts Black people, are starting conversations about race and their LGBTQ identities all over the country. Many Black LGBTQ young people have…
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Advocacy

FCC Moving Forward with 9-8-8 as 3-Digit Suicide Prevention Number

This morning, the Federal Communications Commission announced its plans to finalize a two-year phase-in of ‘988’ as the new, nationwide, 3-digit phone number for suicide prevention. The rules, if adopted by the Commission at its July 16 Open Meeting, would require all phone service providers to begin directing all 988 calls to the existing National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by July 16, 2022.   Statement from Sam Brinton (they/them pronouns), Vice President of Advocacy and Government Affairs for The Trevor Project: “The Trevor Project commends the FCC for moving forward with the implementation of 9-8-8 on an efficient two-year timeline. Suicide remains the second…
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Community

The Trevor Project Statement on Black Lives Matter

The Trevor Project believes unequivocally that Black Lives Matter and that we need to actively work to end systemic racism. It demeans the dignity of all of us to see some of us treated unjustly and inhumanely. LGBTQ people have an obligation to stand in solidarity with the Black community. That’s not just because Black people—and specifically Black trans people—were among those in the vanguard of fighting for LGBTQ equality at Compton’s Cafeteria, Stonewall, and many other places. And that’s not just because many people in the LGBTQ community are Black. Instead, LGBTQ people have a special obligation to stand…