An astounding record number of calls were received by suicide hotlines providing support for LGBTQ people in the United States during the first 24 hours of Donald Trump's win of the recent US Presidential Elections. Many fear that Trump's victory could endanger the basic rights of the LGBTQ community.
Numerous reports from crisis centers reveal that the number of calls are now twice as many than before. For most people, Trump's election win forebodes a dismal shift when it comes to supporting LGBTQ rights especially as Mike Pence is also set to become U.S. Vice President.
The Indiana governor was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000 and has adamantly opposed same-sex marriage. Instead, he recommends "conversion therapy."
In a controversial statement, Pence said that he would not support giving away federal funds for HIV/AIDS treatment since these organizations celebrate and encourage "these types of behaviors that spread the HIV virus."
Trevor Project, a suicide hotline for LGBTQ youth, said that they received more than double the volume of calls during a Tuesday or Wednesday. According to Steve Mendelsohn from the Trevor Project, callers were expressing a lot of fear and anxiety when election results were revealed.
Mendelsohn explains that the LGBTQ community has achieved so much progress in the last few years and there are fears that the community would lose these rights which many people fought so hard to gain.
Another suicide hotline called Crisis Text Line also received more than 2,000 texts, which is twice as much the average volume, in the wake of the elections. The Crisis Text Line is not exclusively targeted for LGBTQ support, but a majority of the texts they received on Wednesday came from people who identify themselves as LGBTQ.