The State legislator wants a hotline of crisis for young LGBTQ + on the identity documents of the students

Bridget McCarthy thinks that if his son Riley Chart had quick and easy access to a suicide prevention hotline designed for young queer, he could be alive today.

Chart, a trans teenager who had already endured intimidation because he was different, committed suicide at the family’s home during the locking of COVVI -19 in September 2020 – two weeks after his 16th anniversary.

“I really think there had been a specific LGBTQ [help] Number just ahead of him, he would have tried it, “said McCarthy.

State legislators should vote in August on a bill which, according to McCarthy and its sponsors, could save the lives of other young Queer Californians.

Bill 727 of the California Assembly would need identity cards for pupils in public schools from 7th to 12th year and students from public higher education establishments to indicate the LGBTQ + free crisis line operated by the Trevor project on the back, from July 2026.

The Trevor project is a non-profit organization based in West Hollywood with which the federal government has broken the links when it eliminated the funding of the LGBTQ + Counseling through the National Suicide and Crifeline Lifeline (9-8-8). The lifeline was expected to prevent routing crisis calls to the Trevor project and six other LGBTQ + entrepreneurs on Thursday. This is one of the many actions in the second Trump administration that criticisms are afraid of retreating the years of progress in obtaining health services for queer Americans.

“When the Trump administration threatened and then knew their threats to completely reduce the program, which told us that we had to go to the plate,” said Democratic Assembly Mark González de Los Angeles, who said they had presented the legislation to guarantee that young queers receive the support of advisers who can relate to their life experiences. “Our goal here is to be the safety net – especially for people who are not in Los Angeles but in other parts of the state who need this hotline to survive.”

The Lieutenant-Governor of California Eleni Kounalakis, the LGBT Center and the Sacramento LGBT Center have all signed as co-sponsors of the bill. Governor Gavin Newsom told Politico that Decision 9-8-8 of the Trump administration was “indefensible” and that he also supports the bill. His office said that the $ 4.7 billion master plan for the mental health of children includes partnerships with organizations such as the Trevor project.

González said that the bill originally included private schools, but that in response to the conservative opposition, the mandate has been modified so that it is limited to public schools.

With federal funding for LGBTQ + crisis advisers who surf the calls through the 9-8-8 rescue line which is exhausted Thursday, local non-profit organizations and elected officials have promised to fill the void. The supervisors of the county of the Janice Hahn and Lindsey P. Horvath wrote a motion to explore the impact of the cup and see if the county can help continue the service. The board of directors approved it unanimously on Tuesday.

“The federal government can take their backs to LGBTQ +people, but here in the County of Los Angeles, we will do everything in our power to ensure the security of this community,” said Hahn in a statement after the vote.

In the United States, around 40% of young Queers in the United States have seriously considered suicide, against 13% of their peers, according to a survey on the mental health of adolescents published last fall by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Trevor project and other organizations have reported an increase in the number of people who call crisis lines to seek mental health support, both in California and in National.

Trans-Americans were particularly shaken by the reaction against LGBTQ + people and by the prospect of new health care restrictions affirming the sexes, according to new results published this week by researchers from the University of Vermont.

Their survey of 489 adults of gender proditance after the 2024 elections, published Wednesday in Jama Open Network, revealed that nearly a third of those questioned consider hormonal risky DIY therapies if the treatments disappear elsewhere. A fifth of respondents said they had suicidal thoughts.

Riley Chart with his father, Paul Chart.

(Bridget McCarthy)

As a mother of a trans died child suicide, McCarthy said that she wanted to use the lessons she learned to educate and defend other young Trans and their families in similar situations.

McCarthy, who lives in Culver City, launched a commemorative fund with the Trevor project, organized suicide prevention walks in West Los Angeles and attended the pride festivals to distribute information on the crisis line.

She remembers Riley as an artistic and warm son who joined LGBTQ + groups and built a network of friends while attending high schools in Santa Monica and Culver City.

Riley had a therapist for the support of life as a trans adolescent, but during the pandemic, he had a hard time facing not being able to spend time in person with his friends. The holder made him more and more irritable. He was standing later than usual and spent excessive time on his phone, said McCarthy.

After Riley’s death, the family discovered that he had sent a text to a gay friend to get help.

“The only other number on his phone was a hotline number of the 10 -digit veterans – which he did not call,” said McCarthy. “This is why you must have a life buoy that speaks to different populations. A hotline of veterans will not work for a 16 -year -old child who is struggling with their identity.”

When Riley was 12 years old, McCarthy took him to the parade of pride to West Hollywood hoping that he felt the feeling of belonging that he seemed to suck. He loved it.

Riley Chart Assistant in West Hollywood Pride in 2017.

(Bridget McCarthy)

“Ry said he had found his people,” recalls McCarthy, using the family’s nickname for him. “He was like” that’s it – I’m at home, mom. ” »»

When Riley’s mother took him to pride a second time the following year, he bought a trans pride flag which became one of his precious property. “He was wrapped in it when he left, when he left us,” said McCarthy.

McCarthy has spoken by phone from one of Riley’s favorite places, Lummi’s island in Washington State, near the American-Canadian border. The family posed Riley’s remains on the island and McCarthy will visit the serious site four times a year to take care of the maple planted in their memory, admire the painted stones that their friends have placed around and speak to their son.

McCarthy said she and Riley had visited family friends on the island almost every year when he was younger. Especially during the college when he faced the intimidation of classmates and problems on the toilet to use, the island served as a refuge where McCarthy saw his son to his most carefree. He liked to climb trees, swim and sell cows, far from the pressures to be a child

“When you would open the car door, it was like opening the barn door,” recalls McCarthy. “Like a foal through a field, he would run just. It gave us a chance of peace.”