Trans Lifeline is a peer support and crisis
hotline
A hotline is a point-to-point communications link in which a call is automatically directed to the preselected destination without any additional action by the user when the end instrument goes off-hook. An example would be a phone that automat ...
501(c)(3)
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
organization serving
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
people by offering phone support and microgrants.
It is the first transgender crisis hotline to exist in the United States as well as Canada.
It is also the only suicide hotline whose operators are all transgender (binary or non-binary).
As of 2019, the organization was host to approximately 95 volunteers in addition to a small paid staff.
The US number is (877) 565-8860. The Canada number is (877) 330-6366.
Background
Trans Lifeline was founded in 2014 to address the epidemic of suicidality and lack of national resources for the trans community. It was founded
by
Nina Chaubal and Greta Gustava Martela, two
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
software engineers.
In November 2016, in response to a Tumblr post accusing Trans Lifeline's founders of embezzlement and harassment, the organization published an article on their Medium page denying the allegations of embezzlement and explaining their decision to directly confront individuals who they believe facilitate transphobia.
However, Chaubal and Martela were dismissed by the organization's board of directors in 2018 after an internal review found they had diverted $353,703 to unapproved personal purchases and side projects.
Chaubal and Martela were able to repay $8,585, and in June 2018, agreed to mediation with Trans Lifeline in which they would repay the remaining amount over the next ten years, in lieu of lawsuit or other recovery.
In 2017, the organization merged with Trans Assistance Project in order to address a component of the trans narrative that is often missing, that of socioeconomic justice. The merger became the organization's microgrants program, which gifts small grants to trans people who are in need of funds to cover the fees associated with legal name changes.
The organization's guiding ethos is "justice-oriented collective community aid,"
a concept the organization promotes based on the belief that both economic justice and having affirming trans community are part of and key to trans liberation. As of 2019, the microgrants program had dispersed a total of $375,000. Approximately 1,000 people were served, with each grant being approximately $360.
As of June 1, 2020, 75% of microgrants made each cycle go to transgender people of color. At least 20 microgrants each month go to youth ages 18–29.
The organization’s hotline does not engage in non-consensual active rescue, meaning operators never call 911, police, or emergency services on callers without an expressed request and consent, based on research associating involuntary hospitalization with increases suicide attempts after discharge. Additionally, they believe that calling the police on transgender people in crisis, particularly trans people of color, causes more harm.
The organization also oversees a program the Inside Advocacy project to support incarcerated trans people. The project provides funds for trans people's commissaries so that they may afford "basic comforts" while imprisoned. The program also works to provide microgrants to trans people in
ICE detention.
As of June 2020, the organization had set in motion a
Spanish language
Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
extension
in order to serve Spanish-speakers calling the hotline. This involved recruiting
multilingual
Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
volunteer staff to answer calls.
The new service serving the Spanish speaking community went into effect on July 1, 2020.
Budget
In a June 2019 interview on the podcast ''
Queery'', Trans Lifeline Executive Director Elena Rose Vera stated that 85% of the organization's budget comes from members of the general public in the form of small donations.
Leadership
From founding the organization to their dismissal in 2018, Martela and Chaubal served as Trans Lifeline's Executive Director and Director of Operations, respectively. They were replaced by Sam Ames as interim Executive Director and Tiffany St. Bunny as Director of Operations.
Then-Deputy Executive Director Reverend Elena Rose Vera succeeded Ames in March 2019 before stepping down herself in September 2021.
Fundraisers and Partnerships
*In 2019, the organization was the recipient of funds raised by ''
Vice Magazine
''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...
s Save Point 2019 campaign, a 72-hour marathon gaming stream on the
Twitch
Twitch may refer to:
Biology
* Muscle contraction
** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation
** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction
** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle con ...
platform.
*Trans artist Ramona Sharples has raised $3,000+ for Trans Lifeline via the sale of her enamel pins and buttons which depict trans people as well as trans pride statements.
*In June 2020, Trans Lifeline partnered with MTV, LOGO, and Kim Petras in order to provide an extra 20 microgrants for youth in need to correct their legal documents. 75% of applicants selected for these grants will be BIPOC.
*In response to the introduction of Texas Bill SB1646, members of the Dallas Steaks (a subsection of fans of the online video game
Blaseball) held a charity live stream in which they raised over $10,000 to benefit Trans Lifeline.
In media
*On July 22, 2019, Trans Lifeline Executive Director Elena Rose Vera was interviewed in ''
Paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...
Magazine''.
*On June 30, 2019, Trans Lifeline Executive Director Elena Rose Vera was interviewed on the
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
''
Queery''.
*On April 21, 2019, Trans Lifeline Executive Director Elena Rose Vera was interviewed on Waypoint Radio, a ''
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character tra ...
'' ''Magazine''
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...
.
*On October 24, 2018, then-Trans Lifeline Executive Director Sam Ames was interviewed in ''
Teen Vogue
''Teen Vogue'' is an American online publication, formerly in print, launched in January 2003, as a sister publication to ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'', targeted at teenagers. Like ''Vogue'', it included stories about fashion and celebrities. Since ...
''.
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official site
LGBT political advocacy groups in the United States
Legal advocacy organizations in the United States
Transgender organizations in the United States
Non-profit organizations based in California
Crisis hotlines
Suicide prevention
Organizations established in 2014
2014 establishments in California