Why you shouldn’t donate to Trans Lifeline
Ever since the Presidential Election results came in, there’s been post after post of people spreading around the phone number for a supposed suicide hotline for trans people, called Trans Lifeline.
What people don’t know is that this “hotline” is a huge scam meant to fund the founders’ personal lives, and that the hotline barely answers their calls, if ever.
A twitter was made a while back to cover the small, almost nonexistent amount of operators on the line, but it is now inoperable because the founders found out and shut down the source of the twitter bot’s information, because how dare someone provide the truth.
The founder, who is also trans, frequently posts pictures of her weapons, and even showed up at someone’s house because she didn’t agree with what they had to say about her hotline and her “friends”, then proceeded to make vague physical threats at them on FB. As a mentally ill person, she seems unfit to be handling such a lifeline that barely answers their calls in the first place.
She also spends the organization’s money frivolously, going from one state to the next for who knows what.
Here’s their 2015 annual report.
And here’s a claim that 6,000 hours of volunteer work equals up to $197,000. This is incredibly inflated.
THEY ARE ALSO NOT ACCREDITED BY THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF SUICIDOLOGY AND REFUSE TO CALL MEDICAL PERSONNEL IN THE EVENT OF A SUICIDE IN PROGRESS. THIS MEANS THEY WILL NOT CALL 911 IF SOMEONE ON THE LINE IS FUCKING DYING.
Only about 19% of incoming calls were being answered. This is a suicide prevention non-profit where they are only answering less than 19% of calls as of December of last year. When someone does get through, according to this report, they are talking to someone who has only received TWO FUCKING HOURS OF TRAINING.
They train people for two hours, only answer 19% of calls and when that 19% do get through, the policy does not follow the AAS crisis standard with regard to emergency personnel.
Here is a link to their IRS exempt form.
The 2015 submission indicates income of $129,922 and total assets of $22,255 so their income was about 47% more than budgeted.
The 2016 budget is far more interesting given they are expecting $200,000 worth of grants.
The travel bill is also surprising for a non profit, I realise there is a need to engage potential donors but there comes a point where the figure is just ridiculous and it would appear that that point is about a third of that budgeted total.
I see the director of operations “in kind” contributions have been reduced from $80,000 to receiving an actual salary of $28,800 and she is bringing in a personal assistant for herself.
There could be a fucking body count and nobody would know.
I have a friend who called them once, had her call dropped 4 times, only to get a really bored-sounding operator on the other end, then she was yelled at BY THE OPERATOR for using the term ‘dude’. SHE WAS SUICIDAL AT THE TIME. YOU DO NOT YELL AT SUICIDAL PEOPLE:
On a final note, they are perpetuating the lie that 8 trans people died on the night of the election results.
At the Trans Lifeline we were devastated to hear that eight people — many of whom were teens — died by suicide last night after election results announced that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. We are reaching out to the families to offer support and condolences.
Trans people are among many people who are mourning today. We know that communities of color, muslims, immigrants, and many other groups are feeling the betrayal, sadness, and fear that comes with living in a country where a majority of people voted for a leader who hates you. It is personal. It is tragic. But it is not the end.
Trans Lifeline has received over 350 calls from trans people in crisis, including many suicidal people. Our trans-identified operators are working hard to offer support, guidance, and hope through this difficult time. We’ve answered a staggering 115 calls in 24 hours, demonstrating that we are here for each other. It may feel right now as though hate won out, but we know that love is more powerful.
Even though many in the trans community are giving everything they have to support each other, we have a long way to go to meet the need of trans people in crisis. We need to hire additional staff to train, support, and lead our volunteers. If we can raise 100K this month, then we can hire three full-time staff people to do this life-saving work. Please give now if you can.
If you are trans, we say to you — Keep fighting. We love you. If you are not trans, we say to you — Stand with us. We love you too, and we need you to show up for us. We need staunch allies, real confidants, supportive lovers, close friends, affirming faith leaders, and compassionate strangers. We need to support one another now more than ever. Remember, together we save lives!
Save your time (and your life) and call the national suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255.
You can also call the Trevor Project at 1-866-488-7386, and their donation information is here.
Protect trans lives. Don’t fall for a scam that exploits potentially suicidal trans teenagers and young adults. Give to actual charities and hotlines.
