NORTHSTATE, Calif. — A new California law is offering mental health support for LGBTQ+ students.
Assembly Bill 727 is the law requiring student ID cards in public middle schools, high schools, and colleges in California to have The Trevor Project’s 24/7 hotline. LGBTQ+ youth can get crisis and suicide prevention support through the hotline.
Citing reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), leaders with The Trevor Project said that, compared to their peers, LGBTQ+ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide.
“There’s been a number on the back of these student IDs for suicide in general, but students are a little different when they’re LGBTQ+,” Nate Fairchild, a NorCal OUTreach Project board member, said. “The difference is that there’s a high percentage of bullying: huge bullying percentage, isolation, not quite fitting in and trying to find a place.”
Inside the NorCal OUTreach Project location at{ }1447 Market S. in Redding, Calif. (KRCR)
The Trevor Project team said they have trained counselors who will listen without judgment.
Fairchild told KRCR that, in the Northstate, there aren’t as many resources for LGBTQ+ young people. He said students having this on their ID cards will make a huge difference, and believes it will save lives.
The law officially begins on July 1, 2026. You can connect to support from The Trevor Project by calling 1-866-488-7386, texting “START” to 678-678, or chatting online here.
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