If you’re a trans adult or teen who needs help and support for issues related to your trans identity, there’s a fantastic support organization available. It’s called Trans Lifeline and it offers valuable, life-saving resources for trans and questioning individuals.
In addition to a helpline — 877-565-8860 (in Canada, please call: 877-330-6366) — they also offer additional informational resources and microgrants.
According to their website, “Trans Lifeline was founded in 2014 as a peer-support crisis hotline. The Hotline was, and still is, the only service in the country in which all operators are transgender. Because of the particularly vulnerable relationship transgender people have with police, it is also the only service in the country with a policy against non-consensual active rescue.” Since their founding, they’ve answered 52,525 calls to their hotline, and disbursed over $140,000 in microgrants to trans individuals.
Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860 (in Canada: 877-330-6366)
Trans Lifeline’s hotline is a Contact-USA accredited peer-support hotline, operated 7 days a week to help trans and questioning callers. The hotline is available 7:00 am-1:00 am PST / 9:00 am-3:00 am CST / 10:00 am-4:00 am EST with people who answer the phone from all over the United States and Canada by people who trans-identify. It’s an amazing resource for anyone who just wants to talk to someone who understands, and for people who are in crisis. The people who answer are trained to help, offer you emotional support, and guide you to additional resources that may be of further help.
Concerned about confidentiality if you call? According to Trans Lifeline’s website, you needn’t be:
All calls are anonymous and confidential. The operator you speak to will only know what you tell them. They will not have your phone number, name, or location. If you are looking for resources, an operator may ask you what area you’d like us to look in.
All calls are recorded for quality assurance purposes. The only people with open access to call recordings are Hotline program directors. Recordings will never be shared outside the organization. We do gather some general data on the needs and challenges our callers face for advocacy purposes, but it is anonymous and untraceable.
The helpline also has policies about respect and boundaries, to ensure you’re treated with respect and both you and the operator’s boundaries are respected. They also do not condone active rescue: “Trans Lifeline has a strict policy against non-consensual active rescue. If you are in crisis, we will not call police or emergency services on you unless you want us to.”
Microgrants for Changing Legal Documents
Another wonderful resource that the Trans Lifeline offers are microgrants. As they say on their website, “The Trans Lifeline Microgrants program can help you change your legal name and update your government identification documents. Our advocates will guide you through the process and paperwork, and then we’ll cut you a check for the entire cost.”
The documents they will help you change include: Passport, Driver’s License and State ID, Court Order Name Change, and Immigration Documents. The organization works with trans individuals to determine what documents they want changed, and provide help and information on the fees for making the changes, as well as helping navigate through the paperwork requirements. “Microgrants provides people the money they need for those fees, and do not require paperwork in return from our clients.”
This is an amazing organization doing fantastic work in the trans community. Please show your support by sharing this information with your friends and social networks. And if you can, consider helping their cause by making a small monetary donation.
The Trans Hotline
Remember, if you’re a trans or questioning person, the hotline is available every day to call:
US: 877-565-8860
Canada: 877-330-6366
from World of Psychology https://psychcentral.com/blog/trans-lifeline-peer-support-helpline-for-transgendered/
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