LOCAL
Ross Terrell, The Oklahoma Eagle
Photo, Adobe Stock
Starting Thursday, LGBTQ+ youth in Oklahoma who dial 988 will no longer have a separate, specific option for mental health care.
The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline launched nationally in 2022. The “Press 3 option” connected callers with someone who was trained to deal with the unique needs of LGBTQ+ people between the ages of 13 and 24.
A 2024 survey from the Trevor Project, an LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention organization, found 46% of LGBTQ+ youth in Oklahoma seriously considered suicide in the past year. Overall, suicide is the ninth leading cause of death in the state.
The Press 3 option program ran out of funding, per a June press release from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA). About $30 million was set aside for it in fiscal year 2023. That increased to $33 million in 2024.
SAMHSA said as of June 2025 the money had been spent elsewhere, though the administration said anyone who calls 988 will continue to receive “compassion and help.”
According to a 2020 report from UCLA’s Williams Institute, 25,000 Oklahomans ages 13-17 identified as LGBTQ+. In 2023, the institute found 5.5% of adults in the state did too.
In its second full year of operation, 988 in Oklahoma received about 36,500 calls, per The Oklahoman. It’s not clear how many of those calls used the Press 3 option.
