Advocate.com – Mitch Kellaway November 24, 2014
San Francisco-based Trans Lifeline has collected an all-trans staff of volunteers who aim to make the crisis hotline experience more comfortable and accessible for trans callers.
Trans Lifeline, the first U.S. suicide hotline dedicated to transgender people, began taking calls this month, reports Time.
Created by a San Francisco group led by trans software developer Greta Martela, Trans Lifeline is entirely staffed by trans-identified volunteers. Its founders hope that the “by trans people, for trans people” approach will help address the staggering over representation of trans people within suicide rate statistics.
Trans people are nearly 10 times as likely as cisgender (non trans) people to attempt suicide, with 41 percent of U.S. trans people reporting an attempt to commit suicide, as compared to a 4.6 national average, according to a 2011 report by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National LGBTQ Task Force. Trans Lifeline’s founders hope that with more trans-specific suicide prevention tactics, this number could possibly be reduced.