Controversial Bill Would Add Trevor Project Suicide Hotline to Student ID Cards

An utterly treacherous bill has passed the State Assembly and is making its way through Senate committees.

Assembly Bill 727, authored by Assemblyman Mark González (D-Los Angeles) would put the Trevor Project’s suicide hotline number on the back of school identification cards for grades 7-12, as well as higher education. This would be in addition to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline that’s already printed on student IDs. 

There have been amendments to remove private schools and colleges from the bill, but that still leaves all public education, including charter schools, subject to this change.

According to Assemblyman González in an April 9 Assembly Education Committee meeting, this is a bill “rooted in urgency” for LGBTQ+ students: “A study by the Trevor Project found that among 18,000 LGBTQ+ young people ages 13-24 surveyed nationwide, 39% seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, and 12% attempted suicide.” 

Of course, these are terrifying numbers. There is a crisis amongst all our youth, especially LGBTQ students. But we should inquire deeper into why that population is more susceptible to mental health struggles instead of blindly associating with an organization like the Trevor Project as a solution. 

Speaking in opposition to AB 747 during an April 9 Assembly Education Committee meeting, National Center for Law and Policy President Dean Broyles argues this bill would violate the free speech of religious schools protected by the 1st Amendment and threaten parental rights protected by the 14th Amendment. 

“For more than 100 years the U.S. Supreme Court has held that the 14th Amendment protects the fundamental right of parents to direct the care, education, and raising of their children…neither the state nor Trevor Project have the authority to circumvent, question, or undermine the parental authority for minor children—the only exception is for when parents are unfit, and the state may not assume parents are unfit merely because they do not affirm the state’s sexual orientation and gender orientation identity ideologies,” Broyles said. 

His argument is spot-on, but Californians need to understand the real danger of the Trevor Project. It not only undermines parental rights, but may also subject children to unfettered predation and exploitation. Let me walk you through what your child may have access to if directed to the Trevor Project website.

Once you open the homepage of the site, three prominent bubbles lead you to the options, “Meet Friends,” “Reach a Counselor,” and “Donate.” If you click “Reach a Counselor,” you’re directed to the hotline and counseling resources. Those resources are the ones AB 727 wants to make accessible for students. 

But that’s not all the site has to offer. Once you click “Meet Friends,” you are redirected to a page with the headline, “Find your community at TrevorSpace.”

It continues, “TrevorSpace is a welcoming online social community for LGBTQ+ young people between the ages of 13-24 years old. With over 400,000 members across the globe, you can find support groups and make friends in a moderated online safe space intentionally designed for you.” 

Immediately, the warning signals should be going off. What kind of “community” involves nearly pubescent children in conversation with grown adults about intimate sexual topics? What kind of “friendship” can a 24-year-old and a 13-year-old have when that friendship is centered on their sexual identity?

Broyles labeled the chatrooms of TrevorSpace a “groomer’s paradise.” That is the perfect way to describe the environment that TrevorSpace creates. 

It took me about a minute to set up an account. No age verification, no legal first and last name, just a username name and email. The site did require an email confirmation, but I just created a new email and used that one. Few ties, if any, to my legal identity. I could hide behind a username. 

Once logged in, the site immediately leads to a popup menu showing you how to exit the site quickly if needed. Is this something that a safe site does? Why the need for secrecy? Another alarm bell.

Once you close the popup, it leads you to a host of forums with categories such as “Finding Friends,” “Coming Out,” “Gender,” and “Religion and Spirituality.” Under the spirituality section, I scanned a list of different forums titled, “Looking for a Witchcraft Mentor,” “A Witch’s Rants,” “Hellenic Pagans?” “In a cult,” “Should I worship Hypnos?” “I’m a Satanist, ask me anything I guess idk,” and the list goes on.

You can also find a section with a list of TrevorSpace-specific resources, such as ones guiding readers how to “come out,” or teaching them about “the complexities of lesbian visibility.”

However, probably the most worrisome aspects of the site are the various “clubs” users can join. Here are some of the most prominent amongst them. 

Apparently TrevorSpace thinks it acceptable for 13-year-olds to be exposed to polyamory as a normalized practice. 

As you see in the chat thread below, users posted their desire to find partners in a certain age range. 

I didn’t need to formally “join” the club to view these messages. Many were sharing social media links so that they could have a more intimate conversation elsewhere. But how can this be safe, especially when users are from all over the world, without identity or age verification? Again, Broyles’ label as a “groomer’s paradise” fits perfectly. 

And then, clubs that only drive wedges between families. Your parents are strict? Here is some advice on how to sneak out. Your family doesn’t support your identity? Choose a new family from a host of online adults ready to be your “sibling.” Disgusting. 

When children are going through the vulnerability of sexual confusion, the last thing they need is strangers on the internet telling them to abandon their family. Many children, especially girls, go through periods during puberty when they feel uncomfortable in their bodies. Most of the time, that feeling will pass. But if you tell them that their discomfort is a product of “gender dysphoria,” or offer them a host of new identities they can choose from, that will only leave them more confused. 

People who wish to do harm drive wedges—between parent and child, between the child and their identity—and these wedges are not what the government should promote through association with the Trevor Project. 

This should make you feel uncomfortable, and then it should make you angry. 

Sheriff Chad Bianco of the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office stated in a California Family Council article: “A member of our department in his 40s was able to register on TREVORspace simply by posing as a 13-year-old…Once he logged in, he was able to initiate private chats with other users immediately, without restriction or review. He also had access to profile photos and chat images posted by users. Many comments included flirtatious language and excessive flattery, which raised red flags given his understanding of predatory behavior.”

TrevorSpace creates an environment for abuse to occur by connecting struggling, confused, vulnerable children with unverified adults and potential predators.

Seeing all this, why would we ever consider promoting the Trevor Project as a resource on the back of school ID cards? 

Of course, there is a mental health crisis among our youth. Anxiety, depression, and suicide rates have only continued to rise.  I’ve seen it with my own eyes. It’s horrific. But the solution to those things is not driving wedges between the vulnerable and the people they need most. What youth need is genuine connection. This requires restricted access to social media platforms, and real time with their family and their community. This requires real attentiveness and care by parents.

Assemblyman González said in an April 9 Assembly Education Committee meeting that “schools should be a safe place.” I don’t know what he means by safe, because exposing children to potential exploitation through the Trevor Project is not how I would envision it. 

From a purely constitutional perspective, this bill would harm parents’ rights. But this is about more than legality. This is about the ideology game the state continues to play with our children’s emotional development and physical safety at risk. This is about sinister people who wish to exploit and abuse our children at whatever opportunity they can. 

So oppose the Trevor Project’s prominence in our children’s lives. Exposing them to potential predators is not the way to prevent suicide.