💔 When Leadership Fails the Most Vulnerable: A Crisis of Conscience and Compassion

This Pride Month, as millions of Americans celebrate diversity, resilience, and the courage to live authentically, a deeply troubling announcement came from the very agency tasked with protecting mental health: SAMHSA is eliminating the specialized LGBTQ+ support line within the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, effective July 17.

This “Press 3” option—used by over 1.3 million callers—connected LGBTQ+ youth with trained, compassionate counselors who understood their experiences. It was more than a helpline. It was a lifeline. Now, in a stunning act of cruelty disguised as cost-cutting, that line is being severed.

Let’s be clear: this is not leadership.
This is not fiscal responsibility.
And this is not what love looks like in action.

“Servant leadership begins with the question: Who needs our help the most?
Emotional intelligence asks: Who is hurting—and are we listening?”

LGBTQ+ youth are over four times more likely to attempt suicide than their peers. They already face rejection, bullying, homelessness, and mental health disparities at alarming rates. For many, being able to speak to someone who gets it—who sees them, hears them, and honors their dignity—is the difference between despair and survival.

Cutting this service is not a neutral budget decision.
It sends a devastating message: you don’t matter.

Meanwhile, in the same month, the federal government reportedly spent between $25 million and $45 million on a military parade to celebrate the Army’s birthday—a lavish display of might and tradition.

We can justify millions for birthday parades and firepower.
But we can’t spare a fraction of that to fund a lifeline for vulnerable youth?

Where’s the emotional intelligence in that?
Where’s the servant leadership?

The tragedy is not just in the budget—it’s in the message: that celebration is more important than survival, that performance matters more than people.

One preventable death from despair is one too many.
And every dollar not spent to save a life is a statement of priorities.

Regardless of where you fall politically, regardless of your personal views on gender identity or sexuality, we should all be able to agree on this: every child deserves to feel safe, supported, and worthy of love.

The measure of a society—and its leadership—is not how it treats the powerful, but how it protects the vulnerable.
By that standard, we are failing.

I urge you:
📢 Speak up.
✍️ Write your legislators.
💖 Lead with love, not fear.
And never forget—we are not just healing ourselves, we are redrawing the map.

The future belongs to those who rise with compassion, truth, and courage.

Because this is the path forward:
Steady. Sacred. And ablaze with purpose.