The Trevor Project just got a $45 million lifeline from MacKenzie Scott—the largest gift in the LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention organization’s history—months after the Trump administration gutted their federal funding, according to the Associated Press.
“I literally could not believe it and it took some time. I actually gasped,” said Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, when they learned of Scott’s gift.
WHAT’S GOING ON: In July, the Trump administration yanked $25 million in federal funding from The Trevor Project by eliminating the 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s specific support for LGBTQ+ callers. The organization had been staffing that option, reaching about 250,000 young people through it annually—on top of another 250,000 through their independent hotline.
Translation: the administration deliberately dismantled mental health infrastructure serving some of the most vulnerable young people in the country. The Trevor Project’s hotline is now the primary lifeline for queer youth in crisis.
THE DETAILS: Scott, whose fortune comes largely from her ex-husband Jeff Bezos, gave more than $7 billion to nonprofits in 2025—but this gift to The Trevor Project wasn’t disclosed on her December giving announcement. She previously gave the organization $6 million in 2020.
The gift comes after years of internal turmoil at The Trevor Project. The organization’s budget ballooned from around $4 million in 2016 to over $83 million in 2023. The board removed its CEO in 2022, and the nonprofit went through multiple rounds of layoffs, including in July after losing the federal contract. Their 2026 budget is now $47 million.
After the funding cuts, The Trevor Project launched an emergency fundraiser that brought in $20 million.
WHY IT MATTERS: “Their services fill a gap that generic crisis lines simply aren’t designed to meet, particularly for young people facing identity-based stress, isolation or rejection,” said Scott Bertani, director of advocacy at the National Coalition for LGBTQ Health.
Of course, the fact that LGBTQ+ youth suicide prevention now depends on the whims of individual billionaires rather than stable government funding is itself a damning indictment of the system. But in the immediate term, Scott’s check keeps the lights on for an organization serving half a million vulnerable young people annually.
BOTTOM LINE: The government abandoned LGBTQ+ kids. One billionaire stepped in where the state deliberately failed. Black called it “a powerful validation” and “our turnaround story”—but the story is also about what happens when politicians decide certain lives aren’t worth protecting.