On Friday The Trevor Project, the world's largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for LGBTQ youth, launched its first digital out of home campaign in an effort to drum up awareness and support in Texas.
The campaign comes as Texas governor Greg Abbott signed an executive order requiring state agencies to investigate child abuse among parents allowing their transgender children to receive gender-affirming care.
"Texas has been a hotspot for anti-LGBTQ legislation and rhetoric over the past few years,” Amit Paley, chief executive officer and executive director of The Trevor Project, told Campaign US. “The most recent unlawful directive from the Texas governor to prosecute parents who support their transgender kids was unlike anything we've seen before,".
The digital OOH campaign consists of banners and billboards across four major markets, totaling 120 screens in Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. The text-driven creative lays out facts for passersby, with statements like “Supportive parents save lives.”
The outreach is geared to "awaken a clarion call of support for trans and non-binary youth and their families," Paley said.
The statewide outreach aims to accomplish three goas: Educate the public about Trevor Project’s crisis services, spread valuable information about the importance of gender-affirming care for trans and nonbinary youth and share bold messages of love and support.
In 2021, the Trevor Project released a survey looking into the mental health of LGBTQ youth in the U.S. It found that more than half (52%) of transgender and nonbinary youth "seriously considered suicide" in the past year, and of those, one in five attempted it.
“We're seeing first-hand the wide range of emotions that LGBTQ young people experience in response to the wave of anti-trans legislation across the country," said Paley. "Specifically in Texas, it was essential for us to make our voices heard and our presence felt on the ground with an impactful rapid-response marketing campaign."
The Trevor Project is a nonprofit dedicated to protecting and supporting LGBTQ youth in crisis. If you or someone you know is thinking about self-harm over emotions tied to your identity, The Trevor Project offers free live counseling 24 hours a day.
