California Gov. Gavin Newsom has once again aligned himself with the most radical edge of the transgender advocacy movement—this time by signing AB 727 into law, a bill that mandates public and private schools to print the Trevor Project’s LGBTQ+ hotline on all student ID cards. The law applies to students as young as middle school. And while it’s being framed as a suicide prevention measure, a closer look at the Trevor Project—and the political motives behind this move—suggests something far more ideological than compassionate.
California schools were already required to include a suicide prevention hotline on student IDs. That makes this law not about plugging a gap in safety nets, but about choosing which hotline deserves the spotlight—and therefore state endorsement. The Trevor Project is no neutral mental health resource. It is a deeply political organization, one that has faced increasing criticism for its activism around youth gender transitions, its opposition to parental involvement in critical decisions, and its online platforms that enable minors to engage in sensitive, often explicit conversations without adult supervision.
One of its online services, TrevorSpace, is billed as a peer-support community for LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 24. But even this age span raises questions—what 13-year-old belongs in a virtual “chatroom” with 24-year-olds? Despite the site’s promise of moderation, independent reviews and watchdog groups have documented instances of inappropriate discussions and advice being given to vulnerable teens.
The Trump Administration’s removal of LGBTQ suicide prevention programs this summer was a disgrace.
I just signed legislation requiring student ID cards in public middle schools, high schools, and colleges to include the @TrevorProject’s crisis and suicide prevention hotline. pic.twitter.com/s4zO9gSuf6
— Governor Gavin Newsom (@CAgovernor) October 10, 2025
Most troubling of all, the Trevor Project’s site offers a “quick exit” button that closes the chat and erases browsing history—clearly designed to circumvent parental awareness. For a state to now mandate promotion of such a service, regardless of a family’s values or knowledge, raises not just ethical questions, but legal ones as well.
But for the bill’s backers, this isn’t about neutrality or informed consent—it’s about pushing back against the Trump administration. Assemblyman Mark González, the bill’s sponsor, said the law was introduced in direct response to Trump ending federal ties to LGBTQ-specific hotlines that subcontracted to activist organizations like the Trevor Project. González framed the bill as California “stepping up” where Trump “turned his back.” That framing reveals the true nature of the legislation: it’s not a suicide prevention initiative. It’s a political response cloaked in the language of compassion.
And Gov. Newsom’s office made that even clearer in its response to critics. Rather than address substantive concerns—like the Trevor Project’s opposition to parental notification policies or its controversial medical recommendations for minors—Newsom’s spokesperson pivoted to a tired political attack: “If MAGA is more upset about a crisis hotline saving LGBTQ kids than about those kids dying by suicide, I think we’ve found the real problem.”
It’s a rhetorical sleight of hand: accuse your critics of being indifferent to suicide, while sidestepping the valid issue they raised—namely, whether an organization pushing gender ideology onto children without parental knowledge or consent should be state-endorsed on school ID cards.
Newsom has, in recent months, hinted at moderation, even calling men competing in women’s sports “deeply unfair.” But his administration continues to double down on policies that promote gender ideology in public institutions, especially schools. California’s Department of Education has refused to comply with Trump administration directives on maintaining sex-segregated spaces and sports. And now, they’re enshrining in law a pipeline that connects minors directly with activists—often behind the backs of their parents.