Anti-suicide advocate seeks volunteers to support LGBTQ+ youth in North Dakota

Editor’s note: If you or someone you know may be experiencing a mental health crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline by dialing or texting “988.”

(North Dakota Monitor) — A North Dakota activist is recruiting volunteers across the state to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ youth.

The new project, called the LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce, was created by Fargo-area suicide prevention advocate Faye Seidler.

Her goal is to recruit at least one volunteer for each of North Dakota’s 47 legislative districts. Anyone can apply to join the effort. The project is designed to make it as easy as possible for North Dakotans to contribute, Seidler said.

“A lot of what I’m doing is empowering people to have the tools to kind of make that change in their community, and then support them where I can,” she said. “I think that there are people who kind of want to just get involved, but they don’t know how.”

The idea is for volunteers to build up resources for queer youth in their area and form connections with local leaders, she said.

It’s not a formal organization, and there aren’t specific requirements for what kind of work volunteers must do. Seidler said that’s to allow people the flexibility to help out on their own terms.

National and local resources

• Trans Lifeline: 1-877-565-8860
• The Trevor Project: 1-866-488-7386
• FirstLink: Dial or text 988 for mental crisis or 911 for crisis. Dial 211 or text ND4me to 898-211 for general help

Volunteers should do whatever makes most sense for their communities, she said.

That could mean sitting down with a local school board member to talk about ways to help LGBTQ+ youth, starting a support group or organizing a suicide prevention training at a church.

Many decision-makers in North Dakota don’t understand that LGBTQ+ youth in their communities are struggling and need support, Seidler said.

According to Seidler’s analysis of 2023 Youth Risk Behavior Survey data, lesbian, gay and bisexual high-school students in North Dakota were more than three times as likely to have attempted suicide than their straight, cisgender peers. Transgender highschoolers were almost five times as likely to have attempted suicide compared with straight, cisgender students.

“It’s my general belief that a lot of the folks in our state just don’t have good stories about the experiences that queer youth have here,” she said.

To learn more about the task force or to sign up to be a volunteer, visit Seidler’s website. The website also includes data, fact sheets and other resources.

The task force will launch Monday. To commemorate its debut, Seidler will host a 16-hour livestream on the website Twitch starting at 8 a.m. Saturday and concluding at midnight.

Seidler will use that time to answer any questions from viewers, but has nothing else planned for the stream. That’s on purpose, she said.

“I want people to understand the weight of how long time can feel like when you’re waiting for help and there’s no help around,” Seidler said.

The task force isn’t supported by external funding. Seidler said it’s important to her that the project be self-sustaining.

“We have seen across this year how much funding can be disrupted through grant efforts, whether it be federal or local,” she said.

The Trump administration has made sweeping cuts to programs that support queer youth — including by shutting down a suicide prevention hotline late last year. The federal government has also sought to curb data collection on LGBTQ+ Americans.

North Dakota lawmakers have also passed a number of state laws restricting LGBTQ+ rights. Under a 2025 law, schools cannot have all-gender restrooms, which some opponents said are important accommodations for transgender students. State law already forbade schools from letting transgender students use the bathroom that aligns with their gender.

A law passed during the 2023 session also bars transgender adolescents from receiving puberty blockers and hormone therapy to treat gender dysphoria.

The North Dakota Legislature has rejected previous proposals to protect people who identify as LGBTQ+ from different forms of discrimination.

Cody Schuler, advocacy director for the North Dakota ACLU, said given the national and state climate toward LGBTQ+ youth, efforts like the LGBTQ+ Safety Taskforce are needed “now more than ever.”

“Anything that advocates can do to build up resources and spaces for growing advocacy is not only admirable, but necessary,” he said.

North Dakota Monitor reporter Mary Steurer can be reached at msteurer@northdakotamonitor.com.