The Trevor Project – the prominent LGBTQ+ suicide prevention nonprofit – has honored Megan Thee Stallion with their Mental Health Champion of the Year Award. The rapper has met the challenges of her turbulent career with many advocacy efforts, including 2022’s BadBitchesHaveBadDaysToo.com, an online wellness hub with resources –  including The Trevor Project – and therapy directories, crisis hotlines, and other mental health organizations. Megan’s Mental Health Champion of the Year Award announcement coincides with World Mental Health Day. Established by the nearly thirty-year old organization in 2021, the award has previously been given to Dua Lipa, Dylan Mulvaney, Janelle Monáe, and Lil Nas X.

“I’m honored to receive this year’s Mental Health Champion award from The Trevor Project,” Megan Thee Stallion said in a statement in The Trevor Project’s press release. “My goal has always been to use my platform to help break stigmas around mental health and provide resources for those seeking safe spaces to have honest and heartfelt conversations. Mental health impacts all of us, so it’s important to lead with love and empathy. I’m grateful for organizations like The Trevor Project that are committed to spreading awareness and supporting our LGBTQ+ youth in powerful ways.”

After being shot by Tory Lanez as her star rose in 2020, Megan grew forthright about the psychological torment she endured following the incident and its fallout, including years long legal proceedings that culminated in Lanez’s conviction in 2022. In 2023, she joined the Ad Council’s “Seize the Awkward” campaign designed to break down mental health stigma among youth. In the PSA, she shared: “I’ve always been told I gotta be strong. Thick-skinned. Stiff upper lip. Tough as nails. But to be everything for everybody – it wears on you. Black don’t crack, they say. But it can. I can. We all can. Y’all, it’s okay to not be okay. Reach out to a friend if you see them going through it. No matter who you are, being vulnerable is what makes us whole.” In 2024, the same year she released “Cobra,” a striking admission of her battles with depression and suicidal ideation, she also highlighted her mental heath journey in the California Department of Public Health’s “Never A Bother” youth suicide prevention campaign. 

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According to reports from The Trevor Project, 39 percent of LGBTQ+ young people seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, while 46 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth in particular did. LGBTQ+ youth of color in reported higher rates than white peers and 21 percent of Black transgender and nonbinary young people reported a suicide attempt in the past year. 

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“Megan Thee Stallion is a mental health champion in every sense of the word,” said Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project. “Her raw honesty, bold advocacy, and deep love for her community make her an extraordinary role model – particularly for Black LGBTQ+ youth, who face some of the highest rates of discrimination, mental health challenges, and suicide risk. Megan’s activism doesn’t just stop at words; she builds real, tangible resources for vulnerable communities that are too often overlooked or left behind. As a queer Black person, I wish I had someone like Megan to look up to when I was growing up. Her courage, her authenticity, and her unwavering commitment to mental health advocacy will echo for generations. The Trevor Project is proud to honor her incredible impact, especially at a time when LGBTQ+ young people are being stripped of life-saving resources. Megan Thee Stallion’s voice is not just powerful. It’s essential.”

Over the course of her career, Megan has embraced LGBTQ+ communities and been open about her own queerness as well, like on “Broke His Heart” from her third studio album Megan, where she raps plainly, “I like girls and I like niggas, both of ’em gettin’ ate.” Megan and her management company Roc Nation have also faced a lawsuit from a former cameraman alleging he endured elements of a hostile work environment under her in part because he is gay. In July, Megan and Roc Nation unsuccessfully moved to have the case dismissed. A representative for Megan Thee Stallion did not immediately return Rolling Stone’s request for comment.