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Ryan Walters
“The relief expressed by callers is palpable, and we are grateful for the positive impact his departure has had on the mental well-being of our community,” Rainbow Youth Project director Lance Preston said.
A new report from the Indianapolis-based Rainbow Youth Project suggests the resignation of Oklahoma State Superintendent Ryan Walters may be offering relief to queer and trans youth across the state.
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The organization, which operates a national crisis hotline for LGBTQ+ young people, says calls from Oklahoma have dropped sharply since Walters announced his departure on September 24 and officially left office the following week. Between March 2024 and September 2025, Rainbow Youth Project received an average of 1,431 monthly calls from Oklahoma, according to a press release. In the 30 days following Walters’s announcement, that number fell to 914, a 36 percent decline.
Related: Ryan Walters runs away from Fox anchor after resignation
“Following Ryan Walters’s resignation, we have noticed a substantial decrease in crisis calls from Oklahoma,” Lance Preston, the organization’s executive director, said. “The relief expressed by callers is palpable, and we are grateful for the positive impact his departure has had on the mental well-being of our community.”
Before his exit, nearly two-thirds of Oklahoma callers, 64 percent, identified Walters as a source of distress, according to Rainbow Youth Project. Since 2024, the nonprofit has operated an Oklahoma City outreach office, serving more than 500 local youth.
Walters’s tenure was marked by relentless anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and policies that turned classrooms into political battlegrounds. A close ally of Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt and national conservative groups, Walters repeatedly portrayed queer and transgender students as threats to education. He fought to remove Pride flags from classrooms, supported banning transgender girls from school sports, and sought to introduce the Bible as a required text in every public school.
Related: 7 of Ryan Walters’s most heinous anti-LGBTQ+ quotes
He also used his official social media accounts to attack teachers who supported LGBTQ+ students, falsely accused educators of “indoctrinating” children with “radical gender ideology,” and promoted conspiracy theories about drag performers and public education.
When Walters announced his resignation to lead a conservative education group, he did so live on Fox News and refused to answer questions from Oklahoma reporters afterward. As The Advocate reported, he literally ran away from journalists asking if he was “bailing out” on Oklahomans.
For many of Oklahoma’s LGBTQ+ youth, the numbers represent something rare: measurable relief after years of political hostility.
If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services. Trans Lifeline, designed for transgender or gender-nonconforming people, can be reached at (877) 565-8860. The lifeline also provides resources to help with other crises, such as domestic violence situations. The Trevor Project Lifeline, for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger), can be reached at (866) 488-7386. Users can also access chat services at TheTrevorProject.org/Help or text START to 678678.
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