A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization
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Action on Smoking and Health
A National Legal-Action Antismoking Organization Entirely Supported by Tax-Deductible Contributions
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Smoking Causes Greatest Number of GLBT Deaths [08/29-1]
Excerpts from: Activists target smoking as new threat to gay health
By LISA GREENE St.
Petersburg Times [08/23/03]
Gays and lesbians are 70 percent more likely than heterosexuals to smoke, a
fact that has caught the attention of a health community more attuned to addressing
issues like HIV and AIDS, the St. Petersburg Times reported Aug. 23.
"Smoking kills more gays than AIDS, hate crimes, suicide, and breast cancer combined, but it's only recently that we've begun to address this," said Kathleen DeBold, executive director of the lesbian-health group the Mautner Project.
The American Legacy Foundation has launched quit-smoking programs aimed at gays and lesbians, as has the California health department. Seattle founded a "Gay American Smoke Out" that has been adopted by other cities.
Smoking by homosexual teens also is a problem: researchers estimated that 38 to 59 percent of gay and lesbian adolescents smoke, compared to 28 to 35 percent of heterosexual youth. Dano Beck, 20, a member of American Legacy's youth advisory panel, says that young gay men and women smoke to deal with stress arising from dealing with accepting their sexual identity, as well as discrimination. Smoking also is seen as part of the gay bar culture.
"When you're living in a society that does not recognize your relationships ... there's a constant stress," said Nadine Smith, executive director of Equality Florida, a Tampa-based social-justice group. "There's a certain amount of one's mental energy, just like with any other kind of oppression, that is taken up by attempting to clear obstacles."
Companies like R.J. Reynolds have targeted the gay community with tobacco ads. Some experts say that general antismoking ads may not be the best response for gays, who already are told too often not to be themselves.
Positive messages may work better, says DeBold. "People are judging them for being gay, and they don't want people judging them for being smokers," she said.
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