1. LGBT Tobacco Prevention & Control National Association of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Community Centers

2. The LGBT Tobacco Prevention and Control Project is a five-year CDC funded project administered by The Center Orange County on behalf of the NALGBTCC. Hundreds of organizations worked to create a document outlining health goals for Americans that we hope to achieve by the year 2010. The plan can be summarized in two main goals: 1. To increase the quality of years of healthy life 2. And to eliminate health disparities LGBT Tobacco Use Prevention and Control

3. The NALGBTCC received the funding to focus on the LGBT population. The task at hand is to prepare our community centers to carry out tobacco use prevention programming: Prevention programs Peer organizing Creating no smoking policies Media campaigns Cessation programs Debating the issue of accepting donations from the tobacco industry LGBT Tobacco Use Prevention and Control

4. LUNG CANCER? What about HIV/AIDS? Homicide? Domestic Violence? Gay Bashing? The whole image that gay men??? AIDS??? Why does it matter if I drink and smoke too much

5. SOCIAL NORMS? …smoking, drinking and being around other gay people all went hand in hand, i mean, you know, you couldn’t do one without the other Some of it has to do with when you first come out and you are looking for places to go and people to meet. On the surface when you first start looking where can you go, well, the most obvious answer is and easiest answer is the bar.

6. But yeah, the bars themselves, I mean there’s a lot more bars than there, there are a lot more alcohol gathering places for gay people that there are non-alcohol places. And alcohol and cigarettes go hand in hand. There’s a lot more smoking gathering places than non-smoking. Even in health conscious Colorado. I think if you go to the bar and you got to the bar to drink, you’re probably more likely to smoke. So you’re just around it more so you want to be accepted and you want to sort of, do what everyone else is doing you know so you start smoking.

7. Negative Aspects of Smoking! Bad breath, ugly teeth, nasty smelling clothes. It’s not cool to smoke in West Hollywood. Every time I walk out of the Gym to have a cigarette I look around to see if anybody knows me. Lung Cancer and wrinkles

8. Positive Aspects to Smoking? Yeah, yeah. It’s a great conversation starter. I can’t count how many times people come to me at the bar. And I have gone out on dates with them or whatever, “can I have a cigarette or something”. It’s a great starter. I only smoke when I have been extremely stressed out and when I feel like I am going to literally climb the wall if I don’t go out and get that pack of cigarettes and then I decide that’s the lesser of two evils and I go ahead and do that and get it out of my system and I’m over it for awhile.

9. I was in uptown this weekend and I saw a lot of fairly young people walking in the street smoking and I thought they looked pretty cool. It has nothing to do with advertising. It’s just how they happened to look. I know it’s not healthy but to be honest about it that would be more of a social aspect. Better than drugs. Positive Aspects to Smoking?

10. Pride Survey Results Sample size = 355 Alaska = 7% Utah = 6% Calif. = 87% Average age = 33 Gender Men = 26% Women = 71% Other = 3% Education = Some college Sexual Orientation Gay = 25% Lesbian = 52% Bisexual = 13% Queer = 2% Other = 4% Transgender/Transsexual = 3% Income = $24,000 and $30,000 a year, last year Use any Tobacco Product = 46% Use Cigarettes = 43%

11. Pride Survey Results Attitudes

12. Pride Survey Results Tobacco Use Cigarette Smokers Only Began smoking on average at 16 years of age  72% began at 17 years or younger Smoke 64 Cigarettes a week  44% smoke 3 or more packs a week Smoke 12 Cigarettes a day  45% smoke a half a pack of cigarettes a day Spend $24 a week on Cigarettes  24% spend $30 or more a week on cigarettes

13. Pride Survey Results Tobacco Use Cigarette Smokers Only -- Use of Light and Ultralight Cigarettes

14. Pride Survey Results Tobacco Use Cigarette Smokers Only -- Context of Use

15. Pride Survey Results Tobacco Use Cigarette Smokers Only -- Social Use

16. Pride Survey Results Tobacco Use Cigarette Smokers Only -- Cessation Ever Quit Smoking Since Initiation = 69%  Ever Tried to Quit in the Past Year = 54% Average Number of Times one Quits = 7 times  86% Have Tried to Quit at Least 1 time Used Following to try to quit  Nicotine Replacement = 35%  Prescription Medication = 5%  Alternative Therapy (hypnosis, etc.) = 8% Of Those Smokers 25 Years or Younger, 56% Would Consider Participating in a Free, LGBT Young Adult Cessation Program

17. What do we do now? Increase smoke-free services, LGBT specific cessation and prevention programs at community centers. Advocate for smoke-free LGBT venues; coffee shops, bars, night clubs. Educate Gay & Lesbian Medical Association and general physicians to increase tobacco use awareness and cessation programs. Work with federal, State, County, and City officials to fund prevention and cessation programs

18. www.LGBTCenters.org tobaccoinfo@lgbtcenters.org kristinak@lgbtcenters.org tburch@lgbtcenters.org