LGBTQ
Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Questioning
The LGBTQ community has some of the highest rates of smoking of all the disproportionately affected populations in D.C.
Past national polling has shown that 34% of gays are still smoking cigarettes despite the fact that 98% of LGBT smokers and tobacco chewers understand that smoking increases their risk of lung cancer and heart (News Release “Gay and Lesbian E-Commerce Activity Beats That of Non-Gay Web Users” February 19, 2001). Furthermore, of those who smoked cigarettes, 47% smoked more than one pack a day.
The Mautner Project, a national health organization that primarily works to improve the health of Lesbian women, understands the critical need for education campaigns developed by and targeted to the LGBTQ community to promote quitting tobacco use of any kind. It has spearheaded a workgroup of LGBTQ organizations in the District, SmokeLess DC, to implement best practices programs and promote the DC quitline.
To ensure that messaging to LGBTQ was culturally sensitive, Mautner also organized LGBTQ focus groups, facilitated by Witek-Combs, to better understand the kinds of messaging that would encourage LGBTQ smokers to take action to quit.
Specific education messaging to LGBTQ tobacco users may help reverse the compelling effects of the niche marketing by tobacco companies. To improve the overall efficacy of cessation treatments and to reduce the prevalence of smoking among the LGBTQ population, innovative strategies must be developed that increase the motivations to quit as well as increasing the use of cessation treatments. Until as much effort is put into LGBTQ smoking cessation as the tobacco companies devote to hooking people to nicotine, LGBTQ adults will continue to needlessly die from tobacco-related diseases.
To join or to find out more about SmokeLess DC, contact D Magrini at 202-332-5536 or dmagrini@mautnerproject.org.
Current SmokeLess DC Members: (click on the name of the organization to view the website)
The DC Center’s mission is to celebrate, strengthen, and support community among the GLBT residents and organizations of Metropolitan Washington, DC. The DC Center recently launched a new website, Out to Quit, which provides free information on tobacco use and cessation services to the GLBT community.
EDUCARE Systems, Inc. provides mental health services to clients that include many LGBT people.
The Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League is the only Washington, DC metro area service organization solely dedicated to supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. Their mission is to promote and support self-confident, healthy, productive lives for LGBTQ youth as they journey from adolescence into adulthood.
Sisterspace and Books is committed to the preservation and promotion of African American women’s voices. It is a central DC institution which support the struggles and victories of all human beings and is a central institution in DC’s African American same-gender-loving women’s community.
Unity Fellowship Church of Washington, DC is an all-welcoming ministry. They open arms and hearts to gays, lesbians, transgenders, bisexual, heterosexual, all races, religions and cultures.
Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc.’s mission is to reduce HIV infection in the Black community. UHU provides HIV counseling, testing and referral services to men and women, and specializes in HIV education and risk reduction programs for Black gay/bisexual men and transgender persons.
Click here to view or download the LGBTQ Focus Group Report.
View Our Print Media Campaign for the LGBTQ Community