Smoking in the LGBT Community

Here's the facts

The American Cancer Society estimates that over 30,000 LGBT people in the US die each year of tobacco-related diseases. In comparison, around 18,000 people in the US die each year from AIDS-related complications. Actually, tobacco-related diseases kill more people annually than murders, suicides, hate crimes, drugs, alcohol, fires and HIV/AIDS COMBINED.

• Our LGBT community is 50% - 200% more likely to smoke than the straight community.
• It is not just adults. 45% of female youth and 35% of male youth who report same-sex attraction or behavior smoked compared to only 29% of other youth.
• For our community members who are HIV+, tobacco weakens the immune system and speeds up the progression of AIDS. On top of that, smoking is associated with health problems that are unique to the HIV+ population such as increased incidences of periodontal disease, oral candidiasis, oral hairy leukoplakia and oral lesions.

Here's Why

Tobacco companies offer financial support to LGBT festivals, bars, media, and local organizations. Sometimes support comes with conditions, for example, some gay bars are prohibited from allowing any anti-tobacco promotion onsite.

Tobacco industry funding can compromise anti-tobacco activities by LGBT community organizations. For example, while major TV networks refused to air an ad exposing "Project SCUM", GLAAD was taking tobacco industry money in support of their annual gala.

Here's What the Tobacco Industry Thinks of us

An early tobacco industry document described the plan for increasing sales among San Francisco's gay and homeless populations, it was labeled "Project SCUM".

"SCUM" stood for "SubCulture Urban Marketing" and was prominently displayed on materials pertaining to the project.