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People Who Identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Questioning, or Asexual (LGBQA)
Individuals who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning, or asexual (LGBQA) are impacted at a higher rate by commercial tobacco use due to targeted marketing, stressors of homophobia and biphobia, barriers to health care, and limited access to reliable quit tobacco programs.
People who are LGBQA also face racism, poverty, substance abuse, and barriers to accessing behavioral health services, all of which increase commercial tobacco use risk and tobacco health disparities.
Commercial tobacco use among LGB individuals and youth in the United States is higher than among heterosexual/straight individuals. About one in five LGB adults smoke cigarettes, compared with about one in six heterosexual/straight adults.
The MDHHS Tobacco Control program is dedicated to working with national, state, and community-based organizations to gather information on commercial tobacco use among LGBQA individuals to help make culturally appropriate tobacco services that meet the diverse needs of these communities and improve health disparities.
If you are interested in participating in future collaborative efforts to reduce commercial tobacco use among Michigan residents who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning, or asexual, please contact us at 517-335-8376.
Resources
- Issue Brief: Tobacco Use among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and/or Queer (LGBTQ+*) Individuals (University of Michigan Tobacco Research Network; Summer 2022)
- Using and Quitting Tobacco: Results from Surveys and Focus Groups with Michigan LGBTQ+ Individuals (Calvin University Center for Social Research; November 2021)
- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Persons and Tobacco Use (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- This Free Life Campaign (Food and Drug Administration)
- MPOWERED: Best and Promising Practices for LGBT Tobacco Prevention and Control (Network for LGBT Health Equity, now LGBT HealthLink)
- Tobacco Use in LGBT Communities (Truth Initiative)
- LGBTQ Tobacco Use Fact Sheet (National LGBT Cancer Network)
- The LGBT Community: A Priority Population for Tobacco Control (American Lung Association)
- Michigan's LGBT Community: Results of a First-Ever Tobacco Use Assessment Study, Including Electronic Devices (MDHHS webinar; 1:00:44)
- The Michigan Tobacco Quitlink (1-800-QUIT-NOW) can provide support for individuals who want to quit smoking. It can be hard to quit. The Quitlink recognizes that some groups of people are impacted by tobacco in unique ways and may need more support with quitting. To learn more about how quitting benefits your community, visit the Quitlink's Tobacco and You page.
- For additional resources and webinars, please visit our MDHHS Tobacco Control Program Online Tobacco Resource Library page.
- More data and reports related to commercial tobacco use and quitting rates can be found on our Data & Statistics About Tobacco in Michigan webpage.
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