Maybe you're thinking that tobacco use isn't an issue for you personally, because you quit smoking years ago, or because you never started.
True, it might not be a personal-use issue for you, yet here we are, as a community, perched atop a community-wide crisis.
Today (Thursday, November 15) is the Great American Smokeout, an annual event started in 1976 by the California division of the American Cancer Society.
For those who may have forgotten how difficult the struggle to quit smoking can be, we should remember that quitting takes practice. Unfortunately, many individuals today feel that they simply can't do it, or they lack the social support or tools to quit for good. Given the ready availability and marketing of cigarettes in so many of our neighborhoods and the addictive properties of nicotine, will anything help?
If we're going to point fingers in order to address this crisis, let's point them at the tobacco industry. Knowingly addicting, knowingly lying. Not just lying, but actually found to be engaged in racketeering by a federal court ruling last year in a case brought forth by the Department of Justice.
Through the years, the LGBT community has been actively courted by tobacco companies through advertising and sponsorship. Tobacco industry ads appear regularly in Out magazine and in the Advocate, in the Bay Guardian and SF Weekly. The industry misleads our community by pretending to care about our interests, while endangering our lives and exploiting us. If we collaborate with the tobacco industry, we contribute to the problem.
Tobacco takes an enormous toll:
¥ Approximately 450,000 Americans die each year from tobacco related illnesses including lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease, stroke, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) as well as cancers of the mouth, larynx, esophagus, kidney, and bladder.
¥ We all pay in many ways: higher health care costs, fires, premature aging of skin, cigarette butt litter that seeps into groundwater, toxic secondhand smoke, impotence, and infertility.
¥ Worldwide, approximately 5,000,000 die, each and every year.
What about here in California, in our own communities? Sobering statistics include:
¥ Forty-four percent of our 18-24 year old queer youth smoke cigarettes.
¥ Lesbians smoke at a rate of 33 percent, triple the rate for all California women.
¥ Twenty-seven percent of gay men smoke, compared to 17 percent of all California men.
¥ A transgender woman's lungs, heart, and liver may be severely affected if smoking while taking estrogen.
What to do about all this?
Advocates in California are working closely with LGBT organizations, elected officials, and the media in order to counteract tobacco industry influence as well as to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke.
Advocates are approaching many of our community leaders and institutions to help us beat back the tobacco industry. Many have taken a firm stand and they are to be saluted:
¥ LGBT community newspapers and magazines that have policies against accepting tobacco industry ads include the Bay Area Reporter , Bay Times, XY magazine, Lesbian News, and Outword .
¥ LGBT elected officials representing us in Sacramento who have signed pledges to refuse donations from the tobacco industry include Mark Leno, Carole Migden, John Laird, and Sheila Kuehl.
¥ LGBT outdoor Pride events with 100 percent smoke-free policies that protect the health of all attendees, especially those with HIV, asthma, heart disease, seniors, and kids, include Prides in Santa Cruz, San Diego, Bakersfield, and San Gabriel Valley.
¥ LGBT community organizations that have written policies against accepting tobacco industry donations include San Francisco Pride, San Francisco LGBT Community Center, Frameline San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, Los Angeles Pride, Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club, Gay Asian Pacific Alliance, and Community United Against Violence.
Why is it important to have these written policies in place? Because when our organizations and elected officials take a firm stand, they change the norm in the LGBT community. Their stand lets the tobacco industry know that we will not play their money game, and that we are firmly on the side of health.
Quitting smoking takes practice. Like learning to ride a bicycle, it's normal to fall off, to feel discouraged, and to wonder if you'll make it. You'll most likely have to make multiple attempts. With practice, you'll learn what to do and what not to do. You'll do better if you have motivation and if you have support. Eating and sleeping will help, as well as keeping a positive attitude.
Want to quit smoking in a confidential and supportive group setting? Contact the Last Drag at http://www.lastdrag.org or (415) 339-STOP.
Want individual telephone counseling from the California Smokers' Helpline at a time that's convenient for you? Call 1-800-NO-BUTTS (1-800-662-8887).
Want to join a community of others on the Web? Try http://www.quitnet.org.
And lastly, remember the 5 Ds: Deep breathing, Drink water, Delay a few minutes until the craving subsides, Do something with your hands and mouth, and Dialogue with a friend who has quit smoking. Good luck and good health – to all of us.
Bob Gordon is project director of the California LGBT Tobacco Education Partnership (http://www.lgbtpartnership.org). He is also involved with the Coalition of Lavender Americans on Smoking & Health and the Last Drag.