E-cigarette Use and Risk Behavrs among Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgenr Adults: The Behavral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) Survey - PMC

Contents:

• LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, AND QUEER (LGBTQ+) PEOPLE
• LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL SMOKERS ARE AT A HIGHER RISK FOR SMOKG MENTHOL CIGARETT
• DID CDC SAY 'IT'S GAY TO SMOKE' THIS VIO?
• SMOKG CHARACTERISTICS AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL ADULTS☆
• WHY DO SO MANY GAY PEOPLE SMOKE?
• FLORIDA JURY AWARDS GAY MAN $157 LN OM TOBAC PANI ATH OF SPOE
• E-CIGARETTE USE AND RISK BEHAVRS AMONG LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR ADULTS: THE BEHAVRAL RISK FACTOR SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM (BRFSS) SURVEY
• GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL
• THE SPECIAL, TOXIC RELATNSHIP BETWEEN GAYS AND SMOKG
• WHY DO GAYS SMOKE SO MUCH?

LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, TRANSGENR, AND QUEER (LGBTQ+) PEOPLE

† The term “LGBTQ+” is ed on this page to refer to people who are lbian, gay, bisexual, or transgenr, wh the pl sign ditg cln of people who are queer, qutng, tersex, asexual, or who hold other genr/sex/romantic inti not specifilly intified. Individuals who are lbian, gay, or bisexual e tobac at higher rat than those who are straight and those who are transgenr e tobac at higher rat than cisgenr dividuals. In 1995, one tobac pany created a marketg strategy known as “Project SCUM” or subculture urban marketg targeted at gay men and dividuals experiencg homelsns San Francis.

Compared wh heterosexual smokers, menthol cigarette smokg is higher among lbian, gay and bisexual cigarette smokers, acrdg to a Rutgers-led study, pecially among bisexual and lbian/gay female cigarette smokers. The study, published the journal Nite & Tobac Rearch, examed natnal data om 2015 to 2019 of dividuals ag 18 years and olr by sex and sexual inty and found that among smokers, 54 and 50 percent of bisexual and lbian/gay femal smokers preferred menthol cigarett, rpectively, pared wh 39 percent of smokers overall. Future studi are need, rearchers say, to rm targeted terventns to prevent menthol cigarette iatn and promote smokg csatn among lbian, gay and bisexual smokers, as well as to exame the impact of a potential menthol ban, like the one proposed by the FDA, on this populatn.

Ltle is known about cigarette brand preference (which enurag staed smokg behavr) among lbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) smokers, who have higher cigarette smokg rat than heterosexual populatns. Cigarette smokg is the leadg preventable e of ath the US, and studi show that lbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) populatns have higher cigarette smokg rat than the general populatn (20%–27% vs 14%) (1, 2). First, we examed relatnships between sexual orientatn (heterosexual, gay, lbian, and bisexual) and cigarette brand preference a US-based, natnally reprentative sample.

LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL SMOKERS ARE AT A HIGHER RISK FOR SMOKG MENTHOL CIGARETT

Bee rponse optns clud more than 50 brands, we foced our analysis on participants who smoked the cigarette brands ed most monly across the 3 sexual orientatn groups our sample (heterosexual, lbian/gay, bisexual).

In our analysis, we refer to mal who intified as nonheterosexual as gay or bisexual and femal who intified as nonheterosexual as lbian/gay or bisexual, bee, although “lbian” is one preferred inty termology among LGB women, LGBTQ+ (lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, + [other sexual and genr mory inti]) advocy groups have signated “gay” as referrg to anyone of any genr who is sexually or romantilly attracted to people of the same genr (17). We found a signifint posive associatn between smokers intifyg as lbian/gay Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanr (vs lbian/gay Whe smokers) for both Marlboro and Newport e (Marlboro, OR = 7. US adult smokers who intified as lbian/gay or bisexual were more likely to smoke certa monly ed cigarette brands than heterosexuals (Camel, Marlboro, Newport, and Amerin Spir).

DID CDC SAY 'IT'S GAY TO SMOKE' THIS VIO?

Gay/lbian smokers had slightly higher odds of Marlboro e than heterosexual smokers, and we found a signifint teractn between bisexual inty and genr for Marlboro e, where bisexual female smokers were more likely to e Marlboro cigarett than bisexual male smokers. A history of overt targeted marketg of Marlboro cigarett to gay men (19) and implic targeted marketg to LGB women (20) suggts a need for further studi of genr-targeted Marlboro advertisements and other ntributors to Marlboro e among LGB smokers. We also found associatns between the teractn of both lbian/gay and bisexual Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanr inty and Marlboro e, but the CIs of both fdgs were wi (possibly bee of small cell siz) and should be terpreted wh utn.

Genr also played a part Newport e by sexual orientatn, and female lbian/gay and female bisexual smokers were more likely to e Newport than male gay or bisexual smokers.

Fally, we found a signifint posive associatn between lbian/gay inty and Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanr race or ethnicy and Newport e, which may be related to the aforementned targeted marketg efforts.

SMOKG CHARACTERISTICS AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND BISEXUAL ADULTS☆

Furthermore, our study monstrat the importance of studyg LGB populatn subgroups, bee we found differenc not only brand e between LGB and heterosexual smokers, but also between lbian/gay and bisexual smokers.

Lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) view differently than non-LGBT: exposure to tobac-related upong, e-cigarette advertisements, and anti-tobac msag on social and tradnal media. Furthermore, the sexual mory populatn is diverse and ltle rearch exists to terme whether subgroups, such as lbians, gay men, and female and male bisexuals, differ on smoker characteristics. We exame differenc smokg characteristics (advertisg receptivy, age of first cigarette, non-daily smokg, cigarett per day, nite pennce, sire to qu and past qu attempts) among lbians, gay men, and female and male bisexual adults the Uned Stat.

It is well documented that sexual mory dividuals, such as lbians, gay men, and bisexuals (LGB), have higher smokg prevalence than the general populatn (Conron et al., 2010; Gsk et al., 2007; Lee et al., 2009, 2011; Pizani et al., 2009).

WHY DO SO MANY GAY PEOPLE SMOKE?

In a small study om At and lleagu, “mostly heterosexual” youth were more receptive than heterosexuals, but there were no differenc between eher of those groups and “mostly” or “pletely homosexual” youth (At et al., 2004).

FLORIDA JURY AWARDS GAY MAN $157 LN OM TOBAC PANI ATH OF SPOE

Corliss and lleagu found a natnally reprentative sample limed to adolcents and young adults (n = 16, 882) that those who chose their intifitn as “mostly heterosexual, ” “bisexual”, or “mostly” or “pletely homosexual, ” had an earlier age of smokg iatn pared to “pletely heterosexual” dividuals (Corliss et al., 2013). In an olr populatn-based survey of adults pletg the Behavral Risk Surveillance Survey Oregon and Washgton, Pizani and lleagu found that lbians and bisexual women had a lower qu rat pared to heterosexual women, and gay men had a lower qu rat pared to heterosexual men (Pizani et al., 2009) six studi parg smokg rrelat between LGBT and non-LGBT groups are limed to young adults (At et al., 2004; Corliss et al., 2013) which rely on olr data, or are limed to one or two stat (Gsk et al., 2007; Pizani et al., 2009).

E-CIGARETTE USE AND RISK BEHAVRS AMONG LBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL, AND TRANSGENR ADULTS: THE BEHAVRAL RISK FACTOR SURVEILLANCE SYSTEM (BRFSS) SURVEY

In addn, few studi are aquately powered to terme differenc smoker characteristics among subgroups of sexual mori, such as lbians, gay men, bisexual women, and bisexual men (Blosnich et al., 2013).

GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT

001) were no statistilly signifint differenc between gay men and heterosexual men, or bisexual men and heterosexual men on nondaily smokg, cigarett per day, nite pennce, sire to qu, or past qu ntrollg for age, race, tn, e, and geographic regn, beg a bisexual woman vers heterosexual woman was signifintly associated wh younger age at first cigarette, smokg tensy, creased past qu attempts and creased nite pennce. Reported on smokg prevalence the populatn-based California Health Interview Study, and found that current smokg was hight among bisexuals, termediate among lbians and gay men, and lowt among heterosexuals whout parg the mory groups to each other (Tang et al., 2004). In our study, spe the much higher smokg prevalence among lbian, gay and bisexual men and women as pared to their heterosexual peers, there was no difference between lbian, gay and heterosexual dividuals their attempts to qu smokg.

Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr, Queer, and Qutng (LGBTQ) Pri Month is celebrated annually June as a tribute to those volved the Stonewall Rts; to regnize the impact LGBTQ Amerins have had on society; and to advance civil rights, jtice, and equable opportuny for LGBTQ people.

Siarly, a survey of people aged 12 and olr durg 2015–2019 showed this difference is also greater among lbian or gay femal (51%) pared to gay mal (44%), and among bisexual femal (54%) pared to bisexual mal (32%). And a tragilly high number of gay people are told that they are diseased, aberrant, trsilly disorred throughout their youths, fosterg a self-loathg that n lead, if not to suici, than to nearly suicidal activi. A pack of cigarett is certaly ls toxic than meth, bge drkg, and equent, anonymo unprotected sex—all nostms wh which some sufferg gays attempt to treat their mental wounds.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

Every time a stat’ cizens give the thumbs-up to gay marriage, every time a feral judge grants basic equaly to gay people, a new generatn of LGBTQ youth be a ltle ls prone to self-hatred and self-stctn. But until gay people are tly weled all facets of society, gay kids will keep turng to those vic that, the midst of such overwhelmg bleakns, provi a fleetg (and o) moment of relief. A Florida jury has award a gay man more than $157 ln a wrongful ath lawsu after his hband died om lung ncer ed by smokg cigarett, what an attorney said is the first such se volvg a same-sex married Capr was diagnosed 1996 wh chronic obstctive pulmonary disease.

Overall, lbian, gay and bisexual adults* smoked cigarett at rat signifintly higher than straight adults and were nearly twice as likely to e e-cigarett and ltle cigars — trends due part to targeted marketg by Big Tobac. Trends were siar wh boys — pared to heterosexual boys, odds of heavy e were generally higher among gay and bisexual boys between 2005 and 2015, wh the exceptn of 2015 for gay boys and 2009 for bisexual boys. Tobac pani ed a multu of methods to target the LGBT muny, cludg advertisg gay prs publitns, pictg tobac e as a normal part of LGBT life, g rporate philanthropy as evince of s support of the LGBT muny, participatg giveaways, creasg advertisg, and hostg muny outreach efforts (e.

Reynolds created a marketg strategy lled “Project SCUM” (Sub-Culture Urban Marketg) to boost cigarette sal by targetg gay men and homels dividuals wh advertisements and displays placed muni and stor. Today’s e-cigarette pani have followed su by supportg LGBT-iendly events, cludg the e-cigarette pany VaporFi’s sponsorship of an annual gay pri ftival Miami, where they enuraged participants to celebrate diversy while on the lookout for VaporFi e-cigarett. Mal that intified as somethg else other than gay or bisexual — such as queer, pansexual or had not fed their sexualy — were more likely to be exposed to cigarette ads and e-cigarette ads.

ACTIVISTS NMN VLENCE AGAST LGBTQ MUNY ST. VCENT, WHERE GAY SEX IS ILLEGAL

In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that.

THE SPECIAL, TOXIC RELATNSHIP BETWEEN GAYS AND SMOKG

“The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them, ” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.

WHY DO GAYS SMOKE SO MUCH?

Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water.

“Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails, ” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns, ” Roth said. Of urse, other drks e the word “gay, ” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space.