Coming Out About Smoking

Coming Out About Smoking: A Report from the National LGBTQ Young Adult Tobacco Project

Reduction of tobacco use among youth and young adults in the United States is an important public health issue. Emerging data from national probability samples suggests that young adults are smoking at significantly higher rates than their heterosexual counterparts. However, beyond smoking prevalence rates, little else is known about tobacco use among this under-served subpopulation of youth. In the summer of 2009, the National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC) was funded by the American Legacy Foundation’s Small Innovative Grants program to conduct a nation-wide research project focusing on tobacco use in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, and intersex community of young adults, ages 18–24.

As a national organization dedicated to serving LGBTQ youth and youth service providers, NYAC was uniquely position to take the lead in conducting one of the first national studies of tobacco use in this population. The overall objectives of the project were to address gaps in the extant literature about tobacco use among LGBTQ youth including characteristics of smokers compared to non-smokers, smoking related behaviors of current smokers, attitudes about tobacco use among smokers and non-smokers and barriers and facilitators to smoking cessation. The project was also aimed at building a network of community-based organizations committed to tobacco control and prevention among LGBTQ young adults. The results of the project have important implications for future research on tobacco use among young adults and the development of culturally appropriate prevention, treatment and public policy initiatives aimed at reducing tobacco use disparities based on sexual and gender identities.

From http://wiki.nyacyouth.org/w/Coming_Out_About_Smoking published on http://keystothecloset.blogspot.com/

Update on National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC)

As the chair of the Board of Directors of the National Youth Advocacy Coalition (NYAC), I’ve seen firsthand the impact our work has on improving the lives of LGBTQ youth. We are the only national LGBTQ youth organization that works directly with inspirational young leaders and the organizations that support them all year long. In 2011, we’ve already accomplished so much:

• Our YouthKICKS! committee convened to begin creating their own social marketing campaign to lessen the impact of smoking in the LGBTQ youth community.
• Over 60 youth from across the country attended our Youth Summit at The National Conference on LGBT Equality: Creating Change, and discussed strategies to create more avenues for youth leadership in the LGBTQ movement and other movements for social justice.
• We launched a Spanish-language version of our award winning HIV prevention social marketing campaign, You Know Different, in San Diego, and billboards for We Know Different /Sabemos Que No Es Así took over downtown.
• We have re-launched the NYAC Network, which provides membership opportunities to receive training, technical assistance and resources to youth activists and organizations that support LGBTQ youth.
• We now have 6 youth our Board of Directors, including talented fundraising professionals, Executive Directors and media makers.