LGBTQ+ people are at a higher risk of smoking than their peers. A county health department and a local LGBTQ+ organization are partnering to reach them with the resources to quit, now or in the future.
Medina County Health Department (MCHD) and OutSupport–an organization that offers legal, spiritual and addiction resources for LGBTQ+ people between Cleveland and Akron–are working to empower queer smokers to quit when they’re ready.
Both organizations attend Pride events, hand out smoking-cessation resources and talk with attendees. They have also sponsored billboard advertisements with LGBTQ+ representation.
“We’ve talked to multiple different youth-focused groups about not starting vaping and resisting [the] tobacco industry’s targeting,” said Rebecca Parkhurst, health educator with MCHD. “We talked about not allowing the tobacco industry to profit off our futures [and] our health.
Big Tobacco targeted the LGBTQ+ community as a market through sponsoring Pride events, beginning with an initiative in San Francisco in the mid 1990s that R.J. Reynolds internally labeled “Project Scum,” Parkhurst said. According to the CDC, in 2022, nearly 11% of U.S. adults smoked.. Fifteen percent of the LGBTQ+ community smokes, and up to 35% of transgender people smoke, according to one national study.
Much of the partnership has focused on identifying community-specific needs and challenges, Parkhurst said. The health department gathered data from the Greater Akron Community Needs Assessment.
The initial goal was to provide outreach information to 10% of Medina County’s LGBTQ+ population. They exceeded that goal “pretty dramatically,” despite many people seeking services elsewhere, Parkhurst said. MCHD is also partnering with nearby organizations that might serve Medina residents outside the county, such as Summit County Public Health.
“Rather than challenges, we’ve seen opportunities,” she said. “For a lot of folks in Medina who are LGBTQ+, [they] seek services at LGBTQ+-serving organizations that are not in the county.”
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said inclusive ad campaigns “have a double benefit.”
“LGBTQ people see themselves reflected in media, and that increases the chance they know these resources exist and can access them for their health and safety,” Ellis said. “The campaigns also send a powerful message to non-LGBTQ people, that we are in every community, we belong – and above all deserve health and happiness the same as everyone else.”
Impact
The campaign would not be nearly as effective without OutSupport’s help – and it’s the only one of its kind in Ohio, Parkhurst said. With OutSupport as a bridge to the local LGBTQ+ community, resources and messaging are more easily distributed, said Sandy Varndell, the organization’s co-founder. The campaign also receives direct feedback from OutSupport support groups, such as teen meetups and adult support groups.
“One of the attendees last night said, ‘I passed (the billboards) every day on my way to work,’” Varndell said. “We’re getting some visibility by doing that.”
At the last Pride event Parkhust attended, teenagers visited Parkhurst’s table and said they would consider quitting vaping.
“That’s encouraging information,” Varndell said.
The campaign and partnership are not going anywhere for the next two years, Parkhurst said. “Quit kits” are currently in development, and so are window clings with information for the Ohio Tobacco Quit Line.
“Living longer, living proud – that’s what we’re all about. And empowering people to live their healthiest, most thriving version of their life,” Varndell said.
IGNITE ACTION
- Ohio’s Tobacco Quit Line is 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669).
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