Missing My Grandpa

This entry is a sad one for me. My grandfather, Robert Yragui, died from emphysema over Labor Day weekend.

I was just getting to know him. He was my biological mother's father. I was not in touch with that part of my family until recently. I reached out to Grandpa first. He was very sweet and caring. He liked to recount stories of his youth in Idaho growing up on a ranch with his Basque relatives. He was a passionate progressive and always railed against the Republicans. He was smart and articulate and soulful.

I felt so sad to see him suffer from emphysema. He smoked for many years but finally quit in his 50s. I guess the damage was done, though. He developed emphysema later on that progressively got worse. Every time I visited him he had his oxygen tank with him as well as a coterie of inhalers and medication. As time went on, everyday tasks became harder for him. He could not go down the street for a short distance without being short for air. Things got so bad that he had to go into a hospice for the last four months of his life. The disease that stole his breath finally stole his life.

I am so angry with the cigarette companies! Tobacco products are the only products that kill when used as directed. They cause a constellation of illnesses, of which emphysema is one. Emphysema is a disorder of lung inflation characterized by enlargement and destruction of the air spaces. If a person has chronic bronchitis as well as emphysema, the condition is called Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Smoking is responsible for 80-90 percent of all COPD cases, including emphysema. COPD is now the fourth most common cause of death in the United States and is rising.

When will the carnage stop? I am doing my part with Butt Out to inspire the LGBT community to fight against the tobacco industry. You can be part of the fight too. If I can prevent even one young person from sharing my grandfather's fate, I will have succeeded.

Robert (Bob) Andrew Yragui

July 13, 1933 - Sept. 4, 2010

Here is his obituary in the Chronicle

Robert (Bob) Andrew Yragui July 13, 1933 - Sept. 4, 2010 Passed away at home in Vallejo, on September 4, 2010 after a long battle with Emphysema. Bob was born on July 13, 1933 in Shoshone, Idaho. Bob attended the University of Santa Clara where he obtained a B.S in history. Bob then met Maurine Yale and they married in San Francisco on April 14, 1957. Bob went to work for the U.S. Postal Service as a letter carrier. He was very active in his union local, and was elected shop steward. He began his union locals' first newspaper. Bob is survived by his wife Maurine, and daughters, Teresa, (husband Ron Garnys), Elizabeth Ann, Emily (Mike Arnold), Claire (Rudy Jaime), and Catherine Yragui, his beloved grandchildren, Jane Aceituno, Merisa, Kyle, and Kelly Rasmussen, Brandon Yragui, and brothers Nicholas, Edward, and Leon Yragui. A memorial Service will be held on Saturday, September 11, 2010 at 2:00 pm, at Skyview Memorial Lawn, 200 Rollingwood Drive, Vallejo, CA 94591, (707) 644-7474. A gathering at the family home will follow the service. The family would like to thank Sutter VNA and Hospice

Smokeless, spitless tobacco danger to youth

Teen smoking is a huge issue for LGBT youth. Fully 43.7% of our queer youth are smokers. That is nearly half of the teen population! The tobacco companies have traditionally recruited new smokers using their cigarrette products, which taste aweful and emit disgusting fumes. The tobacco companies are now marketing new tobacco products that will entice even more young people into the smoking fold.

Here comes smokeless tobacco.

Smokeless tobacco products come in all sorts of forms. Snus is a big product. It comes in tea-bag like packets, is spitless, and comes in flavors like spearmint and peppermint. Other products include tablets that look like small breath mints and strips and sticks of finely milled tobacco that are dissolvable.

These products are a menace to young people. A lot of these products are cheap and taste like candy. Bucking adult supervision, teens can use the tobacco products discreetly, without spitting or gushing out cigarette smoke.

While youth smoking has been on the decline, use of smokeless tobacco products has been on the uptick. The National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has found an upswing in the percentage of youths who have used smokeless tobacco at least one day in the month before being questioned - from 7.8% in 1999 to 8.9% in 2009.

Previously small time ventures, the smokeless tobacco products are now being touted by major manufacturers like Marlboro and Camel. The danger is that youngsters starting out on smokeless products produced by one manufacturer will graduate to the cigarettes produced by that manufacurer. A potentially life-long and life-threatening addiction is then born.

Smokeless tobacco is a stealth attack on our youth by the tobacco companies. It will be interesting to see what the FDA does. These products should be banned for directly or indirectly enticing and attracting young people. Let's see!

Stay in Touch!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Secondhand Smoking Harms School Performance

I grew up in a house filled with smoke. Both of my parents smoked. They smoked everywhere - in the house, in the car, in restaurants - you name it. If my parents had that persistent, nagging itch for for some nicotine satisfaction, they lit up, regardless of where they were or who was around. I always wondered whether those plumes of smoke might impact my health. I later learned that second-hand smoke was linked in children to increased risk of asthma, as well as bronchitis, pneumonia and other respiratory infections. My biological mother never smoked with me in the womb but my step-mom smoked while pregnant. Smoking while pregnant results in higher risk of the child having childhood behavior problems and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. I knew all of that. What I was amazed to learn today is that childhood second hand smoking exposure results in impaired performance in school. Check out the article in the Journal of Pediatrics.

The study was done in Hong Kong among 23,000 11- to 20-year-old non-smoking students. The study was split between youngsters who lived with at least one smoker and those who did not. The students rated their school performance. The level of rating one's school performance as "poor" compared to classmates varied with exposure to second-hand smoke. 23% of students who were exposed to smoking at home at least five days a week rated their performance as poor. That rate was 20% for students who had less exposure. The rate was only 17% for students who lived in non-smoking households. The researchers accounted for certain factors like parents’ education levels and the type of housing the students lived in.

The study was not perfect. The researchers depended on the student's self-assessment of academic performance and exposure to smoke in the home. Future studies can do a better job of measuring school performance by, for example, looking at official school records. They can also make objective measurements of exposure to smoke by, for example, testing urine. The study was a positive step forward in learning about the effects of second hand smoke on youngsters. A lot more work needs to be done.

I did not have trouble in school growing up but my siblings did. A number of things conspired to harm their ability to excel in school. It is troubling to learn that my parents' smoking might have been one additional factor. Parents really should read this study. It ought to be a criminal act for a parent or anyone else for that matter to smoke around a child. Let's see what the future brings.

Stay in Touch!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation

Anti-Tobacco Efforts Lose, Obesity Fight Wins in Government

Money for anti-tobacco activities is needed more than ever, especially in the gay community where LGBT people smoke at twice the rate of straight people. The money needs to go to anti-tobacco advertising, prevention and cessation efforts and research. Millions of dollars, however, are being diverted to fund the fight against obesity. With Michelle Obama championing the cause, obesity is being increasingly identified as a national problem. The rate of obesity has doubled since 1985 and fully one out of three Americans is obese. Tobacco still demands adequate funding - four times as many people die from tobacco related illnesses than people die from obesity related illnesses. One out of five people are smokers in the country. Read about the issue in yesterday's New York Times article - Tobacco Funds Shrink as Obesity Fight Intensifies (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/28/health/policy/28obesity.html)

The preference for obesity fighting over anti-tobacco efforts exists in charities and federal and state governments. The White House got more funding to fight obesity than tobacco in the economic stimulus and health care reform legislation. States have diverted $150 million from anti-tobacco programs in the last two years and regularly divert tobacco settlement money to general expenses. Added cigarette tax revenue also gets sucked back into the general funds pool. Meanwhile, funding for tobacco PSAs is languishing. The "Truth" ads are falling by the wayside for lack of funding, falling to $35 million last year from $104 million in 2000.

This whittling of support can only invigorate the tobacco companies. “The industry outspends us in a day what we spend in a year,” said David Dobbins, chief operating officer of "Truth" producers the American Legacy Foundation.

The state of tobacco funding should be a wake-up call. Tobacco activists have a heavily funded, well-defined adversary in the tobacco industry that looks for any chinks in our armor to reach out and weaken us. Instead of pitting obesity against smoking, the government should be promoting each fight according to need. The nation needs the commitment.

Stay in Touch!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Point-of-Sale Tobacco Ads Suck in Youth

It is no secret that Big Tobacco has young people in their sights. People who become smokers before age 18 are more likely to become lifetime smokers. The tobacco companies can be very successful in their efforts to attract young smokers. 43.7% of LGBT youth smoke, for instance - no doubt lured by the gay friendly advertising the tobacco companies put out in the gay media.

The tobacco companies have used all sorts of devices to cultivate young smokers. They used to have Joe Camel and Marlboro Miles. Now they have nicotine candy like Camel Snus. The FDA has issued regulations outlawing a lot of advertising and promotion efforts. The most basic form of promotion remains untouched: advertising at point-of-sale locations. A new study shows that such advertising has a special impact on young people.

Stanford University Medical School researchers say point-of-sale ads in places such as convenience stores, gas stations and small groceries are a major cause of teen smoking. Teens who frequently visited places with tobacco advertising were twice as likely to start smoking as teens who visited the locations less frequently. Frequency of advertising exposure was measured by multiplying the number of visits to stores by the number of tobacco labelled advertising and tchochkes at the stores. The study is to be published in the August issue of Pediatrics.

Banning point-of-sale advertising would be a direct hit against Big Tobacco and represent a substantial victory for anti-tobacco youth advocates. Tobacco companies spend big bucks on point-of-sale advertising. It accounts for 90% of their $12.5 billion marketing budget in 2006. The cigarette labelled items in stores is overwhelming and consist of things like clocks, trash cans and cash register mats. Tobacco companies know that point-of-sale advertising attracts people to smoke and normalizes the practice by juxtaposing its advertising with advertising for household items like dishwashing liquid and soup. Banning such advertising will lead to a substantial reduction in smoking rates for teens, which has already been declining in recent years.

I can only hope that the FDA takes the bull by the horns and bans tobacco advertising in stores. Undoubtedly the tobacco companies will declare that their free speech rights are violated. That is nothing compared to having our young peoples' lives violated.

Stay in Touch!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

LGBT Smoking Report Cause for Concern

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable illness and death in the country, accounting for 393,000 deaths a year. A new report on LGBT smoking has been released that shows that LGBT people suffer more from this deadly addiction. Researchers combed through more than 40 separate analyses to determine that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are more likely to use tobacco than straight people. A dozen or so states have collected sexual orientation information on routine health surveys. However, only 6 states have published reports on tobacco use by sexual orientation: Arizona, California, Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Oregon and Washington together. All 6 of these states found significantly elevated smoking rates in the LGBT community.

The statistics are alarming. Gay men are nearly two and a half times more likely to develop a smoking habit than straight men. Lesbians are twice as likely compared to straight women, and people who are bisexual appear to have the highest risk of all - all of the state surveys that collected data on bisexuals found smoking rates higher than 30 percent, and ranging up to a high of 39.1 percent. At 30.7 percent, the transgender smoking prevalence was very close to the overall LGBT rate of 30.4 percent.

LGBT youth are a vulnerable population. Bisexual youth seem to be at highest risk compared with both heterosexual and homosexual youth. Researchers found that bisexual boys were twice as likely to smoke regularly as either gay or straight boys. Compared to heterosexuals, “mostly heterosexual” girls were 2.5 times more likely, and lesbian/bisexual girls were an alarming 9.7 times more likely to smoke at least weekly. Boys identified as “mostly heterosexual” were 2.5 times more likely than heterosexual boys to smoke at least weekly, but gay/bisexual boys were no more likely to smoke than heterosexual boys.

The report analyzed reasons for the smoking rate disparity. One reason is the stress of discrimination. Actual or even perceived stigma causes stress, and research has shown that smoking rates, as well as other negative health behaviors and outcomes, are higher in groups that experience high levels of stress. The bar culture might also be to blame. Because there is a biological and behavioral link between drinking and smoking, it is likely that the bar culture would have contributed to elevated smoking rates. Access to healthcare is another issue. LGBT people have less access to health care and the smoking cessation tools often necessary to kick the habit. Another reason is tobacco company targetting of the LGBT community. The tobacco industry was one of the first to develop marketing materials specifically targeting the LGBT community, and it has over time cynically reaped the benefits of the attention paid to a group that had been largely ignored by mainstream advertisers. Finally, some of our community leaders have ignored the problem. Despite the impact of tobacco use on the health and well-being of the LGBT community, many LGBT organizations do not seem to view tobacco control as a relevant issue and some noted in studies that combating smoking could be bad for an organization’s bank account. There are so many reasons for LGBT smoking disparities. The issue is very complex.

The study is a good look at current knowledge of LGBT smoking. We should all be very concerned with the elevated rates of smoking and take the figures as a call to action. We need to tackle the driving forces of smoking in the community. One day perhaps we can look at smoking in the LGBT community as an unfortunate but limited chapter in our group history.

Stay in Touch!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

The Big Apple Takes A Bite Out of Tobacco. Will California Follow?

Yay to New York state! They have enacted a new tax on cigarrettes in the state. Packs of cigarettes now go for as high as $10-11 dollars and a carton in the hundred plus area. The state hopes to generate $440 million in revenue. New York now has the most expensive cigarettes in the country.

The biggest gain from the tax will be in the number of people quitting smoking. Based on the impact of previous cigarette tax increases, professionals have estimated that this will result in 120,000 fewer smokers and 23,000 fewer high school smokers. Granted some people will go out of state or turn to the black market for cheaper cigarettes but the truth remains clear that more people will give up the noxious habit as a result of the tax.

What would happen if California followed New York's lead? The impact on LGBT people can be great. In our state, LGBT people smoke twice the rate of other people. The impact on our youth can be even greater. 43.7% of LGBT youth in California smoke. Cigarette taxes really impact youth behavior because young people are more price sensitive to products - they have less money to spend on things. LGBT youth needs California to step up!

Maybe it will happen. Backers of a state initiative that would increase cigarette taxes by $1 a pack to provide more than $500 million a year to prevent, detect and treat cancer said that they have gathered enough signatures to put it on the ballot in 2012. The measure is sponsored by the American Cancer Society, the American Cancer Action Network, the American Lung Association, the American Heart Association and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. The money would go into a trust fund, and 60 percent would go toward research. Twenty percent would fund smoking cessation efforts and campaigns to prevent tobacco use, 15 percent would pay for facilities and equipment to support research and 3 percent would help police enforce anti-tobacco laws and stop tobacco smuggling. No more than 2 percent would be spent on administrative costs.

Let's see if California can follow the Big Apple's lead. A lot of queer kids will be grateful despite themselves.

Stay in Touch!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Supreme Court Produces Mixed Result

The Supreme Court ended its term for the year this week. They issued a number of major decisions that will impact our lives for years to come. One Court action that is relevant to the anti-smoking community is a refusal to hear appeals by the tobacco industry and the federal government. The Court let stand an appellate decision that found the tobacco industry guilty of civil racketeering. The tobacco companies challenged the decision on First Amendment grounds. The court also refused to force the tobacco companies to pay back its profits - an estimated $280 billion. The federal government had appealed that aspect of the decision. I am pleased by the decision to find the tobacco companies liable but think the decision's force is weakened by the decision not to allow profit disgorgement.

What went into holding the tobacco companies guilty of civil racketeering? The lower court judge termed the tobacco companies' actions a half-century of lying over the health effects of smoking. In the 2006 case, United States District Judge Gladys Kessler concluded in a ruling of more than 1,500 pages that for more than 50 years, cigarette companies had “lied, misrepresented and deceived the American public, including smokers and the young people they avidly sought as ‘replacement’ smokers, about the devastating health effects of smoking and environmental tobacco smoke.” The decision is a powerful rebuke of the industry that has unrelentingly preyed on consumers.

This decision touches on the tobacco company exploitation of the LGBT community. Tobacco companies are specifically targeting LGBT communities because they know that populations that are being discriminated against are more vulnerable. When they target us, tobacco companies reinforce the messaging that feeds into that vulnerability. One way they do this is through advertising. Tobacco companies began to target us with advertising in 1991, when the first tobacco ad appeared in GENRE magazine. Some of the ads are subtle appeals to our community, “gay vague” ads as they are called and others are more obvious, such as the ad for American Spirit that appeared in the Advocate on June 21st, 2005. It says, “freedom. To speak. To choose. To marry. To participate. To be. To disagree. To inhale. To believe. To love. To live. It’s all good.” This outrageous ad equates the freedom to marry with the freedom to smoke. The tobacco industry pursuit of LGBT people is part of the larger victimization of the public.

The public is fighting back with decisions like the one the Supreme Court upheld. Hopefully the courts will later force the companies to disgorge its blood profits and go out of business. Good riddance to them!

With this said, have a happy 4th. I hope the only thing smoking around you on Independence Day will be the barbecue.

Stay in Touch!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Smoking and A Frustrated Four Faced Liar

Childhood sweethearts Greg and Molly are new to New York. They left their quiet corner of America for the Big Apple to start a new life. They hope that life becomes more exciting and interesting. One night they decide to go to a hip Greenwich Village bar called the Four Faced Liar. They don't smoke in the bar - smoking is banned in bars in New York. They sip their drinks. They meet a couple, Bridget and her best friend Trip. Sparks fly immediately between Molly and Bridget. The two couples start hanging out after meeting in the bar. Molly and Bridget develop a steamy relationship challenging Molly's relationship with Greg. And so goes the drama of the Frameline movie The Four-Faced Liar.

Imagine if Greg and Molly could smoke in the bar. Molly lights up and sucks on the noxious death sticks while simultaneously nursing her beer. How gross! I can only imagine what smoke tastes like with the sudsy beverage. I don't know about you but I don't like to mix the taste of ashtrays with my beverages. I can never understand why smokers like to smoke while drinking and eating. Doesn't it kill the flavor of the food?

Anyway, picture Molly cocking her head back and blowing smoke rings into the air. Greg doesn't find it cool - he can't wait for Molly to quit smoking. He can already picture the walls of their new apartment turning yellow. Echh!

Molly thinks she is sexy smoking. That is the furthest from the truth to Bridget. She and Trip are sitting at a nearby table drinking jack and cokes. The smoke wafts their way. That's one way to kill a buzz. Bridget feels her personal space, not to mention her health, being violated. Bridget thinks Molly is kind of cute but she would never approach her. Bridget has a strict no smoker policy for dating.

Bridget tells Trip to move to another table.

Bridget spies another cute woman - a non-smoker - exchanging witty banter with her friend. Bridget decides to approach the girl. She takes a deep swig from her drink for added courage and motions Trip to walk to the two women. Bridget and the woman immediately hit it off. They exchange numbers and agree to go on a date. One date becomes two dates becomes moving in on the third date becomes marriage in Massachusetts two months later. Bridget has found her life mate.

Molly and Greg meanwhile start a life in New York. They eventually marry too. Life moves on day to day. In the back of her mind Molly has this nagging feeling that life is missing something, that Greg might not be everything for her. She can't pin down what she is missing. Is this all there is?

Greg still wants Molly to quit smoking. Her worries about both of their healths. Can't she just quit!

What a different movie The Four-Faced Liar becomes when smoking is allowed in the bar! Smoking turns people off and harms their health. Unlike the claims of some people, smoking bans in bars adds to the atmosphere in the establishment and promotes business. Nonsmokers can enjoy their time in the establishments without the interference and hazard of smoke. Smoking bans can even promote love!

Have fun at Frameline and look out for Butt Out's PSAs. We hope you find someone special at any of the film festival's smoke free events. Enjoy!

Stay in Touch!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Happy Pride!

This weekend is Pride! What will you do?

My Pride weekend will be jam packed. I can't wait to participate in the trans march on Friday. I'm really looking forward to seeing "Dyke Delights" on Saturday as part of the Frameline film festival. Afterwards I am going to take to the streets in the Mission and the Castro as I join other women in the Dyke March. My Saturday will be capped off with a good time at Pink Saturday on Castro Street. Sunday of course will be the Pride parade. My girlfriend Carmel and I still need a battle plan for where we will view the Parade. This year will be the first in several years that I am not volunteering. I get to see the floats! My Pride experience will end with a romp through the Pride booths.

I am hoping for a good time. One thing I worry about is being surrounded by smokers. Market Street will be jam packed with people on the sidewalks. Imagine being pressed on all sides by people trying to get a peak at the hotties on the float coming by. You can't move anywhere. All of a sudden you are overcome by the smell of smoke. Someone in back of you is smoking and the breeze is carrying over to you. You have no choice but to endure the stench and the dangerous fumes. It is not an inconsequential thing to be exposed to secondhand smoke. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoking takes 4,000 lives in California from lung cancer and heart disease alone. Unbelievable!

Events like Pride bring out our community in force. Unfortunately it brings out our addictions in force too. There will be a lot of smoking on the streets. The statistics are really amazing. In California, men in the LGBT community smoke about 50% more than all men. Women in our community smoke nearly three times as much as all women. Transgender members of our community smoke twice as much as all Californians. And most alarming of all - LGBT young adults 18-24 years old smoke over two and a half times as much as all young adults (43.7% vs. 16.6%). There will be a lot of people lighting up!

I hope that through the advocacy of groups like Butt Out that we can get the message to smokers that there is a different way to live. We also need to decrease the exposure of innocent bystanders to secondhand smoke. I'd like to go to a Pride celebration that is filled with nothing but blue skies, fresh air and half naked men and women. Here's to hoping.

Have a fantastic Pride!

Stay in Touch!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

World No Tobacco Day

World No Tobacco Day happened Monday. The World Health Organization (WHO) organized the day. Its theme for the global anti-smoking day was "gender and tobacco" and the harmful effects of tobacco marketing and smoking on women and girls. Countries in the developing world are seeing a rise in women smoking as women become more affluent and have more disposable income to spend on cigarettes. Tobacco companies are beginning to target this increasingly empowered segment of the population. This trend of increased female smoking is mirrored in the LGBT community in California where lesbians and bisexual women smoke nearly three times as much as heterosexual women. The trend worldwide is very troubling.

Tobacco is the second major cause of death in the world, currently responsible for the death of one in 10 adults worldwide, or about 5 million deaths each year, said the WHO. Women make up about 20 percent of the world's 1 billion smokers, but if current tobacco usage continues smoking will kill 8 million people a year by 2030 -- 2.5 million will be women.

Even more alarming is the incidence of smoking among youth. It is estimated that more than 8 percent of girls between 13 and 15, or around 4.7 million girls, are using tobacco products in the Asia-Pacific region, said the WHO. Compare that to LGBT youth smoking in California where 43.7% of LGBT youth smoke!

We have to protect our young people worldwide from the ravages of smoking.

A YouTube video of an Indonesian two-year-old boy, who reportedly smokes two packs of cigarettes a day, angered anti-smoking groups around the world last week. The video has been removed by YouTube.

"The tobacco industry is thriving and if we look at our society, even children have started to smoke," Krida Wacana Christian University (Ukrida) student Stefano Leatemia told The Jakarta Post newspaper on Monday.

WHO is calling for comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship to protect women and girls from images that portray smoking as glamorous or fashionable. Only half of the nations in the Asia-Pacific have bans on tobacco advertising.

We need more than a No Tobacco Day. We need a No Tobacco Life. With activism and personal encouragement we can help keep all of us, including our most vulnerable citizens, from becoming slaves to the noxious product.

Stay in Touch!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

It's Movie Time!

Frameline is coming right up this June! Frameline is the film festival that portrays the diversity of our queer lives. Butt Out is right in the middle of the action. We are the official sponsor of a collection of short films, The Golden Pin, and we are the Community Partner of a feature film, The Four-Faced Liar. Butt Out is also helping to counteract the impact of the smoking that takes place in these films by running two different public service announcements that creatively address the hazards of smoking.

The two movies that Butt Out is connected with are pretty good. The Four-Faced Liar is a flick about a hetero couple, Greg and Molly, that moves to New York City looking for new adventures. They find it when they meet Bridget and Trip at a bar called The Four-Faced Liar. Molly and Bridget become friends - the dangerously smoldering kind. Molly has to sort out her feelings when she has a fight with Greg and runs into the arms of Bridget. The movie is playing June 20 at 6:30 at the Castro Theater. This should be a good one!

The Golden Pin should be a good time too. This is a series of shorts featuring Asian characters that is geared toward the boys. The films include Waiting 4 Goliath, The Golden Pin, Little Love, Peking Turkey, Masala Mama and Little. The Golden Pin is a diverse assortments of stories about gay love and experience. Butt Out's PSA that will run before this collection of shorts is an encore of last year's popular "boys" PSA that humorously discusses the link between impotence and smoking. The Golden Pin is playing June 23 at 4:00 PM at the Castro Theater. Mark your calendar!

It is really important that Butt Out is running these PSAs. Smoking is endemic in the movies. The tobacco companies love it that way and pay for product placements. Smoking in the movies is harmful to people, particularly children and young adults. The more smoking young people see on screen, the more likely they are to become smokers and, later in life, to die from tobacco-related diseases. R-rating future smoking would avert 60,000 tobacco deaths a year in the U.S. This is a really big deal to our community especially since so many LGBT films contain smoking and our queer young adults smoke more than twice as much as others their age!

Think about the impact of smoking in the movies the next time you go to the movies. In the meantime, check out Butt Out's sponsored and Community Partner movies at Frameline and enjoy our PSAs. I'll be there, popcorn in hand.

Stay in Touch!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Massachusetts Makes the Tobacco Fight Graphic

You know how a lung is supposed to look: Plump and pink all over, gleaming with health. Picture me now holding the lung slice at last year's Butt Out booth for SF Pride. Cropped within two clear panes of plexiglass was a sliver of diseased lung. The lung matter was grey with black marks here and there. The slice had craters in it and red pocks where blood vessels had blown up. Imagine me with the biggest grimacing look that you can imagine on a person. Someone actually had that lung! That lung slice belonged to a long-time smoker who died of a smoking related disease. Let me tell you, that lung slice validated the decision not to smoke for me and everyone passing by the booth that day. Nothing said DO NOT SMOKE better than a slice of human flesh that looked like it had been left out in the sun for days.

Massachusetts is getting graphic too. Pending approval of the Public Health Council, the state will require its 9,000 convenience stores, pharmacies, and gas stations to show posters of the physical harm caused by smoking by tobacco racks and cash registers. Consumers will have to look at pictures of degenerated lung mass and decayed teeth before making their tobacco purchases. The hope is that some of those consumers will rethink their choice. Massachusetts will be the first state to mandate anti-smoking posters at retailers and will follow New York City's lead, which has been successfully waging its own campaign (check out the pictures). Retailers will suffer $200-$300 fines if they don't put up the posters.

San Francisco should create a similar program. San Francisco already has some momentum for change with the second-hand smoking ordinance. The City should run with it. Money should not be a concern either. Massachusetts has accessed $316,000 in federal stimulus money from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to do the posters. Local workers get jobs making the posters. Maybe the City can get similar funds. Let's do it!

I always recoil when I think about the lung slice that I saw while tabling. I don't smoke and seeing the lung slice makes me not want to smoke even more. Let's hope Massachusetts succeeds in deterring people with its poster program. Why can't we do the same here?

Stay in Touch

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Schwarzenegger Lacks Leadership on Smoking Ban

We can all feel good about the second-hand smoking ban in San Francisco. The ban will help everyone enjoy smokefree movie lines and restaurant patios, among other things. LGBT people benefit and LGBT smokers might even be motivated to give up the habit. We cannot become complacent in our victory, however. Statewide, our grand old governor, the Arnold, has vetoed a bill that would ban smoking in our state parks and beaches. Our collective wilds are still at the mercy of smokers. Shame, shame, governor!

Has this ever happened to you? It is a sunny day. You are at the beach. The breeze is coursing through your hair as you walk hand in hand with your loved one. You admire the ocean waves and contemplate your small but glorious place in the world. You imagine yourself as one grain of sand in the universe and look down to admire the tan waves of surf. Then you see it. A collection of cigarette butts with a beer bottle on the ground. These little nasties are ground into the sand, with their white filters poking out of the top. Your mood is immediately shot.

How can we enjoy our parks and oceans when people litter these areas with cigarrette butts? This garbage tarnishes the serenity of the scenes. They are pollution too and harm the fragile ecosystems that our fabulous state supports. Equally vexatious is the second-hand smoking that people are exposed to when they congregate together on camp grounds and other shared spots on the wilds. Smoking is a menace to our state parks and beaches.

Our cigar smoking governor failed us all. He also went against the recommendations of experts on the issue, the California Ocean Protection Council. Schwarzenegger said that the smoking ban was too intrusive and that state parks and beaches individually could ban smoking. He also said that smoking could be discouraged with added penalties and fines.

These arguments are unavailing. If he thinks that smoking bans are permissible on an individual basis, he has no good reason to promote smoking on a statewide basis. Additionally, penalties and fines can be used with a smoking ban to discourage the noxious practice. Not only does Schwarzenegger's arguments fall flat, they fail against the practice of countless governments. Hundreds of communities nationwide have enacted smoking bans at municipal parks and beaches. Maine is the only state to ban smoking at its state beaches.

I plan to visit Muir Woods with my sweetie this weekend. I want to enjoy the elements without seeing cigarrette butts dotting the grounds. This is less likely with Schwarzenegger's veto. Take one of your cigars and put it up in your wild areas, Arnold!

Stay in Touch

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

The Misinformation is Out There

Sorry, I’ve been missing in action for awhile. I’ll do a new blog post next week. This week I’m posting a letter to the editor that will hopefully be printed in the BAR soon. The letter, written by Butt Out’s Brian Davis, is a response to a recent “Guest Opinion” piece in the BAR which suggests that the new secondhand smoke law is unnecessary:

http://ebar.com/openforum/opforum.php?sec=guest_op&id=268.

This piece, written by a member of the LGBT community, is filled with misinformation and misguided conclusions based on incomplete information, that I feel ultimately serves to encourage smokers to continue smoking rather than inspiring them to quit. Here’s Brian’s letter. See you next week!

“I am writing in response to the guest opinion article: “New smoking ban is not needed.” The article suggests that secondhand smoke is not a serious health concern, when in fact 53,000 people a year in the U.S. die because of it, and the Surgeon General has determined that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke.

It’s true that smoking rates in general have gone down, but the LGBT community in California is still smoking at very high rates: 30.4% overall -- twice as much as everyone else. It’s ironic that the article suggests we should spend more money educating “marginalized populations at most risk of smoking” without mentioning that the LGBT community is among the most at risk, and without realizing that the new law will help inspire the 70% of LGBT smokers who want to quit to break free from their addiction.

It is not true that there was a parade of children in front of the Supervisors talking about how smoking on bar patios affects their asthma. The youngest to testify were a few high school students, and they didn’t talk about smoking in bars.

Also, it is inaccurate to suggest that taking these practical measures to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke in bar environments will be harmful to business. Many other cities have similar laws and their bars have continued to thrive, often drawing additional customers who enjoy breathing air free of smoke drawn in from open doorways to the street or outdoor patios, and who enjoy being outdoors at a bar without having to inhale toxic fumes.

And yes, the air in outdoor smoking patios is toxic. A recent Stanford study demonstrated that exposure to tobacco smoke outside can be just as hazardous as indoor levels, increasing non-smoker’s risk of heart disease, asthma, and many other diseases caused by smoking.

Finally, the name of the group that advocated for the new law is the San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition, not the “Anti-Smoking Coalition” as the article claims. We are working for the health of this city by helping protect people of all ages from exposure to secondhand smoke and helping the vast majority of smokers who want to quit get the help they need to break free from tobacco.

Brian Davis
Project Coordinator

BUTT OUT! Ending Tobacco Industry Exploitation of the LGBT Community
On behalf of the San Francisco Tobacco Free Coalition”

Stay in Touch

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

FDA Champions Youth In New Rule

Both of my parents smoke. Their brand of choice is Marlboro. Back in the day in the 1980s my parents took advantage of the "Marlboro Mile" program to accumulate free knick-knacks with the Marlboro logo on it. My parents spent so much money on cigarettes and we were poor. Why not fill the house with free Marlboro mugs and other accoutrements? We had every conceivable item, including Marlboro logoed camping tents that we pitched in the living room. Every day I had an added reminder that cigarettes existed. I was given the message that smoking and heavy smoking won you cool stuff.

I didn't pick up smoking, but my other siblings did. Only one of my siblings has broken free of the habit.

My family's experience is not an isolated one. Big Tobacco has its hooks in our youth, particularly our LGBT youth. Every day nearly 4,000 kids under 18 try their first cigarette and 1,000 kids under 18 become daily smokers. National youth smoking rates range from 28% to 35% for adolescents. The numbers are even bleaker for LGBT youth in California. Fully 43.7% of them smoke! LGBT youth smoke for so many reasons, principally out of a sense of alienation at being gay in an antigay world. The tobacco companies have pounced on LGBT youth insecurity and vulnerability in their marketing efforts at youth generally. It is a moral horror.

Enter the feds in white hats. Recently the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a final rule banning numerous Big Tobacco practices impacting our youth. The rule is a creative and comprehensive effort to protect our youth that will save many LGBT youth as well from picking up the deadly tobacco habit.

Most of the rule reinstates a 1996 rule that was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000. The Supreme Court stated that the FDA overstepped its powers because they did not have the authority to regulate tobacco. Congress licked that problem in 2009 with passage of the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.

The FDA bans a good number of practices. They ban tobacco sales to minors, sales of cigarettes in less than 20-pack size, sample giveaways, and tobacco sponsorship of sports, music and other events. Those provisions were in the old 1996 rule and were in part adopted by the tobacco companies in the Master Settlement Agreement. The rule bans other things including sales of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco in vending machines and self-service displays, music and sound effects in audio tobacco ads, and sale or distribution of items like hats and t-shirts with tobacco brands or logos. A controversial part of the rule is the mandate that most tobacco advertising and labeling be displayed only in black text on a white background. The tobacco companies have rushed to sue over this provision. Stay tuned.

Let's hope the FDA's action will be but one step in the fight against Big Tobacco's targeting of our youth. Then we can send that Marlboro camping tent and the bag of "goodies" inside of it to the wilderness.

Stay in Touch

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).

Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Iowa Hate Group Claims Same-Sex Marriage is Worse than Smoking

You read that right. An anti-gay organization in Iowa called the Iowa Family Policy Center is saying that same-sex marriage is worse than smoking. This claim not only comes from left field but is appalling in the face of statistics on smoking showing the deadly toll of smoking on the population. As mentioned before in this blog, smoking kills more people than murder, suicide, traffic accidents, drugs and alcohol combined!

The lack of sensitivity and understanding is incredible. Just listen to what the president of the group, Chuck Hurley, has to say:

“The Iowa Legislature outlawed smoking in an effort to improve health and reduce the medical costs that are often passed on to the state. The secondhand impacts of certain homosexual acts are arguably more destructive, and potentially more costly to society than smoking.”

The "secondhand impacts" that Hurley refers to deals with a U.S. Centers for Disease Control report that showed gay men have higher rates of HIV and syphilis. Hurley claims that giving same-sex couples the right to marry will increase the rates of HIV and syphilis in Iowa.

Penalizing gay people and withholding their rights stigmatizes people. Many new transmissions of HIV and syphilis happen to people who do not know their status. People in loving married couples can draw on family and community support to empower themselves and seek the knowledge and services necessary to remain HIV negative or to seek treatment if they become HIV positive. Witholding civil rights like marriage exacerbates the rate of infection.

The comment about smoking calls for special attention. Smoking kills people on a massive scale. I learned recently that one third of the world's population smokes. Smoking causes disease in about half of smokers. Tobacco is the only product marketed that kills its users when used as directed. One cannot ignore the terrible swath of destruction that smoking has blazed in our lives.

Compare that to same-sex marriage or to marriage in general. Marriage solidifies the love and commitment of two people. Their lives are intertwined and strengthened by the union. Our society strongly sanctions marriage. Everyone from our immediate families to the IRS gives support to married couples. Marriage is a stabilizing force in people's lives that positively impacts gay lives as well as straight lives. The comparison to smoking completely falls flat in the face of the benefits of same-sex marriage in the lives of LGBT people and in the community at large. Just listen to Butt Out coordinator Brian Davis describing his marriage with his husband Ted and the comparison to smoking:

"My 22 years with Ted has invigorated my life. Smoking destroys life. Getting married brought me and Ted closer together. Tobacco tears families apart forever through death and disability. There is no comparing same-sex marriage and smoking."

Let's tell the haters in Iowa to get their facts and their values straight. Same-sex marriage is a bond that shines. Smoking casts a heavy pall on all of us.

Stay in Touch

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).

Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Smoking Triggers Recurrence of Cancer in HIV+ People

Smoking negatively impacts the health of people with HIV. People with HIV have weakened immune systems that are bolstered but not completely bolstered by life extending anti-viral medication. Smoking makes it harder to fight off HIV related illnesses, especially those dealing with the lungs. The damaging effects of smoking on HIV+ people is illustrated by the results of a recent study looking at the effects of smoking on the recurrence of head and neck cancer.

Some HIV+ people contract the human-papillomavirus (HPV). HPV can cause head and neck cancer. It is possible for HIV+ people to fight off the illness and put the cancer into remission. That time free from cancer can be cut short because of smoking.

University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor scientists looked at 124 patients who were treated at the University of Michigan for squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx. They compared rates of recurrence in HIV+ people who smoked compared to those who did not smoke. Overall, 82.3% had HPV-positive tumors. Among these patients, only 32.3% had never used tobacco. Current smokers were more than five times more likely to have a recurrence!

The cancer can be caused by HPV negative and positive viruses. Among those with HPV-positive tumors, the rate of recurrence was highest among current tobacco users (34.8%), followed by former users (19.6%) and those who had never used tobacco (6%). The recurrence rate among patients with HPV-negative tumors, who had all used tobacco at some point, was the highest at 50%.

The investigators noted potential limitations in the statistical analysis for the study, which included two different cohorts that differed in gender distribution, HPV-positivity, treatment regimens, and follow-up times.

Stay in Touch

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).

Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Brian Davis Goes 'Out in the Bay'

Last Thursday Butt Out's Brian Davis had an exciting interview on "Out in the Bay," an LGBT themed show on KALW 91.7 FM. You can listen to the show on www.kalw.org. He talked about the problem of LGBT smoking, how the tobacco companies target the LGBT community, the special impact of smoking on LGBT youth and the work that Butt Out is doing to fight the tobacco companies in the community.

Brian entered the interview with a lot of passion. Brian is personally motivated to do anti-tobacco advocacy. He has asthma and chafed as a child at having to inhale the smoke from his father's cigarettes. He was also pained to see his father try over and over again to quit his two pack a day habit. Brian had a lot to offer on the interview that came from a personal place.

Brian highlighted a number of powerful considerations in the fight against big tobacco.

Smoking is a Highly Prevalent Killer in the LGBT Community

LGBT people smoke more than straight people - two times more. Gay men smoke 50% more than straight men in California. Lesbians smoke three times more than straight women. LGBT people also start smoking younger than straight people, at ages 14 or 15. Some research indicates that it is significantly harder to quit smoking if a person starts smoking before age 18. The smoking rates are hard to hear considering that tobacco kills more people than murder, suicide, traffic accidents, drugs and alcohol combined! LGBT people are disproportionately counted in the 400,000 tobacco deaths every year in the United States.

Smoking Hits LGBT Youth Hard

Brian discussed the troubling problem of LGBT youth smoking. Fully 43.7% of LGBT youth smoke in California - nearly half of the LGBT youth population! A 2006 University of Minnesota study highlighted some of the reasons why. Many youth suffered trauma, abuse and ostracism from their homes and communities for being gay. Smoking is a way to escape the pain and make friends. "Do you have a light" is a conversation starter for the young LGBT person searching for community. Brian emphasized that the the community needs to take steps to change its face with respect to smoking so that LGBT youth have different models to emulate in their behavior. Brian pointed to Butt Out's Grim Reaper event as an example of the community coming together against tobacco. The Grim Reaper event was a bit of street theater in the Castro where the tobacco "Grim Reaper" was chased out of the neighborhood. The LGBT community needs to do more to steer LGBT youth down the right path.

The Tobacco Companies Target the LGBT Community

While still reticent to embrace a highly stigmatized community, tobacco companies have targeted the LGBT community in an effort to turn our community's fierce brand loyalty into equally fierce addiction. The tobacco companies have used advertising as a weapon in their arsenal. Genre magazine in 1992 published the first pro-gay tobacco ad. Since then the tobacco companies have put out ads purporting to support gay rights even as they push cigarettes on gay people. One recent ad in fact equated the freedom to marry with the freedom to inhale tobacco smoke. Brian expressed his shock at the demeaning of our struggle for equality as well as at the hypocrisy of an industry that supports conservative politicians as well as LGBT organizations.

Butt Out Works with LGBT Organizations to Combat Big Tobacco

Brian pointed out that tobacco companies try to garner support in the community by giving money to LGBT organizations. They try to leverage the good will of the organizations to make themselves look good. The support is inch deep - they spend more money advertising the fact that they support LGBT organizations than actually funding LGBT organizations.

Butt Out is inoculating the LGBT community against tobacco company machinations by getting organizations to spurn tobacco funding and adopt tobacco-free funding policies. The work is hard to do in these difficult funding times. Brian pointed out that companies can see the justice of Butt Out's position by considering whether they would take money from a company whose product gave AIDS to half its consumers. An organization should consider taking tobacco money as unconscionable as taking money from the hypothetical company.

Butt Out can point to some successes in its work. 20 Bay Area based LGBT organizations have tobacco-free policies, including the National Center for Lesbian Rights and San Francisco Pride. All LGBT politicians in the Bay Area such as Mark Leno have pledged not to accept campaign donations from tobacco companies. Butt Out continues to raise consciousness in community organizations and add to the community of groups rejecting tobacco funding.

Stay in Touch!

Stay tuned to this blog for more news of Butt Out community activism, interviews and events.

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).

Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

BUTT OUT! On KALW 91.7 FM Tonight!

Why do gay teenagers smoke more than their non-gay peers? How are tobacco companies targeting the LGBT community, and what are we doing to fight back? Tune in to the Out in the Bay radio program tonight at 7pm on KALW 91.7 FM or www.kalw.org. Brian Davis of BUTT OUT! will discuss these and other questions important to our community’s health.

A prominent topic of discussion will be the problem of LGBTQ youth smoking. Smoking is a pervasive problem among LGBTQ youths. Existing research indicates the rate of smoking among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) youths exceeds the general population’s. LGBTQ young adults (18-24 years old) smoke at a 43.7% rate compared to 16.6% of all young adults. LGBTQ high school youth in the San Francisco Unified School District smoke at a 22% rate compared to a 7% rate for non-LGBTQ youth.

There are a number of reasons for the increased rate in smoking including stress, habitual substance abuse, socializing in smoky venues, and tobacco marketing.

A 16 year-old Caucasian/African American lesbian interviewed in a recent study described some of the tensions involved in being queer and in picking up smoking:

Something about being gay or questioning—it
messes with your head. … And the next thing you know, you
are just looking for something to get your mind
off it—even if it is just for a minute…. Maybe I’ll
just smoke a cigarette. Especially when you start
it, you get a buzz; and it is just something to keep
your mind off everything for a little while.

There is a need for culturally specific approaches to prevention and cessation. Highlighting the positive attributes of nonsmokers and nonsmoking might prove useful in prevention campaigns.

Listen in tonight and learn more about the problem and possible solutions!

LGBTQ and 18-24 Years Old? Youth Tobacco Survey Needs Your Help!

Queer and 18-24 with a view about LGBT smoking? Take the NYAC tobacco survey before its too late to win a gift card! The National Youth Advocacy Coalition wants to know about LGBTQ youth experiences and feelings about tobacco. Participation in the survey enters the participant in a drawing for an American Express Gift Card: 10 cards worth $50, 5 cards worth $100 and 1 card worth $150. Visit www.tobaccosurvey.nyacyouth.org for more details, to fill out the survey, and to enter to win the big prizes! Hurry now – the survey ends February 28.
Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Second-hand smoking ordinance hearing next Monday, February 22, 1pm at City Hall!

I hate going to outdoor dining areas and having my dinner interrupted by a neighbor's smoke. Marlboro Reds just don't go with filet mignon - or anything else for that matter. A night at the movies is similarly dampened when I have to breathe noxious fumes from someone upstream in the waiting line. I want to unleash some silver screen super hero whoop-ass when the odor hits my olfactory senses. Second hand smoke is a nuisance and a threat to my health. It is a public health concern that all San Franciscans are challenged with.

Educate yourself on the ordinance below and if you feel like making your voice heard, come down to the hearing and comment.

Legislation that would expand the non-smoking areas in San Francisco will be discussed by the Board of Supervisors Land Use and Economic Development Committee on February 22. The ordinance, introduced by Supervisor Eric Mar, would represent a far reaching effort to reduce second hand smoke in public accommodations. Amendments to address business concerns, particularly bar owner concerns, are expected to be voted on. If the ordinance passes, San Francisco will become one of 18 Bay Area cities that protect citizens from second hand smoke hazards in public areas. San Francisco will also follow a nationwide trend. As of April 2009, there were 37 states with some form of smoking ban.

Secondhand smoke is the combination of smoke given off by the burning end of a tobacco product and the smoke exhaled by the smoker. Research has generated evidence that secondhand smoke causes the same problems as direct smoking. Approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur each year among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke. In the United States, secondhand smoke is thought to cause about 46,000 heart disease deaths each year. Extensive scientific research has shown that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Locally, secondhand smoke represents dangers to patrons. For example, secondhand smoke levels from outdoor dining areas at two unnamed cafes in North Beach are considered dangerous by the EPA (see picture).

The proposed ordinance would update Article 19F of the San Francisco Health Code, the landmark legislation adopted in 1994 that protects residents and visitors from second hand smoke. The ordinance bans smoking in a number of venues. Some of the areas where the ban would take effect are dining areas, movie lines and building entrances. San Francisco's ordinance would break new ground in the effort to reduce second hand smoke among citizens.

Some businesses argue that the smoking ban will harm their business by turning off patrons who want to enjoy some poisonous fumes with their dinner, drink, or what have you. These fears are unfounded. More patrons will flock to businesses once they know that the establishment will be safe and pleasing without cigarette smoke. A 2006 review by the U.S. Surgeon General found that smoking bans were unlikely to harm businesses in practice, and that many restaurants and bars might see increased business. According to the 2004 Zagat survey, which polled nearly 30,000 New York City restaurant patrons, respondents said by a margin of almost 6 to 1 that they eat out more often now because of the city's smoke-free policy. San Francisco's businesses as well as patrons can gain from passage of the second hand smoke ordinance.

Stay tuned for updates on the ordinance. There is a lot to learn and gain!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

As if secondhand smoke were not bad enough...

Do you know how tobacco smoke gets everywhere? In a person's hair, on their clothes, on furniture and the walls? I have to totally fumigate my belongings after visiting my sister's house. Lingering tobacco smoke marks a place like a scarlet letter.

It now looks like the lingering smoke is dangerous in addition to being stinky. Researchers have recently found that smoke that settles on surfaces interacts with those surfaces to create cancer causing chemicals that don’t even exist in tobacco smoke alone! Check out an article discussing the findings here: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=aTVcuy71TmGE.

The findings are a double whammy for smokers and nonsmokers alike. Not only does the smoker inhale dangerous chemicals directly from the cigarette, but now the smoker is inhaling dangerous chemicals generated by the smoke that sticks to the furniture. Nonsmokers have to deal with this danger too in addition to dealing with the hazards of inhaling smokers' noxious fumes.

Researchers don't know how "thirdhand" smoke, as they are calling it, factors into the global death and illness rate suffered by people suffering from tobacco related illnesses, but I'm sure more work will be done in this area to pin down the impact of this phenomenon. I personally cringe at the thought of what my siblings and I were exposed to growing up. Both of my parents smoked heavily in the house and in the car. Smoke was everywhere. If only my parents had a better appreciation of the risks involved in their smoking. Their habit wasn't just about them individually. My brother has two little girls now. He is a smoker but doesn't smoke in the house. The is better than nothing, but he should know about the study and how having smoke on himself poses a risk alone. How scary!

Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Butt Out is Busy Busy!

Butt Out is busy about town. Here's the scoop on what is happening with the group recently:

NCLR just adopted an anti-tobacco policy!

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, NCLR, became the latest organization in the San Francisco Bay Area to adopt a policy not to take tobacco money. The total number of community organizations who have adopted policies is now 20. We are proud to have a national organization like NCLR adopting a policy. This move is in keeping with their progressive work for justice. Go NCLR!

Butt Out is presenting to the School of the Arts GSA.

The School of the Arts in San Francisco has one of the highest incidents of smoking among teens. Butt Out will be presenting to their GSA about smoking in advance of the start of the cessation group at the school. It is essential to reach out to LGBT youth - 43.7% of our LGBT youth smoke. Wish us luck!

Watch out for Butt-Out at 18th and Castro February 20th.

Butt Out will be reaching out to the public February 20th at the corner of 18th St and Castro from 10-12pm (weather permitting). Butt Out will educate passersbys about the hazards of smoking, hand out literature about smoking cessation and gather valuable survey information about smoking in our community. We will also be signing up new supporters. One of the helpers on hand will be Travis the pit bull. Our little mascot will bow and wag and shake hands for the good fight Butt Out is waging.

Butt Out spoke out at the second hand smoke ordinance hearing.

City Hall is debating an ordinance aimed at reducing second hand smoke by forbidding outdoor dining smoke, smoking in movie lines and smoking in doorways, among other measures. Brian Davis from Butt Out was at this week’s hearing to educate the supervisors about the impact of second hand smoke on members of the LGBT community. The next hearing on the ordinance is February 22. If you’d like to attend, contact Brian at briand@ggbreathe.org.

Help gather valuable information and win valuable prizes!

If you are 18-24 years old, and LGBTQI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, or intersex) you are eligible to win up to $150 for doing a survey about tobacco use. You don’t have to be a smoker or live in California to participate. This survey will help to gather important information about tobacco use and attitudes about tobacco that will help Butt Out and our national partners develop effective strategies for reducing smoking in our communities. Visit http://www.nyacyouth.org/pages.php?id=21 for more information.

As you can see, Butt Out is busy reaching out to the public and getting people activated about the tobacco problem. Keep track of the work Butt Out is doing by going to our website (www.butt-out.org/), friending us on Facebook (butt-outsanfrancisco) or by connecting with us on Twitter (twitter.com/buttoutsf).

Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Starting the Habit and Lesbian Sexuality

“I started when I was just a kid. I saw Marlene Dietrich on the big screen sensuously sucking on a long necked cigarette and I knew I wanted to be like her. I wanted to be cool and sexy. Smoking became a part of my identity as a dyke and a lesbian.”
-Mickey*

Lesbians, like gay people in general, can wrap up their sexuality with smoking. Smoking to the young lesbian is a statement of sexiness and rebellion – part of being cool as a gay person. Other reasons for starting smoking include the social stress of being gay, direct targeting by the tobacco companies, higher incidence of drug and alcohol abuse and centralizing community around bars and clubs. Given all of that, it is no surprise that lesbians in California smoke three times more than other women.

It is one thing to hear about statistics. The problem becomes real when you hear about women’s experiences directly. I went out into the community to hear from lesbians who smoked or had smoked. I wanted to get a sense of why they started smoking.

Look at Amber. She started smoking at a relatively young age:

“I started smoking at the same time I came out and started frequenting gay bars here in San Francisco. That was forty years ago and I smoked up until about twenty years ago and finally quit for good. I started smoking actually because it was the only way I could tolerate hanging out in smoky bars and because, back then, it was considered "cool" and sophisticated to do so.”

Amber quit smoking when her longtime partner got cancer from smoking and died from the illness. Amber is now very sensitive to cigarette smoke and has compromised lung function. She is very happy to be free of smoking in her life.

Amber’s story is an interesting one. She started smoking to fit in with the other women in the bars. The lesbian community seems to gravitate around the bars. Drinking and smoking goes together. It is such a shame that lesbians in San Francisco lack community spaces that don’t encourage addictive behaviors.

Tracy is another woman who shared her story with me. She had her first smoke when she was 16. She visited a beach town with some friends of hers. She was tormented about being gay and made a last-ditch attempt at playing straight. She made out with a guy one night and woke up feeling terrible. The next morning she went to a gas station and saw some girls.

“I saw these two girls, super pretty, super light and carefree, seemingly comfortable in their own skin, around my age. I assumed they were straight. They were buying cigs from some old guy who was getting a kick out of them and surely knew they were underage. Anyways, for some reason, something clicked in me and I was like, I want to be those (presumably straight) girls. I bought a pack and forced myself to smoke one after another. I got sick! But, I still kept smoking.”

Tracy smoked for 12 more years and tried everything to break herself of the habit, including running marathons and backpacking. She couldn’t quit even with severe asthma! She finally broke free three years ago when her partner told her she would stop breathing periodically while sleeping. Tracy did not want to die because of her smoking.

Tracy’s smoking reverberates with a lot of people. Internalized homophobia gnaws at the insides of a lot of gay people. Lesbians who hate their budding identities can easily get sucked into self-destructive behaviors like smoking. Hopefully smoking will become less appealing to young lesbians as societal acceptance of homosexuality increases.

Lesbians pick up smoking for a myriad reasons, often related to their sexual identity. The stories above represent just a few of the many experiences other women have had with smoking. With time, it is this writer’s dream that lesbians can come of age loving themselves and detesting cigarettes as a way to express who they are.

Do you have a story you’d like to share about starting smoking? Did your smoking habit have something to do with your sexuality? Share your experiences by making a comment!

Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation.

Visit Butt-Out online at http://www.butt-out.org/

*The names of the women who shared their stories have been changed to preserve their privacy.

Hello World!

Cheers everyone! I am cheery today for two reasons. For starters, it is my birthday. At 12:12pm I officially inaugurated my 34th year. I plan to enjoy my special day with family tonight at Chow on Church Street.

The second reason why I am cheery today is because I am starting this blog for Butt Out.

I am committed to Butt Out for deeply personal reasons. Everyone in my family smokes. I grew up in a house hazy with cigarette smoke and had to suffer pent up in cars filled with the noxious fumes. It is bad enough that my parents smoke. Each of my four siblings smoke as well. I dread the thought of losing any of them early to a tobacco related disease. The statistics aren't great. Tobacco kills more people than murder, suicide, traffic accidents, drugs and alcohol combined! What compounds my fear is my frustration in talking to them about tobacco. They won't hear what I have to say. They tell me that I don't have any right to tell them about quitting smoking because I did not smoke myself. They tell me they will quit when they are ready to quit. Hopefully they will quit at the right time.

I became so flabbergasted in dealing with my family that I looked outside for an opportunity to strike out against Big Tobacco. I found Butt Out. Butt Out uses advocates to interact with LGBT community organizations and work with them to adopt anti-tobacco funding policies. By getting organizations to adopt policies, the community is telling the tobacco companies that they cannot buy good will with our good names. They can't pay to look like good guys in our community and to our youth especially. Consider this - fully 43% of our LGBT youth smoke. That is almost half of them! We need to help our youth fight back against the evil influences of Big Tobacco. I feel empowered in my work with Butt Out and look forward to volunteering with them for a long time.

Butt Out is a project of Breathe California, funded by the San Francisco Tobacco Free Project, which works to get tobacco money out of LGBT community organizations in San Francisco. We also educate the public about the hazards of smoking and about smoking cessation. This blog will come out every Wednesday. I will talk about the work that Butt Out is doing, about my personal experiences and perspectives on smoking, about interesting things happening in the fight against Big Tobacco and about tobacco and its impact on the LGBT and larger community. Hopefully you will find this blog chock full of passion, insight, up-to-date information and useful knowledge. Maybe you'll even be motivated to join forces with Butt Out! We are always looking for supporters.

I hope you tune into this blog and feel as passionate about fighting tobacco as I do. Watch this page every Wednesday and keep in touch with your comments. Have a great day!

Visit Butt-Out online at http://www.butt-out.org/