![]() Shift MN also studies the data from the Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey conducted by the Minnesota Department of Health. To better understand health issues affecting LGBTQ people in Minnesota, JustUs Health conducts an annual “Voices of Health” survey in 2017, more than 4,000 people completed the survey. Yearly survey illuminates health issues, including tobacco use, faced by the LGBTQ community They advocate for healthier LGBTQ communities through outreach, education, social media, and policy. Shift MN envisions LGBTQ communities where everyone has equitable access to resources that cultivate sustainable wellness practices. The program is part of a growing movement to promote community-driven tobacco prevention and control activities and strategies. The program is supported in this work as one of eleven recipients of a Tobacco-Free Communities grant from the Minnesota Department of Health, a program to reduce smoking, prevent youth commercial tobacco use, and address tobacco-related disparities in Minnesota. Staff members at Shift MN, a program of JustUs Health (formerly Rainbow Health Initiative and the Minnesota AIDS Project), are working to protect LGBTQ people from tobacco, and support tobacco users who want to quit. For tobacco companies, modeling tobacco use as way to belong to a group is a strategy for getting more LGBTQ people to smoke, vape, or chew. (Read more about tobacco-related health inequities.) For some, tobacco use seems like a way to deal with stressful feelings and situations like these. In addition to being the target of advertising, another factor known to affect health disparities is discrimination many LGBTQ people have to cope with discrimination and bullying from family, schoolmates, coworkers, and society as a whole, resulting in feelings of anxiety, marginalization, and fear. Discrimination causes stress that harms physical and mental healthĬompared to 14% of the general population, 25-31% of LGBTQ adult Minnesotans smoke among LGBTQ youth, one in three use tobacco. The results of this long marketing push are reflected in higher rates of commercial tobacco use in this community. The same tactics are used today to push the acceptance of e-cigarettes and vaping devices like JUUL. At a time when few LGBTQ people were shown in media of any kind, the industry made them feel accepted with tobacco-portraying them in cigarette ads along with symbols such as rainbow flags, promoting tobacco products at Pride festivals and LGBTQ bars, and sponsoring LGBTQ events. Tobacco companies have been targeting LGBTQ people with advertising for decades. Shift MN: An LGBTQ Advocate against Commercial Tobacco Use
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