QUEER TOBACCO USE
BY THE NUMBERS
LGBTQ+ ADULTS SMOKE MORE
Ever since LGBTQ+ smoking rates have been measured the results have been consistent: Queer folks smoke more, and usually a lot more, than people overall.
2018 numbers from California are typical: 9.7% of all adults smoked cigarettes compared to 18% of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender adults – nearly twice as much.
QUEER HIGH SCHOOL YOUTH USE TOBACCO MORE
Teenagers use a variety of tobacco products including e-cigarettes, cigarillos and hookah in addition to cigarettes, and queer teens use more of them. 25.2% of trans, 16.4% of lesbian or gay and 15.5% of bisexual high school students used various tobacco products in California in 2018 compared to 12% of their straight peers.
POC QUEER YOUTH SMOKE AND VAPE MORE
LG Black and LGB Asian-Pacific Islander students try smoking more and earlier than straight white students, which isn’t true of Black and API students generally. A Black transgender student is almost 6x as likely as a Black cisgender student to vape. A white trans student is 1.2x as likely as a white cis student to vape.
