Gays and Lesbians More Likely to Smoke than Other Adults Despite Risks

ROCHESTER, NY, MAY 14, 2001 – A recent Harris Interactive (Nasdaq: HPOL) study conducted with Witeck-Combs Communications confirms that adult members of the lesbian and gay communities are more likely to smoke than are heterosexual adults. This is despite the fact that they are more likely than other smokers to believe that smoking causes lung cancer and heart disease, and will probably shorten their lives. And, like other smokers, the overwhelming majority of lesbian and gay smokers has tried and failed to give up smoking many times.

Main findings of the Harris Interactive/Witeck-Combs study are:

• Over a third (36%) of adults aged 18 and over who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) report that they smoke cigarettes compared with a quarter (25%) of all adults.
• Three quarters (75%) of LGBT smokers say they have tried to give up, compared to 80% of all adults. On average they have tried, and failed, to give up eight times, the same frequency reported by other smokers.
• Virtually all LGBT smokers say they believe that smoking increases their risk of lung cancer (98%) and of heart disease (98%) and "will probably shorten" their own lives (96%). These numbers are higher than the responses for all adult smokers (88% of whom believe smoking increases their risk of lung cancer; 84% believe it increases their risk of heart disease and 80% believe it will probably shorten their lives).

Knowledge of the risks of smoking has not been a strong enough motivator to stop them from smoking.

This is not the first report stating gays and lesbians are more likely to smoke than the population generally.

Kathleen DeBold, Executive Director of the Mautner Project, a lesbian health advocacy group, says lesbians may smoke more because their culture is based around bars, and because tobacco companies regularly advertise in gay magazines and target lesbian and gay customers. Deb Price, a columnist for the Detroit News in 1998 wrote that "Got a light?" are "the first words that many gay men and lesbians dare to speak to another gay person" and that "the tobacco industry's hooks are deeply embedded in the gay community." Another possibility is that gays and lesbians are more likely to smoke as a way of dealing with the stresses and stigma they experience in a generally straight world.

What to do about the high risk of smoking in the LGBT community?

Bob Witeck of Witeck-Combs suggests, "Aggressive counter-marketing is clearly prescribed, as well as further research to analyze motivation and stresses that seem to make gays and lesbians more vulnerable to risky behaviors of all kinds, including smoking."

TABLE 1
DO YOU SMOKE CIGARETTES?

TABLE 2
EVER TRIED TO STOP SMOKING AND, IF SO, HOW MANY TIMES?

Base: Smokers

HAVE TRIED TO GIVE UP SMOKING
All Adults - Mean: 8 times
LGBT Mean: 8 times

TABLE 3
BELIEF THAT SMOKING INCREASES RISK AND SHORTENS LIFE

Base: Smokers

Methodology

The data quoted here are derived from two surveys. The data for the LGBT community are from a survey of 137 adults surveyed online between January 11 and 15, 2001, using the same sampling and weighting methods Harris Interactive used to forecast the presidential elections with great accuracy. The data for the total population came from a Harris Interactive survey of 1,011 adults conducted by telephone on the same dates (January 11 – 15).

About Harris Interactive

For more information about Harris Interactive or this survey, contact: