Queer As Smoke Survey
This week, a campaign to support LGBTQ+ smokers, Queer as Smoke Queer as Smoke | The Brunswick Centre is launched by local charity the Brunswick Centre as part of its work to raise awareness among the community and service providers. The campaign will be visible across social media with targeted work at local LGBTQ+ Pride events.
Smokefree is for everyone
- LGBTQ+ people are 46% more likely to smoke than the general population. The reasons behind this increased likelihood to smoke are varied with research showing that LGBTQ+ people experience more stress, anxiety and poor mental health including depression. It is already well established that people with poor mental health are more likely to smoke.
- Continuing to smoke is often not a personal choice, but an addiction, with most smokers saying they want to quit.
Call to action
- The Queer ad Smoke campaign will raise the issue of smoking within the LGBTQ+ community and to ensure community members know where they can seek support when they are ready to quit
- As well as the campaign, the Kirklees and Calderdale Public Health Tobacco leads are working with the Brunswick Centre to undertake research into the needs of LGBTQ+ people living in Kirklees and Calderdale who smoke so that services can be enhanced. We will be proactively seeking the views of LGBTQ+ people in the coming months and encouraging them to complete a short survey. Please show your support by sharing with your wider networks.
The survey in available on the Kirklees Council website: Kirklees Council Stop Smoking Survey (snapsurveys.com).