The  Network directs We Breathe, the Statewide Coordinating Center to reduce LGBTQ tobacco-related disparities. We Breathe provides expertise on working with LGBTQ communities, preventing and reducing tobacco use among LGBTQ Californians, and addressing tobacco-related health disparities within LGBTQ communities, to help funded projects reach their goal to eliminate tobacco use by 2035 in California.

• FACILITATING CONNECTIONS: Connect LGBTQ stakeholders across the state with projects and resources to support tobacco-free communities

• CREATING MATERIALS: Create LGBTQ-specific educational materials for events, social media, presentations, and news articles

• DISTRICT DAYS: Support opportunities for local partners to educate elected officials

• POLICY PLATFORM: Identify policy and system change strategies and priorities for preventing and reducing tobacco use among LGBTQ Californians

1. For free, personalized, confidential quit services in six languages, please visit: Kick It California and/or their Quit Vaping support
2. The California Department of Public Health/California Tobacco Control Program:  Website Directory.
3. Commercial Tobacco-Free K-12 School Model Policy: The Public Health Law Center has prepared a comprehensive model policy that school districts and schools may adopt.
   1. Questions and answers.
   2. Alternative Measures.
4. Compliance Policy for Limited Modifications to Certain Marketed Tobacco Products: In this guidance, FDA sets out its compliance policy for premarket review requirements for two types of limited modifications to new tobacco products that were on the market as of August 8, 2016. Read more. 
5. FDA Tobacco Compliance and Enforcement Report. Accomplishments and Activities of FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products Office of Compliance and Enforcement Read More.
6. Fighting Flavored Tobacco: A best practice guide for developing local policy campaigns to restrict the sale of flavored tobacco products in California. Read More.
7. LGBT Health Link: Offers a guide to LGBT Best and Promising Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs. Read more.
8. PUP in Smoke: Why Youth Tobacco Possession and Use Penalties Are Ineffective and Inequitable. Read more.
9. Story of Inequity: A public education campaign from Tobacco Free California, detailing how Big Tobacco has targeted LGBTQ communities. Read more.
10. Surgeon General’s Advisory on E-cigarette Use Among Youth: Offers recommendations on how to protect children from a lifetime of nicotine addiction and associated health risks by immediately addressing the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use. Read more.
11. The Center for Tobacco Policy Organizing: Second-hand Smoke LGBTQ Poll 2019 Survey Data. Read more.
12. The Center for Tobacco Policy Organizing: Tobacco Retail LGBTQ Poll 2019 Survey Data.  Read more.
13. The Tobacco Prevention Toolkit: Theory-based and evidence-informed resources created by educators, parents, and researchers aimed at preventing middle and high school students’ use of tobacco and nicotine. Read more.
14. This Free Life: A public education campaign from the federal Food and Drug Administration, designed to prevent and reduce tobacco use among LGBT young adults who use tobacco occasionally. Read more.
15. Tobacco Industry Targeting Priority Populations: Focus groups results detailing how the tobacco industry targets LGBTQ and African-American  communities: Read more.
16. Tobacco Retail Environment: Research by the Public Health Law Center on why the location of tobacco and e-cigarette retailers matter for public health. Read more. 
    
17. Virtual Learning: English and Spanish Youth E-Cig Prevention Materials: Materials include lesson plans, activity sheets, a guide for parents to talk to kids about e-cigarettes, and infographics.
18. Trans Community and Tobacco - Chela Demuir and Queen Victoria Ortega host a special conversation about the effects of tobacco on trans bodies. You can watch the full video here.
19. LGBTQ Cessation: The Power of Collaboration  - Join We Breathe and our partners (UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Kick It California, the Tobacco Use Prevention Program, the Anaheim Regional Medical Center, and the LGBTQ Center Orange County) in learning how powerful collaborations with statewide technical assistance providers, regional projects, research institutions and local lead agencies have addressed the lack of access to LGBTQ Tobacco cessation programs in conservative areas and across the state. You can watch the full video here and in Spanish here.  
20. Tobacco use & tobacco marketing exposure among transgender & gender non-conforming young adults in CA. The infographic from UCLA's Hub for Health Intervention, Policy and Practice (HHIPP) can be viewed here.
21. We Breathe Policy Platform webinar led by Program Coordinator, Isaias Guzman. The full recorded webinar can be viewed here.
22. We Breathe Policy Platform Briefing with the CA LGBTQ Caucus can be viewed here.
23. California LGBTQ+ Adult Health Behaviors and Attitudes on Tobacco Use - A report based on the California LGBTQ+ Tobacco Survey from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research - can be viewed here.
24. Zyn & the Rise in Popularity of Nicotine Pouches - learn more here.
25. Kick It California's Services for LGBTQ Tobacco Users: What to Expect
26. Kick It California's LGBTQ Champions & Allies factsheet in English and Spanish
27. LGBT+ young people smoke and vape at a higher prevalence than non-LGBT+ peers - learn more here.
28. Surgeon General's Report: Eliminating Tobacco-Related Disparities and Death: Addressing Disparities - Read more.

We Breathe offers a wide array of online and in-person trainings for California Tobacco Control Projects throughout California. Trainers are subject-matter experts in areas such as public policy, organizing and communications, including We Breathe staff members and leaders from community-based organizations.

Past trainings include LGBTQ 101, How To Engage the LGBTQ Community, and Effective Social Media Strategies. If there is a training your coalition would like in your area, please contact Isaias Guzman at iguzman@health-access.org for additional information.

Understanding LGBTQ+ Identities and How to Engage the Community in Rural Settings

Including LGBTQ+ Voices in Commercial Tobacco Control

We Breathe Introductory Webinar

• Guest Opinion: On smokeout day, trans folks need a world worth quitting for. 

• Big Queer Convo Takes on Tobacco Smoking Plight LGBTQ+ Community Faces

We Breathe strives to create change beyond the “Just Say NO” rhetoric. In Ryan Oda’s Op-Ed, readers learn about the systemic change required to assist the reduction of tobacco use amongst LGBTQ+ folx through community building, awareness, and acknowledgment.

To access the Op-Ed, feel free to select any of the published articles below: 

• LGBTQ San Diego County News: Why “Just Say No” to tobacco fails LGBTQ+ communities 
• Outword Magazine: 729 Arts and Entertainment Special Issue
• LGBTQ Nation: LGBTQ+ people are smoking to cope with trauma. Too many anti-tobacco activists are failing them.

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date on tobacco-related news and advocacy opportunities.

For more information on how to get involved, please contact Ryan Oda at roda@health-access.org.

In Cathedral City, the project aims to reduce secondhand smoke exposure in outdoor dining and bar establishments. Advocating for healthier environments will include participation from community members in delivering educational materials to policymakers, collecting data and participating in media activities to increase awareness. In Coachella, this project aims to work with community members to reduce the availability of mentholated and flavored tobacco products that are often starter products for youth. In order to fight back against the current vaping epidemic it is important to advocate for stronger tobacco control laws. Additionally, the project will focus on increasing awareness about tobacco related health disparities and provide networking and skill building opportunities for the LGBTQ community.

More information

The San Francisco Community Health Center’s new LGBTQ+ Tobacco Control Program aims to reduce tobacco-related health disparities among the LGBTQ+ community through community health education, community organizing, and advocacy for tobacco-free policies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Components of this program include supporting local San Francisco Bay Area tobacco-control policies, working with local community colleges, development of LGBTQ+ specific tobacco health education materials, and community outreach/engagement.

PROUDLY AGAINST TOBACCO (PAT) COALITION One component of the LGBTQ+ Tobacco Control Program is the Proudly Against Tobacco (PAT) Coalition which is an interdisciplinary group of advocates for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) health equity focused on eliminating tobacco use within our various communities. The PAT Coalition aims to educate on tobacco-specific health disparities experienced by LGBTQ+ communities through community health education, research, leadership development and creating culturally appropriate LGBTQ+ health material.

For more information:

Chad Ngo, Program Manager / chad@sfcommunityhealth.org / Office: (415) 292-3420 ext. 366

- By engaging the community, we are empowering and mobilizing LGBTQ+ youth and allies in the City of Santa Ana to promote a campaign in support of a policy that ends the sale of flavored tobacco and menthol products. Passage of this policy will reduce youth access to tobacco products and mitigate tobacco-related health disparities among LGBTQ+ community members.

- By engaging the community, we are empowering and mobilizing LGBTQ+ young adults and allies in the City of San Diego to promote a campaign in support of a policy that prohibits tobacco-use in outdoor dining areas of venues including restaurants, bars, and nightclubs. Doing this will mitigate tobacco-related health disparities among LGBTQ+ community members. This policy will also reduce secondhand smoke, secondhand aerosol emission, and thirdhand smoke exposure for all community members and visitors.

For more information:

Bryant Miramontes, Project Coordinator/ bmiramontes@ncaddoc.org / Office: (949) 595-2288 ext. 320

The Out Against Big Tobacco Central Valley (OABT-CV) Coalition, supported by Equality California Institute, is an alliance of LGBTQ+ individuals and community organizations collectively working to address tobacco control and health inequity issues within California’s LGBTQ+ community. We’re standing up to Big Tobacco and fighting for institutional changes to protect future generations from their predatory practices. Our focus is on promoting health equity and reducing tobacco-related health consequences through education and local policy ordinances.

For more information:

Beatriz Baez | Program Manager | Beatriz.Baez@eqca.org
eqca.org/outagainstbigtobacco

OUT Against Big Tobacco Los Angeles (OABT-LA) began in 2018 at Equality California. Through its five-year tenure, OABT-LA had many accomplishments, including passing a comprehensive tobacco retail license in West Hollywood. OABT-LA is now overseen by the California LGBTQ Health and Human Services Network.

For more information:

Jessica Esquivel | Program Coordinator | jesquivel@health-access.org

https://californialgbtqhealth.org/out-against-big-tobacco/ 

LGBTQ Minus Tobacco is a dedicated, LGBTQ+-led initiative operating within the Bay Area, with a focused mission to combat the tobacco industry's detrimental targeting of LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities. Our unwavering commitment revolves around the reduction of tobacco usage and exposure within the LGBTQ+ community, achieved through a blend of community education and policy advocacy.

Proud 2B Free is a project aiming to reduce tobacco-related health disparities within LGBTQ+ communities. Learn more here or visit their website.

In July 2022, We Breathe released a series of Educational Interview Videos that provide support to LGBTQ+ community members who are trying to quit tobacco/nicotine, bring awareness to the health effects of smoking and highlight ways the LGBTQ+ community could avoid tobacco/nicotine use altogether. Watch the full series of videos here.

Amplifying Queer Voices: Mental Health and Tobacco Use Stories

LGBTQ individuals face health disparities linked to societal stigma, discrimination, and denial of their civic and human rights. Experiences of violence and victimization are frequent for LGBTQ individuals, and have a long lasting effect on the individual and community. Health equity within the LGBTQ community, especially within tobacco control, is acknowledging these experiences, striving to reduce these statistics, and investing resources to address disparities that have been caused by historic stigma, discrimination and inequities. This short video lifts up the voices of LGBTQ Californians who have experiences related to mental health and tobacco use.

• Spotlight On - Fall of 2024