LGBT Smoking Disputed
Not everyone agrees that smoking is higher within the LGBT community. In Michigan, David Jaques, president of Respecting Individuals on Neutral Grounds, or RING, said the number of LGBT and heterosexual smokers seems to be proportionate.
“It’s like saying gay people ride more bikes than straight people — there’s not a correlation in my mind,” he said.
The difference in generations also should be taken into account, Jaques said. Older people seem to smoke more than younger people, he said.
Mandi Rabe, a member of People Respecting the Individuality of Students at Michigan State University, or PRISM, said she doesn’t see the LGBT community as being affected by smoking more than any other population.
“I think it’s still a stereotype that the queer population does more drugs,” said Rabe, a political theory and constitutional democracy sophomore. “With my own involvement in the community, I don’t see it any more. Clearly out of all the stereotypes, it’s one of the least worrisome — but it’s still something that needs to be dealt with.”
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