Quit already, bitches

As friends of mine puffed away in bars over the holidays, I felt compelled to ask them how the Illinois smoking ban was going to affect their habit (no judgment). Repeatedly, my goombahs informed me that come January 1, they would stamp out their last cigarette for good. But I had a hard time believing them. That’s not to say that any of my best buds were looking forward to huddling outside Hydrate with a pair of frostbitten fingers clamped around a stone-cold Lucky Strike, but I did sense they were being a little naive. When your body is addicted to something like tobacco, it has a way of getting what it wants, Chicago winter or not.

LGBT people and tobacco use is an interesting issue. According to the National LGBT Tobacco Control Network, queer people are 50 to 200 percent more likely to be addicted to smoking than other groups (depending on the group). This is also true among youth populations, who are up to 16 percent more likely to light up than their straight counterparts. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 30,000 self-identified LGBT people die each year from tobacco-related diseases (or between 80 to 85 people every day). The trouble is that we’re especially at risk.

“There’s a myriad of different reasons [why we smoke],” says Kristin Torres, project manager for the Bitch to Quit program at Howard Brown, “but one that really struck me was on this internalized homophobia and homophobia from other groups making us feel isolated. Folks have really internalized that and turned it into habits that are bad for their bodies.” Torres also says that marginalized people often pick up habits that make them look tougher. Of course, we’re also more likely than our straight compadres to use bars as de facto community centers where hooch and ciggies go hand in hand.

But there’s another ominous problem looming over the issue, which is that tobacco companies have homed in on us. They’ve shelled out a ton of bucks at Pride events over the years, and for a long time were giving money to GLAAD (the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation). Torres offers American Spirit as one example.

“[They] did this really compelling ad that said something to the effect of, ‘It’s your right to have the freedom to marry, the freedom to be whoever you want to be,’ and then the American Spirit logo on the bottom,” she says. “It really grosses me out. It’s such a creepy way to do their marketing.”

But Torres and Howard Brown offer a solution in the form of Bitch to Quit, a queer-focused program that aims to help tobacco users break their bad habit once and for all. Bitch to Quit is a group process that includes eight weekly sessions in which smokers quit halfway through, no butts about it. Participants examine their own origins with their habit and the kinds of triggers and social situations that keep them lighting up. Ongoing support is offered in the form of nicotine gum and patch therapy, peer counseling, coping strategies and stress management as well as three- and six-month follow-ups.

The fee is $150, although no one is turned away for lack of funds and, as Torres says, the cost is miniscule when weighed against that of smoking a $7 pack a day over eight weeks.

“We’re really trying to take the stance that we’re not judgmental, and that we’re here if they need us,” Torres says. “Whether it’s their first or 100th time [quitting], we’re going to be there to support them. All of us are former smokers so we know what it’s like to be in that position.”

In the meantime, Torres does think the Illinois smoking ban will have a positive effect, at least on casual puffers. “We have the weather working for us,” she says. “Unless they’re really dedicated to that cigarette, they’re not going to have it.”

Bitch to Quit begins Thursday 17.