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Communities Putting Prevention to Work. Policy & PrideFest. OurQ is made possible by funding from PUBLIC HEALTH—SEATTLE & KING COUNTY + U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. Impacting the Health of Seattle’s LGBT Community Through Effective Tobacco Prevention & Control Policies.
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Communities Putting Prevention to Work Policy & PrideFest OurQ is made possible by funding from PUBLIC HEALTH—SEATTLE & KING COUNTY + U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES. Impacting the Health of Seattle’s LGBT Community Through Effective Tobacco Prevention & Control Policies
Gay City Health Project • Gay/Bi Men’s health organization founded in 1995 in Seattle, WA. Small non-profit with a staff of eleven. • Premiere provider of HIV/STI testing (More than 2300 clients last year) • Other holistic programs include: Social events for LGBT people in recovery, Arts programming; Queerituality; LGBT Library & Resource line • Tobacco work – media campaigns, cessation services
LGBT Tobacco Use • Disproportionate use – twice as likely as the non-gay population • Various reasons for this, including… • Historically socializing in bars • Targeted Marketing (Project SCUM), Event Sponsorship, etc • Lends to framing it as a social justice issue
Project Background • Received CPPW grant received in Fall 2010 from Public Health Seattle-King County (approximately $200,000) • Focus on policy & systems change • Target Seattle LGBT PrideFest. Event held last weekend of June at Seattle Center / Space Needle • Two components – media campaign and policy project
Media Campaign • Frame tobacco as more than a health issue. It’s a social justice issue. • Imagery that was easily identifiable as gay; Iconic • Create the expectation that businesses & organizations that serve the LGBT community should care about our health • Have life beyond tobacco; possibly apply to other activism, health & political issues
Media Campaign “Our community has a history of combating injustice, and together we’ve made great strides. But there are still forces at work against us. LGBTQ people are two times more likely to smoke than straight people. Why? Take a look at the big picture.”
Policy Project • Gay City has a history of working with One Degree Events, producers of Seattle PrideFest • PrideFest draws 80,000 people to downtown Seattle • Projected 135 Businesses and Organizations as Vendors at the event • Gay City served as “Presenting Sponsor” for the event, with a $30,000 sponsorship
Challenges • Unexpected resistance to policy change by local non-profits; media coverage • “Individual Rights” argument when working with a marginalized community • Vendors not understanding what was required, particularly small business owners • Timeline – more media, more capacity building
Successes • Catalyst for community discussion of tobacco issues in the LGBT community (even controversy in media) • New partnerships with other organizations • New policies created by 87 vendors • Created expectation among the community that businesses should care about our health • Set a standard for future PrideFests
More Information • Website: gaycity.org/ourq • Contacts • Jeff Rinderle • Gay City Health Project • 206-388-1708 • jeff@gaycity.org • Robert Roth • Gay City Health Project • 206-388-1713 • robert@gaycity.org OurQ is made possible by funding from PUBLIC HEALTH—SEATTLE & KING COUNTY + U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.