EAST HARTFORD — The American Lung Association’s latest health disparity report, Smoking Out a Deadly Threat: Tobacco Use in the LGBT Community, examines the trend of higher tobacco use among the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and the need for additional research specific to this community.

Most state and national health surveys do not collect information on sexual orientation and gender identity; however, there are current data indicating the LGBT population smokes at a higher rate than the general public. Key facts regarding this disparity include the following:

Gay, bisexual and transgender men are 2.0 to 2.5 times more likely to smoke than heterosexual men.

Lesbian, bisexual, and transgender women are 1.5 to 2.0 times more likely to smoke than heterosexual women.

Bisexual boys and girls have some of the highest smoking rates when compared with both their heterosexual and homosexual peers.

“The purpose for the American Lung Association issuing Smoking Out a Deadly Threat: Tobacco Use in the LGBT Community is to raise awareness of this health disparity and address the need for additional research specific to the LGBT community and tobacco use,” said Jeff Seyler, American Lung Association of New England president and CEO. “The LGBT population, like other groups disproportionately affected by tobacco use, including African Americans and Native Americans, needs targeted efforts to save lives by reducing smoking rates.”

The Lung Association’s report presents a compilation of research that examines possible contributing factors to the LGBT smoking rate, including stress and discrimination related to homophobia, the tobacco industry’s targeted marketing to LGBT consumers, and lack of access to culturally appropriate tobacco treatment programs.

“Understanding and eliminating this disparity will take a concerted group effort from the health care industry, governments, LGBT advocacy organizations, and individuals,” Mr Seyler continued. “The Lung Association is committed to preventing tobacco use and reducing smoking rates among the LGBT community.”

The American Lung Association in Connecticut is calling on the state Department of Health to include sexual orientation and gender identity questions in public health surveys. State tobacco control programs should work to ensure prevention and cessation programs, materials and staff are culturally competent and inclusive of the LGBT community.

Local LGBT advocacy organizations should advocate for policies that promote tobacco prevention and cessation programs, and identify alternative funding sources to tobacco industry sponsorship, the report recommends.

Despite the progress that has been made in tobacco control in the United States, and specifically in Connecticut, this deadly addiction continues to claim lives and rob millions of their health. In 2009, the smoking rate in Connecticut was 15.4 percent.

The Lung Association in Connecticut continues to advocate for tougher state laws to protect citizens from tobacco-caused illnesses. Most recently, it has advocated for the protection of funding to the state’s tobacco control program.

The Smoking Out a Deadly Threat: Tobacco Use in the LGBT Community report is the American Lung Association’s second report in a series taking an in-depth look at lung health disparities in specific populations.

This report builds on the American Lung Association’s long-standing commitment to saving lives and improving lung health for all Americans.

For a compendium of information about lung disease in various populations, see the recently released State of Lung Disease in Diverse Communities: 2010 and Too Many Cases, Too Many Deaths: Lung Cancer in African Americans, available at www.LungUSA.org.