Did you know: Smoking rates in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, queer and asexual (LGBTIQA+) communities are about double the national average? Quit is a culturally safe space. We're here to empower people in the LGBTIQA+ community who smoke to quit. Quitline counsellors can also support you to quit vaping, or support you if you're using vapes to stop smoking.
We all know that when you stop smoking, your physical health improves. But physical wellbeing is just the beginning:
Stopping smoking also improves your mental health and reduces your stress levels.
When you stop smoking, you free up money previously spent on cigarettes to put towards your lifestyle goals like holidays and events, savings, a new car, dining out and other experiences.
As well as greater savings, you free up your time to do the things that are important to you.
Research shows that stopping smoking also improves recovery from alcohol and other drug use.
Quitline (13 7848) is a culturally safe space
In January 2019, we worked with the LGBTIQA+ community to continue to make Quitline an inclusive and culturally safe space. Quitline counsellors can chat to you in a culturally appropriate and accessible way. You'll also find peers working in the service.
Since this collaboration, calls to the Quitline from the LGBTIQA+ community have increased.
Quitline counsellors offer personalised support over your quitting journey. Quitline counsellors help you build and keep up your motivation to quit and can help you create a stop smoking plan that suits you. Quitline counsellors can also support you if you are using e-cigarettes to stop smoking and can help you stop vaping.
Calling Quitline increases your chance of quitting successfully. Call the Quitline on 13 7848 or request a Quitline callback.
Request a Quitline callbackWhy is smoking more common in LGBTIQA+ communities?
Common reasons people in the LGBTIQA+ community list for taking up smoking include:
coping with stress
experiencing discrimination
social anxiety
rejection from loved ones
experience of trauma
social normalisation in social circles and venues
links to alcohol and other drug use.
How to stop smoking?
The most effective way to stop smoking is to combine behavioural support from a service like Quitline (13 7848) with nicotine replacement therapy or prescribed stop smoking medication.
To give yourself the best chance to stop smoking, it helps to:
Set up a quit plan.
Make changes to your routine to reduce triggers to smoke.
Think about ways to reduce stress.
Not everyone succeeds the first time they try to stop smoking, and some people will try multiple times before they succeed.
Set up a quit planMatilda's Story
Matilda Mercury shares her story of quitting smoking. Hear about smoking in the LGBTIQA+ community, what inspired Matilda to quit, and the many benefits Matilda continues to enjoy as a result of stopping smoking:
Also watch Declan's story for more tips and inspiration.
Watch the QuitFlicks films, made by and for the LGBTIQA+ community
We partnered with Melbourne Queer Film Festival and Thorne Harbour Health to provide a platform from which budding filmmakers across Australia could produce short films that empower LGBTIQA+ communities to live smokefree. The resulting short films are powerful, innovative and sincere - made by and for the LGBTIQA+ community. Watch all the QuitFlicks short films.
Our work with the LGBTIQA+ community
Read more about our partnerships with the LGBTIQA+ community and our exciting work.