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LGBTQ+ BARS SHOULD BE SAFE SPACES FOR EVERYONE
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SUPPORT SMOKE-FREE BAR PATIOS!

Queer bars have historically been places where members of LGBTQ+ communities have felt safe from the dangers of the outside world. We gather in these spaces to build community, celebrate victories in the struggle for justice, soothe one another in defeat or grief, and socialize away from those who would harm us for being ourselves.

But not all of these spaces are safe for everyone. 

Bars and clubs with patios can offer a cool escape from a noisy crowded interior but smoking on the patio can make that open space less appealing and physically harmful. Some other bars have rooms with one wall open to the outside where smoking is allowed, forcing everyone inside — including bar workers — to breathe toxic air.

Bars and clubs with patios can offer a cool escape from a noisy crowded interior but smoking on the patio can make that open space less appealing and physically harmful. Some other bars have rooms with one wall open to the outside where smoking is allowed, forcing everyone inside — including bar workers — to breathe toxic air.

Unhealthy Air on Bar Patios

Air quality measurements on four queer bar patios in San Francisco reached levels deemed “Unhealthy” by the EPA. At two bars, the average reading over the 45-minute measurement time was “Unhealthy.”

Some outdoor smoking spaces can create more harmful air quality inside the bar than existed when it was legal to smoke inside, and simply having one wall of a smoking room open to the outside does not create a space free from secondhand smoke.

“Cigarette smoke can make me cough up blood. I have cystic fibrosis, a chronic lung disease, and I do not appreciate walking through a cloud of smoke to hang out with friends. Please make LGBT bars and their outdoor patios accessible to people like me.”

– Devin Wakefield

Bar patio group of friends enjoying clean air

Stock photo. Posed by models.

Bar Workers Are Forced to Breathe Toxic Smoke

Bar customers can choose whether or not to spend time in these spaces, but bar employees have no choice. 1 in 3 young adults in Alameda and San Francisco counties are exposed to secondhand smoke on the job, and these workers are disproportionately low-income and Latina/o/e.

Just as more people of color (POC) were exposed to — and died from — COVID-19 due to the nature of their jobs, more POC are breathing unhealthy air at work so they can put food on the table. No one should have to choose between their job and their health.

“The bar kept filling with smoke from the patio, so I had to choose between my health, my job and my community. My health won.”

– Anonymous ex-bartender at a San Francisco Queer Bar

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Smoke-Free Spaces Can Inspire LGBTQ+ People to Quit Smoking

These quotes from a recent survey of queer women in San Francisco show that LGBTQ+ community members that are currently smokers are influenced by an awareness of the impact smoking in smoke-free spaces has upon others, and that they can be encouraged to quit by a non-smoking environment.

“… sometimes you can see them signs and it reminding you know, Oh, I need to quit, sometimes signs do help.”

– Queer woman, current smoker

“… you have to be mindful of other people's preference and not wanting to be around tobacco smoke … when you decide … for yourself to do things that are unhealthy, it’s not fair for you to expose other people to your unhealthy habits.”

– Queer woman, current smoker

The same survey revealed that participants were especially receptive to signs that provided information on quit-smoking resources

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Thoughtful woman with dreadlocks and tatoo

Stock photos. Posed by models.

LGBTQ+ People Know Smoking on Bar Patios Is Harmful

78%

of people surveyed at San Francisco Pride in 2011 who went to queer bars and clubs with patios said they were bothered by the smoke and 80% knew it was harmful.

76%

of LGBTQ+ Californians surveyed in 2019 said that secondhand smoke in outdoor public areas is harmful, and 62% stated that vaping is harmful.

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Loving gay male couple
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Stock photos. Posed by models.

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Stock photo. Posed by models.

105 California Cities Require Bar Patios to Be Smoke-Free

As of April 2021, 105 cities and counties in California, including 50 in the Bay Area have chosen to protect their residents and workers from secondhand smoke exposure by adopting policies requiring all outdoor dining and bar patio areas to be smoke-free.

LGBTQ Minus Tobacco is working in Oakland and San Francisco on this issue of importance to LGBTQ+ communities.

This website was made possible by funds received from the California Department of Public Health, California Tobacco Control Program, under Contract No. 20-10004.

All persons depicted are models for illustrative purposes only.

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©2024  LGBTQ Minus Tobacco

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