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Hi, I’m Skylar and I’m a proud member of the LGBT community. A couple years ago, I learned that my younger sister had begun vaping. Vaping pods with flavors and very high concentrations of nicotine. Of course, I worried about this newfound addiction, but she assured me that it was safer because she was vaping and not smoking. However, the huge amount of nicotine in the pods soon proved to be enough. Despite there being much more nicotine in vape products, she quickly moved to cigarettes as well. First, she was socially smoking and then she became pretty dependent on nicotine as a substance. My little sister is a professional singer and a really amazing vocalist and song-writer. I was terrified for her because of this thing that she stumbled into over the course of her nightlife as a student and as a young bisexual woman (which I later realized put her at twice as much risk as a heterosexual person for starting to vape). This product that she had become dependent on could take away the thing that she’s the most passionate about, and beyond that potentially take away her life. I was terrified, both at the idea of losing her too soon and at the idea of having to see her live without her voice, which is the most important thing to her. Thankfully, it took a year or two, but my little sister has since quit using all nicotine products, and I am so SO happy and hope that she won’t see any long-term effects.
Frankly is intended for mature audiences as it includes explicit language and candid discussions about sexual behaviors and terms. Some content may be offensive to readers. It is our intention that Frankly be an affirming space where LGBTQ+ folks going through a challenging time in their lives can be their complete and authentic selves while discussing sexuality and sexual practices.
Hi, I’m Skylar and I’m a proud member of the LGBT community. A couple years ago, I learned that my younger sister had begun vaping. Vaping pods with flavors and very high concentrations of nicotine. Of course, I worried about this newfound addiction, but she assured me that it was safer because she was vaping and not smoking. However, the huge amount of nicotine in the pods soon proved to be enough. Despite there being much more nicotine in vape products, she quickly moved to cigarettes as well. First, she was socially smoking and then she became pretty dependent on nicotine as a substance. My little sister is a professional singer and a really amazing vocalist and song-writer. I was terrified for her because of this thing that she stumbled into over the course of her nightlife as a student and as a young bisexual woman (which I later realized put her at twice as much risk as a heterosexual person for starting to vape). This product that she had become dependent on could take away the thing that she’s the most passionate about, and beyond that potentially take away her life. I was terrified, both at the idea of losing her too soon and at the idea of having to see her live without her voice, which is the most important thing to her. Thankfully, it took a year or two, but my little sister has since quit using all nicotine products, and I am so SO happy and hope that she won’t see any long-term effects.
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Tamí-Maury I, Sharma A, Chen M, et al. Comparing smoking behavior between female-to-male and male-to-female transgender adults. Tobacco Prevention & Cessation. 2020;6(January):2. doi:10.18332/tpc/114513.
Menthol and Cigarettes | Smoking & Tobacco Use | CDC. (2020, November 20). https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/tobacco_industry/menthol-cigarettes/index.html
Quotes
Glissmeyer, G., Henry, L., Kintopf, A., & Brock, B. (2018). Glitter, Smoke, and Mirrors. In W. Swan (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of LGBTQIA Administration and Policy (1st ed., pp. 144–155). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351258807-11
Images
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Coming Down on Tobacco (Published 2009). (2009, January 5).
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Chanel West Coast and Swisher Sweets Artist Project invite you to LA events July 28-29. (n.d.). Wortman Works. Retrieved February 18, 2021, from https://www.wortmanworks.com/news-updates/chanel-west-coast-and-swisher-sweets-artist-project-invite-you-to-la-events-july-28-29
Kingdom, T. C. U. (n.d.). Blu eCigs Electronics—"Drag Queen". Retrieved February 18, 2021, from
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Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2021, from
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Search Vintage Ad Browser. (n.d.). Retrieved February 18, 2021, from
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Virginia Slims [1990-1994] Cigarette Adverts. (2017, March 20). Retro Musings.
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