I hate smoking with the deep and abiding passion only an asthmatic person can muster. The very idea of selfish nicotine junkies taking umbrage with my desire to enjoy a meal or cocktail without expelling phlegm is obscene. And I am giddy with delight over proposals to create smoke free workplaces for everyone, even those unfortunate enough to provide service to said nicotine users. 

(If you think I'm being mean or nasty, screw you.  Shove an inhaler in your mouth so you can catch your breath and tell me how mean I am ....I have no pity for smokers.  Get the patch and stop whining.)

The data is clear. Second-hand smoke kills people.  Smoking bans do not put restaurants and bars out of business.  Even the Pennsylvania Restaurant association is willing to support a 100% statewide ban if it includes casinos (I caught this on McIntire's show). 

And this is most decidedly a very important LGBTQ issue.  According to a 2001 study, lesbians smoke more than straight women.  Specifically, 35.5% of lesbians smoke compared to 20.5% of straight women.  Other studies have shown similar disproportions among gay men. 

Even more frightening was a 2004 study in which 40% of lesbian and bisexual girls between the ages of 12 and 17 report smoking, compared with 6% of heterosexual girls of the same ages.   Forty percent to six percent. 

There's a whole host of reasons this could be the case --- the history of the bar as a gay gathering place, societal pressure over gay identity, tobacco companies specific targeting of gay subcultures, and so forth. 

So creating smokefree spaces is critical for the health and well being of our community.  We need to push for environments in which people can be gay, find community and not have to inhale carcinogens. 

Personally, I would enjoy occasionally going to the local gay bars.  I like to dance, I like the shows and enjoy mingling with the homos.  But my recent foray to The Eagle was a disaster -- big kinds of fun followed by two and a half days of illness.  Who needs that?

Check out Tobacco Free Allegheny for local resources on smoking bans. 

Here's some lovely and not so lovely news from those who would drag us back into the good old days ...courtesy of Feministing.

Grooms for Life matches anti-choice bachelors willing to marry and become a father to the feti of unwed pregnant women.  Marry the women I mean.  Ick Ick Ick. 

Will the state soon gain custody of abandoned embryos?  Mother Jones had this story. 

Should the term Pro-Choice be retired?  Feministe has this take ... 

And finally in the most f*cked up situation of the week, the loonies at Operation Rescue have purchased the building housing a Wichita health center which performed abortions.  Guess who got evicted?   Makes me glad we have a pathetic twerp running the local rescue group.  They can't even keep their blog updated ....