Editorial Like many teenagers, at 15 I was uncertain, self-conscious, and trying to fit in. But as a Black LGBTQ+ youth navigating my gender expression and eager to make friends, I was willing to do nearly anything to feel a part of this community and culture that welcomed all of who I am.
I was vulnerable, and there were people who knew this, and exploited it. That exploitation took place in what I believed to be a safe space by an uncaring and unethical industry, Big Tobacco.
It was at a Las Vegas Pride Festival that I had my first experience with tobacco. I was given a Newport cigarette because “that’s what Black people smoked,” I was told.