The 2009 annual tobacco and alcohol-free Fruit Bowl was a big success! Thank you to all of the co-sponsors for the event, especially the Pride Institute and the Neighborhood Involvement Program. Big thanks to all of the businesses that supported the event as well including Elsie's, our tattoo artists, the Karaoke queen and those that made donations. A full list will follow.

More picures on the second page.

Loretta Worthington, Director of Programs for Rainbow Health Initiative and MN Tobacco-free Lavender Communities (TLC), served as the co-chair for the National LGBT Tobacco Summit (Phoenix - June 9, 2009).  Worthington and TLC/RHI had abstracts accepted and presented 2 workshops: "Tobacco Use in Substance Abuse Treatment: Is it an Issue?," and "Working with LGBT Businesses to Move Tobacco Control Forward."

TLC also had an abstract accepted for the National Conference on Tobacco or Health and presented "Collaborations Across the Divide: How MN Addresses Tobacco Control in Priority Populations" in Phoenix, June 10-12.

Rainbow Health Initiative is the lead agency for MN Tobacco-free Lavender Communities.   MNTLC's newly revamped web site has a lot to offer including a recent innovative photo contest, a Pounds 4 Pride with pledge board, media examples, facts and tips, and more. Explore it at www.mntlc.org.

Rainbow Health Initiative 2008 MN Health Survey Data

Loretta Worthington, Director of Programs, Rainbow Health Initiative

Prepared May 21, 2009 by Eileen M. Harwood, Ph.D., Faculty Director;

and Lorna Schmidt, Master of Public Health student

University of Minnesota, School of Public Health

Overview

The Rainbow Health Initiative distributed a survey to gather information on the perceived health needs of the Twin Cities and greater Minnesota LGBT communities. Surveys were collected from individuals attending Pride festivals in Minnesota and other LGBT events A total of 834 LGBT self-identified individuals completed the survey between the months of May and October 2008. Respondents were of diverse age, income, gender, and racial/ethnic background, with 48% identifying as non-white.