June 16, 2025 • 26 mins
In this thought-provoking episode of Pink Money, host Jerry Williams dives into the real numbers behind America’s leading causes of death—from smoking and heart disease to suicide and substance abuse—and explores how these realities impact the LGBTQ+ community in unique and devastating ways.
Jerry unpacks health disparities, discrimination, and the ongoing threats of hate-filled rhetoric from those who weaponize religion and politics against queer lives. He reflects on personal stories of coming out, family conversations, and battles for equal rights, connecting past struggles like Colorado’s “special rights” amendment with today’s attacks on trans and queer protections.
The episode also highlights the power we hold to push back—through voting, advocacy, and even thoughtful giving. Jerry explains how to support organizations that fight for equality while making smart, tax-deductible choices with your money.
It’s a powerful reminder that resilience, pride, and financial empowerment are deeply connected—and that every voice and every dollar can make a difference in securing a safer, more equitable future.
💬 Have a question or comment? Contact Jerry here
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
UNKNOWN (00:01):
you
SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
I'm your host, Jerry Williams, and we talk about all
things related to money from agay perspective.
And, you know, recently I wassitting outside of a grocery
store and I was just kind ofstaring at their front door and
noticed that they had a sign onit.
And the sign said, a federalcourt has ordered R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco and PhilipMorris USA to state more people
(00:53):
die every year from smoking thanfrom murder, AIDS, suicide,
drugs, car crashes, and alcoholcombined.
So I was like, wow, that's kindof scary.
You don't know anything aboutit.
But, you know, I suppose it'strue or they probably wouldn't
have posted it there.
But, you know, the strange thingabout it, you know, I started
(01:14):
thinking about how many peopleare we talking about, you know?
die from smoking-related causes.
And so I just dug a little bit,and it looks like, according to
the CDC, the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, smoking
causes over 480,000 deathsannually in the U.S., including
(01:35):
deaths from secondhand smoke.
So if you look at the othercauses of death in the U.S.,
again, combined deaths fromother causes, 140,000 are due to
alcohol-related 100,000 fromdrug overdoses, 50,000 from
suicides, 25,000 homicides,5,000 HIV AIDS, scary, and
(01:57):
40,000 from car crashes.
So that adds up to 360,000deaths combined.
And so that's a big differencebetween 480 and 360.
But I believe that the courtsback in 2006 said, Found the
tobacco companies, I think,guilty of selling a product that
(02:23):
was harmful to people, I thinkchiefly adding nicotine to their
product, which was addictive andobviously causes many, many
people to die.
And so I think they got finedlike billions of dollars, and
this is obviously one of theoutcomes of it.
But again, just digging deeper,you know, I started thinking
about, you know, what are theother, you know, top causes of
(02:43):
death, you know, in the U.S.?
And if smoking is one of thetop, what are the top then?
And according to the CDC, theirdata from 2022, the number one
cause of death is heart disease.
Estimated 695,000 people die ofthat.
And then second is cancer, allkinds, 605,000.
(03:07):
218,000 is number three,unintentional injuries.
That includes overdoses, falls,car crashes.
It's scary that that many peoplefall and die.
So 187,000 from COVID, 162,000from stroke.
Number six, chronic lowerrespiratory diseases like COPD,
(03:29):
143,000.
120,000 people die fromAlzheimer's.
103,000 diabetes.
56,000 from chronic liverdisease and cirrhosis.
53,000 kidney disease.
Suicide is number 12, 49,000.
Hypertension, high bloodpressure is number 14, 38,000.
(03:51):
Homicide, 26,000.
I always thought a lot morepeople died from that.
but I'm kind of glad to see thatit's lower down on the list and
HIV AIDS is 5,000 that's still alot of people but that's number
18 anyway so there are differentcauses of death however like we
(04:11):
all know right based on your ageand your Race, those are big
factors.
But by age group, children from1 to 14, their number one cause
is unintentional injuries, carcrashes, drowning, frightening
again.
Number two, cancer.
Number three, congenitalanomalies, birth defects.
(04:32):
Number four is homicide.
Truly scary.
And number five, heart disease.
Ages 15 to 24, youth, youngadults.
Number one is unintentionalinjuries, mainly drug overdoses
and car crashes.
I know I was a terrible driverat 16, so I'm probably lucky to
be alive.
Number two is suicide.
(04:52):
Number three, homicide.
Number four, cancer.
Number five, heart disease.
That number three, homicide, isjust unbelievable to me.
Ages 25 to 44, number one,unintentional injuries,
especially overdoses.
doses number two suicide threehomicide four heart disease five
cancer if you're a middle-agedadult 45 to 64 of which I am at
(05:15):
least for a couple more yearsnumber one it's cancer number
two heart disease number threeunintentional injuries number
four liver disease number fivediabetes age 65 plus you're an
older adult glad they're notsaying senior anymore I hate
that word Number one, heartdisease.
Two, cancer.
Number three, COVID-19 in recentyears anyway.
(05:35):
Number four, stroke.
Number five, Alzheimer's.
Let's see.
Well, moving on to race andethnicity.
For non-Hispanic whites, numberone is heart disease, two,
cancer, three, unintentionalinjury, four, COVID.
Five is chronic lowerrespiratory diseases.
If you're black, non-Hispanic,heart disease, cancer, stroke,
diabetes, kidney, rounds outthat top five.
(05:58):
If you're Hispanic, Latino,cancer, heart disease, COVID-19,
diabetes, and stroke.
And Native American, Alaskan,heart disease, cancer,
unintentional injury, diabetes,chronic liver disease.
If you're Asian American,Pacific Islander, if you fall
into that group, cancer, heartdisease.
Number three, stroke, four,diabetes, five, Alzheimer's.
If you're a man, number onecause of death is heart disease.
(06:21):
Number two is cancer.
Three is unintentional injuries.
Four is COVID-19.
And number five is chronic lowerrespiratory diseases.
They also have a higher rate ofsuicide, liver disease, and
overdoses.
deaths.
If you're a woman, number one isheart disease, two, cancer,
three, COVID-19, number four,stroke, and number five is
Alzheimer's.
They're also more likely to diefrom Alzheimer's and are less
(06:45):
likely to die from suicide orhomicide than men.
Strangely, I always thought thatmore women were killed,
unfortunately, than men.
Because men are, you know,there's so much violence against
women.
But when you scroll even furtherdown and look More closely, the
top causes of death among andhealth disparities.
(07:07):
Top causes of death and healthdisparities among LGBTQ plus
people in the U.S.
Number one is suicide.
It's a top cause of death amongLGBTQ youth, especially
transgender and non-binary.
The LGBTQ youth are four to sixtimes more likely to attempt
suicide than their straightcisgender peers.
(07:29):
Suicide risk is strongly linkedto family rejection,
discrimination, bullying, andlack of affirming care.
Number two, AIDS, it's still amajor health issue, particularly
among gay and bisexual men,especially black and Latino men.
Transgender women, particularlywomen of color, are also at
significantly higher risk.
While treatment has improvedsurvival, late diagnosis, and
(07:53):
healthcare access barriers, theystill contribute to deaths.
Number three, substance use andoverdoses.
LGBTQ people, especially youthand transgender individuals,
have higher rates of substanceabuse.
Also, alcohol use disorders,methamphetamine among gay and
bisexual men, opioid overdose isoften tied to self-medication
(08:14):
for mental health and trauma,and of course, discrimination
and trauma that increasesvulnerability among probably all
populations, but cancer.
Lesbian, bisexual women, transmen may be less likely to get
screenings like pap tests,mammograms.
That raises the risk forlate-stage diagnosis.
HIV-positive individuals, theyface risk of certain cancers,
(08:35):
including carposi, sarcoma, andanal cancer.
Number five, cardiovasculardisease.
It's elevated in LGBTQpopulations due to higher rates
use of tobacco use, especiallyin lesbian women and trans.
Chronic stress fromdiscrimination.
That's a theory about minoritystress.
(08:57):
Barriers to regular health care.
Number six is violence andhomicide.
Transgender women of color inparticular face
disproportionately higher ratesof fatal violence.
LGBTQ people are...
overrepresented in hate crimes.
They're more apt to experience ahate crime.
(09:21):
COVID-19, especially in morerecent years, LGBTQ people,
especially older adults or thoseliving with HIV face worse
outcomes due to the existinghealth disparities.
And chronic mental health issuesis certainly an ongoing issue.
But if you're a young LGBTQperson, the number one cause of
(09:42):
death for you, unfortunately, ifyour age is 13 to 24, is going
to be suicide.
Number two is suicide, use andoverdose.
Number three, HIV, AIDS foryoung bisexual gay men.
And homelessness and violence.
LGBTQ youth make up to 40% ofhomeless youths.
and they have an increased riskof death, overdose, and exposure
(10:06):
to violence.
For transgender individuals, allages, major health risks and
threats are homicide, suicide,barriers to care, HIV risk,
you're an LGBTQ adult, 25, 64,key disparities, say cancer,
heart disease, substance use,mental health, if you're a
senior, 65 plus, there's thatword, social isolation, HIV,
(10:31):
AIDS, care and discrimination.
And those are just some of thetop things that affect our
community.
And so the point I'm trying tomake is although, you know,
smoking related causes of deathand Some of these other factors,
like unintentional injuries,stroke, et cetera, obviously
they affect all people, butthey're not necessarily the top
(10:54):
reasons that they affect peoplein the LGBTQ plus community
because we experience differentthings.
And like this research isshowing that gay people, and I'm
just using that term broadly,queer, you know, whatever group
you want to put yourself in ornot put yourself in, for that
(11:15):
matter.
You know, there's just certainthings that cause us undue
stress and can kill us.
And one of the things that I wasthinking about is I watch a lot
of YouTube, and it's about theextent of my attention span
these days, but, you know, I...
You can go down a million rabbitholes.
(11:36):
But one of the things that Icame across was a couple of
different preachers.
And I use that term very looselywhen I'm talking about these
guys because I always believethat a preacher is someone who's
going to be helpful,instructful, going to lead you
to a path of enlightenment and abetter way of living.
And they don't do that.
(11:59):
They really are preaching theopposite of that.
It's more hate and, you know, ifyou want to call it, fire and
brimstone kind of preaching.
But, you know, they have areceptive audience, which is
super scary.
You know, this one guy inTennessee, he was trying to
meet, have his group meet at aCracker Barrel.
(12:22):
And as soon as he started his...
hate-filled speech, they kickedhim out.
So good for Cracker Barrel.
And this is back in 2019.
But still, it's still relevant.
Because one of the things he wassaying, and he was quoted as
saying that, you know, theGod...
(12:43):
This is what he said.
God has instilled the power ofcivil government to send the
police in 2019 out to the LGBTQfreaks and arrest them and have
a trial for them.
And if they're convicted, thenthey are to be put to death.
So how scary would it be to hearsomebody, a preacher who you
(13:03):
were going to sit and listen tofor enlightenment, tell you,
yeah, anybody who is gay isbasically, you know, they should
be killed.
And that is a horrible thing tosay to anybody.
And if you're feeling isolatedalready and you're hearing that,
you're going to be reallyscared.
And you're probably not going towant to associate with anybody
(13:25):
or certainly come out.
I remember back in the, youknow, early...
I graduated from high school,what, in 81?
And, you know...
Marching down the street in agay pride parade back then was
really scary because, A, therewasn't a lot of people, and you
didn't know what was going tohappen to you, right?
You didn't know if you weregoing to get beat up, arrested,
(13:47):
or, you know, if somethingreally tragic was going to
happen.
Still even today, right?
We don't know.
Anything can– crazy can dosomething and harm people, and I
hope they don't get away withit.
So it's– You see more people outin pride parades, and there's a
lot, lot more of them than therewere.
(14:08):
And those are all positivethings.
But you still, again, have to bereally careful.
And there's other people likethis other preacher, if you
will.
His name is Greg Locke.
And he's, again, a super crazynut.
And he believes, you know, thatthe Bible is...
(14:30):
Not that it's the bad thing, buthe interprets it in a very
negative way and uses it tobludgeon gay people.
And he believes, you know, thatthey should, again, have no
rights and should be not onlyput to death, but, you know,
they should have no rights.
(14:52):
And that is just crazy to mebecause...
You know, as the saying goes,right, people in glass houses
shouldn't throw stones.
And even in the Bible, you know,there's a passage about, you
know, he who is without sincasts the first stone.
And he himself does not leadsuch a righteous life.
(15:14):
I believe he left his family forhis mistress who is his
secretary.
You know, so...
Where's that, you know, in theBible, that you're leading this
duplicitous life and yet you'reespousing all this hate against,
you know, gay people?
Are you just deflecting, youknow, because your own life is a
mess, you know, that you grew upin a hateful environment?
(15:35):
I don't know how he grew up, youknow, but still, where do people
get this stuff from, right?
And do you have your own, youknow, homosexual tendencies and
you hate yourself for it?
Who knows?
But the point is that peoplelike that shouldn't be able to
get away with this Theirbehavior should be brought to
light and it should be exposed.
(15:56):
And if they're in a position ofpower like this guy meeting at
the Cracker Barrel, he was alsothe sheriff.
He was the sheriff.
And that kind of persondefinitely does not need to have
the ability to arrest people andkill them because he carries a
weapon.
And he needs to be drummed outof office.
Thankfully, this guy took anearly retirement, I believe.
(16:19):
But Those kind of people, weneed to make sure that they are
not given any position of powerand their hateful rhetoric is
exposed and their behavior isbrought to light because people
don't need to be listening tostuff like that.
You know, it kind of reminds mea way of what happened back in,
I believe it was 1992.
(16:43):
And I came out in right after...
during the end of my high schoolyear is when I really started to
embrace who I am and what I wasdoing.
I was actually dating some girland, you know, everything just
started coming together for meand I just didn't want to do
what I was doing anymore.
And I remember my grandmotherwas the first person who asked
(17:05):
me.
We were sitting out on the porchand I was reading the newspaper,
which, you know, they don't evendeliver newspapers anymore, I
think.
I don't know.
But anyway, she turns to me andshe says, you know, are you gay?
And I'm like, oh, well, and Ididn't want to lie to her.
We had a really closerelationship, and I'd never lied
(17:27):
to her.
So I felt a little put on thespot, of course, and it took me
back.
But I said, well, yeah.
And she's like, oh, okay, Ithought so.
That was it.
That's all she said.
I was so, so stunned.
I just couldn't even– my mindcouldn't accept what just had
happened.
Although, you know, it wasn'thurtful, but it was just strange
(17:48):
all the way around.
It was the first time anoutsider, I guess, or someone
who, you know, just– Someone whofigured out my tea, if you will.
And just came right out and saidit.
And me too.
It was the first time I had comeout to anybody.
And so it was really, reallystrange and odd.
(18:09):
I did turn to her and I said,hey, just kind of keep that to
yourself, okay?
You know, I haven't told mom ormy sisters.
And, you know, I'm not sure whenthe right time is.
She's like, oh, okay.
And she didn't.
Of course, she told everybody.
And...
I guess she did me the favor oftelling everybody so I didn't
(18:31):
have to do it myself.
But it wasn't the way that Iwanted to do it.
And ultimately, I had to havethat conversation with my mom
because I wanted her to hear itfrom me directly.
And that's a whole other storyin and of itself.
But anyway, the point I'mbringing up is that she then
had...
the latitude and feltcomfortable to address certain
(18:53):
topics with me and ask mequestions.
So back in 1992, there was a lawthat eventually passed in
Colorado, which was unfortunate.
But during the time that it wasbefore it passed, it was being
debated, and it was trying tostrip protective rights from gay
people.
(19:13):
And it was saying that certaincommunities like Denver,
Boulder, et cetera, that hadanti-discrimination laws against
gay people on their books, itwas going to repeal them.
Because what they were saying isthat these were quote unquote
special rights that gay peoplehad and that they should not be
given any special rights morethan what everybody else has.
(19:36):
And that term special rightsreally took root and it really
spread like wildfire and peoplebelieved it.
And my grandmother came up to meone time and she said, You know,
what is this thing aboutAmendment 2?
She was playing cards with hercousins, and one of her cousins
was actually my mother'sgodmother.
(19:56):
But anyway, she says, she said,you know, one of her cousins
said, special rights.
You know, they shouldn't begiven special rights.
And so my grandmother, you know,she didn't know all that much
about it, and she was like,well, what special rights are
there?
I said, there are none.
There are none.
Gay people don't have specialrights.
What they're trying to do is getthe right to not be
(20:19):
discriminated against by, youknow, being denied housing,
being fired from your job, youknow, being ostracized because
of who you are, how you are, andwho you love.
And I said those are just basicthings that, you know, straight
people don't have to worry aboutthat.
But, you know, we gay people, wedefinitely do because there's–
(20:40):
that ability for people to dothat, and that's really not
fair.
And all we're saying is thatthere are protections that we
need, and there are laws thatneed to be placed on the books
to give gay people, and again,using that term broadly, the
right to not be discriminatedagainst.
(21:01):
So she felt comfortable enoughto take that back to her
cousins.
And who knows what reallyhappened in that conversation.
But, hey, I give her credit forat least standing up to them
because they sometimes kind ofbullied her.
And it was good for her to beable to go back to them with a
little bit more ammunition andsay, you know, they don't get
special rights.
Ultimately, what happened wasthe law went on the books, but I
(21:23):
think it went all the way up tothe Supreme Court that it was
then repealed.
So that was great.
But, you know, again, tying thisback into things today the
important thing is that wesupport laws and people who
support us and we definitelyneed that kind of protection
(21:44):
today I mean look at what'shappening to trans people right
you know they can get booted outfrom the military or denied the
ability to serve and it can goon and on and on and is going on
and on and on so many laws havegone past I can't even keep
track of what's going on anymoreAnd they even want to appeal the
right to marry.
(22:04):
And who knows what will happenwith that.
If they appeal the right to havean abortion, it's not a far
stretch to think that they couldrepeal gay marriage.
So the thing that is importantis is that you give your support
and your voice to people who,again, in organizations that
(22:28):
will fight for your rights.
And it only is going to make itbetter for us because the more
protected we feel, the morecomfortable we will be in our
own skin, and the more that wewill feel that we are just the
same as everyone else, which weare, right?
And we want to just simply begiven the right to live and...
(22:51):
just like straight people oranybody, we should be able to
just go on and live our life andnot be fearful.
So when you're thinking aboutyour money and what does that
mean, You can give, right?
Obviously, you can give smallamounts of money, large amounts
of money.
You can give to anybody youwant, right?
It's your money.
(23:11):
You can do whatever you want.
But if you're really thoughtfulin your giving, you want to make
sure that you give to 501c3nonprofit organizations because,
number one, they've gained thisstatus from the IRS.
And because they fit into thisnonprofit status, then you can
(23:35):
take a tax deduction of up to50% of your adjusted gross
income on a charitablededuction.
Now, that doesn't happen forevery charity, so you have to be
careful about who you're givingto.
Sometimes even the deductionscan be capped at 20% or 30%, and
(23:55):
that depends on the organizationand the nature of your gift.
But you can go down that pathwith your tax preparer.
Just seek some competent taxadvice who can help you.
Especially, you know, if you'regiving small amounts of money,
you know, again, you know,three, five, ten, whatever, you
know, then that's probably notas a big a deal.
If you're deciding to give five,ten, you know, more big money,
(24:18):
then you really want to becareful about, again, who you're
giving to and how you're givingto.
Because you can give money tofoundations, but not all
foundations qualify like anon-profit.
So, again, a lot of differentpeople do a lot of different
things.
A lot of organizations do a lotof different things.
And we definitely want tosupport them.
At a minimum, you have the rightto vote.
(24:42):
Get out there and vote for theright people and vote out the
wrong people.
We definitely want to do thatAnd that's free.
But if you want to take it astep further and donate some
money to a particular cause,that's how you want to be
cautious, thoughtful, mindfulabout who you're giving to
because ultimately you want yourrights protected and you want to
(25:06):
live your life as you want tolive.
So I won't go on and on aboutthat anymore.
I think you get the point.
But Hey, happy Pride, everybody,and get out there, do your
thing, enjoy your life, and Iwill talk to you next time.
you
SPEAKER_00 (00:33):
I'm your host, Jerry Williams, and we talk about all
things related to money from agay perspective.
And, you know, recently I wassitting outside of a grocery
store and I was just kind ofstaring at their front door and
noticed that they had a sign onit.
And the sign said, a federalcourt has ordered R.J.
Reynolds Tobacco and PhilipMorris USA to state more people
(00:53):
die every year from smoking thanfrom murder, AIDS, suicide,
drugs, car crashes, and alcoholcombined.
So I was like, wow, that's kindof scary.
You don't know anything aboutit.
But, you know, I suppose it'strue or they probably wouldn't
have posted it there.
But, you know, the strange thingabout it, you know, I started
(01:14):
thinking about how many peopleare we talking about, you know?
die from smoking-related causes.
And so I just dug a little bit,and it looks like, according to
the CDC, the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention, smoking
causes over 480,000 deathsannually in the U.S., including
(01:35):
deaths from secondhand smoke.
So if you look at the othercauses of death in the U.S.,
again, combined deaths fromother causes, 140,000 are due to
alcohol-related 100,000 fromdrug overdoses, 50,000 from
suicides, 25,000 homicides,5,000 HIV AIDS, scary, and
(01:57):
40,000 from car crashes.
So that adds up to 360,000deaths combined.
And so that's a big differencebetween 480 and 360.
But I believe that the courtsback in 2006 said, Found the
tobacco companies, I think,guilty of selling a product that
(02:23):
was harmful to people, I thinkchiefly adding nicotine to their
product, which was addictive andobviously causes many, many
people to die.
And so I think they got finedlike billions of dollars, and
this is obviously one of theoutcomes of it.
But again, just digging deeper,you know, I started thinking
about, you know, what are theother, you know, top causes of
(02:43):
death, you know, in the U.S.?
And if smoking is one of thetop, what are the top then?
And according to the CDC, theirdata from 2022, the number one
cause of death is heart disease.
Estimated 695,000 people die ofthat.
And then second is cancer, allkinds, 605,000.
(03:07):
218,000 is number three,unintentional injuries.
That includes overdoses, falls,car crashes.
It's scary that that many peoplefall and die.
So 187,000 from COVID, 162,000from stroke.
Number six, chronic lowerrespiratory diseases like COPD,
(03:29):
143,000.
120,000 people die fromAlzheimer's.
103,000 diabetes.
56,000 from chronic liverdisease and cirrhosis.
53,000 kidney disease.
Suicide is number 12, 49,000.
Hypertension, high bloodpressure is number 14, 38,000.
(03:51):
Homicide, 26,000.
I always thought a lot morepeople died from that.
but I'm kind of glad to see thatit's lower down on the list and
HIV AIDS is 5,000 that's still alot of people but that's number
18 anyway so there are differentcauses of death however like we
(04:11):
all know right based on your ageand your Race, those are big
factors.
But by age group, children from1 to 14, their number one cause
is unintentional injuries, carcrashes, drowning, frightening
again.
Number two, cancer.
Number three, congenitalanomalies, birth defects.
(04:32):
Number four is homicide.
Truly scary.
And number five, heart disease.
Ages 15 to 24, youth, youngadults.
Number one is unintentionalinjuries, mainly drug overdoses
and car crashes.
I know I was a terrible driverat 16, so I'm probably lucky to
be alive.
Number two is suicide.
(04:52):
Number three, homicide.
Number four, cancer.
Number five, heart disease.
That number three, homicide, isjust unbelievable to me.
Ages 25 to 44, number one,unintentional injuries,
especially overdoses.
doses number two suicide threehomicide four heart disease five
cancer if you're a middle-agedadult 45 to 64 of which I am at
(05:15):
least for a couple more yearsnumber one it's cancer number
two heart disease number threeunintentional injuries number
four liver disease number fivediabetes age 65 plus you're an
older adult glad they're notsaying senior anymore I hate
that word Number one, heartdisease.
Two, cancer.
Number three, COVID-19 in recentyears anyway.
(05:35):
Number four, stroke.
Number five, Alzheimer's.
Let's see.
Well, moving on to race andethnicity.
For non-Hispanic whites, numberone is heart disease, two,
cancer, three, unintentionalinjury, four, COVID.
Five is chronic lowerrespiratory diseases.
If you're black, non-Hispanic,heart disease, cancer, stroke,
diabetes, kidney, rounds outthat top five.
(05:58):
If you're Hispanic, Latino,cancer, heart disease, COVID-19,
diabetes, and stroke.
And Native American, Alaskan,heart disease, cancer,
unintentional injury, diabetes,chronic liver disease.
If you're Asian American,Pacific Islander, if you fall
into that group, cancer, heartdisease.
Number three, stroke, four,diabetes, five, Alzheimer's.
If you're a man, number onecause of death is heart disease.
(06:21):
Number two is cancer.
Three is unintentional injuries.
Four is COVID-19.
And number five is chronic lowerrespiratory diseases.
They also have a higher rate ofsuicide, liver disease, and
overdoses.
deaths.
If you're a woman, number one isheart disease, two, cancer,
three, COVID-19, number four,stroke, and number five is
Alzheimer's.
They're also more likely to diefrom Alzheimer's and are less
(06:45):
likely to die from suicide orhomicide than men.
Strangely, I always thought thatmore women were killed,
unfortunately, than men.
Because men are, you know,there's so much violence against
women.
But when you scroll even furtherdown and look More closely, the
top causes of death among andhealth disparities.
(07:07):
Top causes of death and healthdisparities among LGBTQ plus
people in the U.S.
Number one is suicide.
It's a top cause of death amongLGBTQ youth, especially
transgender and non-binary.
The LGBTQ youth are four to sixtimes more likely to attempt
suicide than their straightcisgender peers.
(07:29):
Suicide risk is strongly linkedto family rejection,
discrimination, bullying, andlack of affirming care.
Number two, AIDS, it's still amajor health issue, particularly
among gay and bisexual men,especially black and Latino men.
Transgender women, particularlywomen of color, are also at
significantly higher risk.
While treatment has improvedsurvival, late diagnosis, and
(07:53):
healthcare access barriers, theystill contribute to deaths.
Number three, substance use andoverdoses.
LGBTQ people, especially youthand transgender individuals,
have higher rates of substanceabuse.
Also, alcohol use disorders,methamphetamine among gay and
bisexual men, opioid overdose isoften tied to self-medication
(08:14):
for mental health and trauma,and of course, discrimination
and trauma that increasesvulnerability among probably all
populations, but cancer.
Lesbian, bisexual women, transmen may be less likely to get
screenings like pap tests,mammograms.
That raises the risk forlate-stage diagnosis.
HIV-positive individuals, theyface risk of certain cancers,
(08:35):
including carposi, sarcoma, andanal cancer.
Number five, cardiovasculardisease.
It's elevated in LGBTQpopulations due to higher rates
use of tobacco use, especiallyin lesbian women and trans.
Chronic stress fromdiscrimination.
That's a theory about minoritystress.
(08:57):
Barriers to regular health care.
Number six is violence andhomicide.
Transgender women of color inparticular face
disproportionately higher ratesof fatal violence.
LGBTQ people are...
overrepresented in hate crimes.
They're more apt to experience ahate crime.
(09:21):
COVID-19, especially in morerecent years, LGBTQ people,
especially older adults or thoseliving with HIV face worse
outcomes due to the existinghealth disparities.
And chronic mental health issuesis certainly an ongoing issue.
But if you're a young LGBTQperson, the number one cause of
(09:42):
death for you, unfortunately, ifyour age is 13 to 24, is going
to be suicide.
Number two is suicide, use andoverdose.
Number three, HIV, AIDS foryoung bisexual gay men.
And homelessness and violence.
LGBTQ youth make up to 40% ofhomeless youths.
and they have an increased riskof death, overdose, and exposure
(10:06):
to violence.
For transgender individuals, allages, major health risks and
threats are homicide, suicide,barriers to care, HIV risk,
you're an LGBTQ adult, 25, 64,key disparities, say cancer,
heart disease, substance use,mental health, if you're a
senior, 65 plus, there's thatword, social isolation, HIV,
(10:31):
AIDS, care and discrimination.
And those are just some of thetop things that affect our
community.
And so the point I'm trying tomake is although, you know,
smoking related causes of deathand Some of these other factors,
like unintentional injuries,stroke, et cetera, obviously
they affect all people, butthey're not necessarily the top
(10:54):
reasons that they affect peoplein the LGBTQ plus community
because we experience differentthings.
And like this research isshowing that gay people, and I'm
just using that term broadly,queer, you know, whatever group
you want to put yourself in ornot put yourself in, for that
(11:15):
matter.
You know, there's just certainthings that cause us undue
stress and can kill us.
And one of the things that I wasthinking about is I watch a lot
of YouTube, and it's about theextent of my attention span
these days, but, you know, I...
You can go down a million rabbitholes.
(11:36):
But one of the things that Icame across was a couple of
different preachers.
And I use that term very looselywhen I'm talking about these
guys because I always believethat a preacher is someone who's
going to be helpful,instructful, going to lead you
to a path of enlightenment and abetter way of living.
And they don't do that.
(11:59):
They really are preaching theopposite of that.
It's more hate and, you know, ifyou want to call it, fire and
brimstone kind of preaching.
But, you know, they have areceptive audience, which is
super scary.
You know, this one guy inTennessee, he was trying to
meet, have his group meet at aCracker Barrel.
(12:22):
And as soon as he started his...
hate-filled speech, they kickedhim out.
So good for Cracker Barrel.
And this is back in 2019.
But still, it's still relevant.
Because one of the things he wassaying, and he was quoted as
saying that, you know, theGod...
(12:43):
This is what he said.
God has instilled the power ofcivil government to send the
police in 2019 out to the LGBTQfreaks and arrest them and have
a trial for them.
And if they're convicted, thenthey are to be put to death.
So how scary would it be to hearsomebody, a preacher who you
(13:03):
were going to sit and listen tofor enlightenment, tell you,
yeah, anybody who is gay isbasically, you know, they should
be killed.
And that is a horrible thing tosay to anybody.
And if you're feeling isolatedalready and you're hearing that,
you're going to be reallyscared.
And you're probably not going towant to associate with anybody
(13:25):
or certainly come out.
I remember back in the, youknow, early...
I graduated from high school,what, in 81?
And, you know...
Marching down the street in agay pride parade back then was
really scary because, A, therewasn't a lot of people, and you
didn't know what was going tohappen to you, right?
You didn't know if you weregoing to get beat up, arrested,
(13:47):
or, you know, if somethingreally tragic was going to
happen.
Still even today, right?
We don't know.
Anything can– crazy can dosomething and harm people, and I
hope they don't get away withit.
So it's– You see more people outin pride parades, and there's a
lot, lot more of them than therewere.
(14:08):
And those are all positivethings.
But you still, again, have to bereally careful.
And there's other people likethis other preacher, if you
will.
His name is Greg Locke.
And he's, again, a super crazynut.
And he believes, you know, thatthe Bible is...
(14:30):
Not that it's the bad thing, buthe interprets it in a very
negative way and uses it tobludgeon gay people.
And he believes, you know, thatthey should, again, have no
rights and should be not onlyput to death, but, you know,
they should have no rights.
(14:52):
And that is just crazy to mebecause...
You know, as the saying goes,right, people in glass houses
shouldn't throw stones.
And even in the Bible, you know,there's a passage about, you
know, he who is without sincasts the first stone.
And he himself does not leadsuch a righteous life.
(15:14):
I believe he left his family forhis mistress who is his
secretary.
You know, so...
Where's that, you know, in theBible, that you're leading this
duplicitous life and yet you'reespousing all this hate against,
you know, gay people?
Are you just deflecting, youknow, because your own life is a
mess, you know, that you grew upin a hateful environment?
(15:35):
I don't know how he grew up, youknow, but still, where do people
get this stuff from, right?
And do you have your own, youknow, homosexual tendencies and
you hate yourself for it?
Who knows?
But the point is that peoplelike that shouldn't be able to
get away with this Theirbehavior should be brought to
light and it should be exposed.
(15:56):
And if they're in a position ofpower like this guy meeting at
the Cracker Barrel, he was alsothe sheriff.
He was the sheriff.
And that kind of persondefinitely does not need to have
the ability to arrest people andkill them because he carries a
weapon.
And he needs to be drummed outof office.
Thankfully, this guy took anearly retirement, I believe.
(16:19):
But Those kind of people, weneed to make sure that they are
not given any position of powerand their hateful rhetoric is
exposed and their behavior isbrought to light because people
don't need to be listening tostuff like that.
You know, it kind of reminds mea way of what happened back in,
I believe it was 1992.
(16:43):
And I came out in right after...
during the end of my high schoolyear is when I really started to
embrace who I am and what I wasdoing.
I was actually dating some girland, you know, everything just
started coming together for meand I just didn't want to do
what I was doing anymore.
And I remember my grandmotherwas the first person who asked
(17:05):
me.
We were sitting out on the porchand I was reading the newspaper,
which, you know, they don't evendeliver newspapers anymore, I
think.
I don't know.
But anyway, she turns to me andshe says, you know, are you gay?
And I'm like, oh, well, and Ididn't want to lie to her.
We had a really closerelationship, and I'd never lied
(17:27):
to her.
So I felt a little put on thespot, of course, and it took me
back.
But I said, well, yeah.
And she's like, oh, okay, Ithought so.
That was it.
That's all she said.
I was so, so stunned.
I just couldn't even– my mindcouldn't accept what just had
happened.
Although, you know, it wasn'thurtful, but it was just strange
(17:48):
all the way around.
It was the first time anoutsider, I guess, or someone
who, you know, just– Someone whofigured out my tea, if you will.
And just came right out and saidit.
And me too.
It was the first time I had comeout to anybody.
And so it was really, reallystrange and odd.
(18:09):
I did turn to her and I said,hey, just kind of keep that to
yourself, okay?
You know, I haven't told mom ormy sisters.
And, you know, I'm not sure whenthe right time is.
She's like, oh, okay.
And she didn't.
Of course, she told everybody.
And...
I guess she did me the favor oftelling everybody so I didn't
(18:31):
have to do it myself.
But it wasn't the way that Iwanted to do it.
And ultimately, I had to havethat conversation with my mom
because I wanted her to hear itfrom me directly.
And that's a whole other storyin and of itself.
But anyway, the point I'mbringing up is that she then
had...
the latitude and feltcomfortable to address certain
(18:53):
topics with me and ask mequestions.
So back in 1992, there was a lawthat eventually passed in
Colorado, which was unfortunate.
But during the time that it wasbefore it passed, it was being
debated, and it was trying tostrip protective rights from gay
people.
(19:13):
And it was saying that certaincommunities like Denver,
Boulder, et cetera, that hadanti-discrimination laws against
gay people on their books, itwas going to repeal them.
Because what they were saying isthat these were quote unquote
special rights that gay peoplehad and that they should not be
given any special rights morethan what everybody else has.
(19:36):
And that term special rightsreally took root and it really
spread like wildfire and peoplebelieved it.
And my grandmother came up to meone time and she said, You know,
what is this thing aboutAmendment 2?
She was playing cards with hercousins, and one of her cousins
was actually my mother'sgodmother.
(19:56):
But anyway, she says, she said,you know, one of her cousins
said, special rights.
You know, they shouldn't begiven special rights.
And so my grandmother, you know,she didn't know all that much
about it, and she was like,well, what special rights are
there?
I said, there are none.
There are none.
Gay people don't have specialrights.
What they're trying to do is getthe right to not be
(20:19):
discriminated against by, youknow, being denied housing,
being fired from your job, youknow, being ostracized because
of who you are, how you are, andwho you love.
And I said those are just basicthings that, you know, straight
people don't have to worry aboutthat.
But, you know, we gay people, wedefinitely do because there's–
(20:40):
that ability for people to dothat, and that's really not
fair.
And all we're saying is thatthere are protections that we
need, and there are laws thatneed to be placed on the books
to give gay people, and again,using that term broadly, the
right to not be discriminatedagainst.
(21:01):
So she felt comfortable enoughto take that back to her
cousins.
And who knows what reallyhappened in that conversation.
But, hey, I give her credit forat least standing up to them
because they sometimes kind ofbullied her.
And it was good for her to beable to go back to them with a
little bit more ammunition andsay, you know, they don't get
special rights.
Ultimately, what happened wasthe law went on the books, but I
(21:23):
think it went all the way up tothe Supreme Court that it was
then repealed.
So that was great.
But, you know, again, tying thisback into things today the
important thing is that wesupport laws and people who
support us and we definitelyneed that kind of protection
(21:44):
today I mean look at what'shappening to trans people right
you know they can get booted outfrom the military or denied the
ability to serve and it can goon and on and on and is going on
and on and on so many laws havegone past I can't even keep
track of what's going on anymoreAnd they even want to appeal the
right to marry.
(22:04):
And who knows what will happenwith that.
If they appeal the right to havean abortion, it's not a far
stretch to think that they couldrepeal gay marriage.
So the thing that is importantis is that you give your support
and your voice to people who,again, in organizations that
(22:28):
will fight for your rights.
And it only is going to make itbetter for us because the more
protected we feel, the morecomfortable we will be in our
own skin, and the more that wewill feel that we are just the
same as everyone else, which weare, right?
And we want to just simply begiven the right to live and...
(22:51):
just like straight people oranybody, we should be able to
just go on and live our life andnot be fearful.
So when you're thinking aboutyour money and what does that
mean, You can give, right?
Obviously, you can give smallamounts of money, large amounts
of money.
You can give to anybody youwant, right?
It's your money.
(23:11):
You can do whatever you want.
But if you're really thoughtfulin your giving, you want to make
sure that you give to 501c3nonprofit organizations because,
number one, they've gained thisstatus from the IRS.
And because they fit into thisnonprofit status, then you can
(23:35):
take a tax deduction of up to50% of your adjusted gross
income on a charitablededuction.
Now, that doesn't happen forevery charity, so you have to be
careful about who you're givingto.
Sometimes even the deductionscan be capped at 20% or 30%, and
(23:55):
that depends on the organizationand the nature of your gift.
But you can go down that pathwith your tax preparer.
Just seek some competent taxadvice who can help you.
Especially, you know, if you'regiving small amounts of money,
you know, again, you know,three, five, ten, whatever, you
know, then that's probably notas a big a deal.
If you're deciding to give five,ten, you know, more big money,
(24:18):
then you really want to becareful about, again, who you're
giving to and how you're givingto.
Because you can give money tofoundations, but not all
foundations qualify like anon-profit.
So, again, a lot of differentpeople do a lot of different
things.
A lot of organizations do a lotof different things.
And we definitely want tosupport them.
At a minimum, you have the rightto vote.
(24:42):
Get out there and vote for theright people and vote out the
wrong people.
We definitely want to do thatAnd that's free.
But if you want to take it astep further and donate some
money to a particular cause,that's how you want to be
cautious, thoughtful, mindfulabout who you're giving to
because ultimately you want yourrights protected and you want to
(25:06):
live your life as you want tolive.
So I won't go on and on aboutthat anymore.
I think you get the point.
But Hey, happy Pride, everybody,and get out there, do your
thing, enjoy your life, and Iwill talk to you next time.
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