Evidence suggests that the tanning industry targets gay men
Tanning beds cause more than 450,000 new skin cancers and over 10,000 melanomas each year.
But, not everyone is equally affected: gay and bisexual men are estimated to have 6-times higher rates of tanning bed use and over 2-times the lifetime risk of skin cancer.
Evidence from a Stanford University study suggests that the tanning industry may be targeting gay men: neighborhoods with high proportions of gay and bisexual men are twice as likely to have an indoor tanning salon as neighborhoods with fewer sexual minority men.
Studies with financial links to the indoor tanning industry are less likely to mention risks of tanning beds.