I happily thought I was done writing about the traditions and then I picked up the book The History of Gay People in Alcoholics Anonymous by Audrey Borden.  She says that my friend from tradition three, the man who suffered from a worse addiction than alcohol, was actually a “sexual deviant,” aka gay.

Well, that’s a horse of a different color.  I had always assumed it referred to heroin.  Looking at it more closely, I can see that the text leaves it vague so that we may substitute whatever addiction presents itself to us in the form of a suffering alcoholic.  But gay?

I hope we understand now that while gay people are a minority, they are not “deviant.”  In my limited personal experience, I have not seen gay people discriminated against in AA.  I have not seen their sexuality (our sexuality) impact their participation in AA or their sobriety.  I guess back then this was a much bigger deal.

So I will send my gratitude toward heaven once again and be even more grateful that the founders allowed the gay man to belong and to participate.

If ever I have felt that I didn’t belong or wasn’t welcomed, it was when I was very young, and some few individuals couldn’t wrap their minds around the fact of my alcoholism.  And that would have gone against the book as well.

Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

The text uses an example of a society of recovering alcoholics who took positions on things like slavery, which is surely a cause we can all unite against.  When causes get a little bit more murky, though, I can see how opinions on outside issues would destroy the organization.

AA teaches me to try to be loving and tolerant to everyone.  With most of the other folks in AA, I at least have that shipwrecked-survivor bond and I know I have something very very important in common with people who are nothing like me.  That was especially important when I was a teenager in AA.  It was important then, and it’s just wonderful now.  I think this bond must be stronger (for me and for many people) than the bond of religion or citizenship.

So when my fellow AAs take a different view on an outside issue, for the most part, I am fine with that.  I’m very liberal, for instance, and for the most part I can sit with conservatives and not let if affect my participation in the program.

Honestly, though, there are a few issues that can cause a rift in my heart.  Gay marriage, for example.  When anyone is against it, I’m hurt by that, and frustrated with their ability to participate in my exclusion from full citizenship.  The bond of AA is very strong.  I would still do my best to help that person not drink, if they needed help, but I’d likely try to point them quickly in the direction of someone else who could help them.  Thankfully, this doesn’t really come up, and the only issue is the one in my heart.

I’ll extrapolate that to say I’m very grateful that AA doesn’t take positions that I need to either support or deny.  I imagine the number of people who could agree with any given position is small, and the number who would leave the program would be great, over things having nothing to do with whether or not I will drink today.

I won’t, no matter what shape my politics are in.