page 6' - Out in the Mountains

If you want to stop drinking...

by Gus L.

"Anonymity is so important to us
at Alcoholic Anonymous that is fifty
percent of our name." Of the more
than twenty members of our Burlington
group, I know the last name of less
than a half dozen. "We need always
maintain personal anonymity at the
level of press, radio, films and T.V."
according to our eleventh tradition. In
writing this, I will not use last names

and in one specific story, I have
changed the name of the alcoholic
involved. In the middle of our table
at the meeting, there is a sign that
reads something like this: ‘Whom you
see here and what you hear here, leave
here." In a decade of experiencing AA,
I have rarely known these traditions to
be broken.

Bill Lippert, a Middlebury
psychologist, pestered me until another
gay alcoholic and I founded the
Burlington Gay Alcoholics Anonymous
group. For the first six months we
met every Tuesday night, joined by a
straight alcoholic, Alan S. Alan was
instrumental in finding us a suitable
place to hold our meetings; he was just
the first of scores of heterosexual
recovering alcoholics who have lent us
their hands and hearts: I doubt that
we would exist today if we had not
had the support of the straight AA
community. After a while, a
co-founder decided he was not an
alcoholic so it just left Alan and me.
We attracted everyone but gay or
lesbian alcoholics: their parents, their
lovers and parents of gay
non-alcoholics. But by the fall of 1982,
we had a solid core of four gay
alcoholics (Alan S. left soon thereafter).
We decided to close our meetings to
non- alcoholics but in order to maintain
our national and international listings,
kept our meetings open to all alcoholics
of any sexual persuasion (straight AA’s
rarely attend). Our meetings usually
did not exceed six or eight people but
at least four of these were different
each week and many from out of town.
Many asked for a meeting on a night
other than Tuesday and eventually a
second meeting was established. Still, a
big meeting for us would have been six
to eight people, ALL MEN. We would
occasionally draw a lesbian, but despite
promises to come back and bring a
friend, they never reappeared. It was
then that we decided to change our
name from "AA Gone Gay" to "The
Gay and Lesbian Group." I had to
receive the blessing of our AA district
in order to change the name. The
District voted twenty-eight to two to
"allow the gay and lesbian group to do
whatever they wanted to do" without
interference from the straight AA
community. After that meeting, more
than half the assembly came up to
shake my hand and offer any
assistance they could give; I thanked
them and tried not to cry.

Last April, we decided to have a
third-year birthday party and invited
AA members from district and state
levels to join us; they did, but the big
surprise was when ten lesbians showed
up for the party: they never left.

We have three meetings now,
Tuesdays and Thursdays at 8 p.m. at
the Medical Center, Baird 318. These
two meetings are closed to
non-alcoholics. We also meet on
Sunday afternoons at I p.m., King
Street Center (in the rear) on Maple
Center. This meeting is open to
alcoholics and non-alcoholics alike, in
case one wanted to bring a friend,
lover or relative.

What do gay and lesbian
alcoholics talk about when they meet?
Anything and everything, but especially
those subjects we do not feel
comfortable sharing in regular AA
meetings. We do share “our experience,
strength and hope", but we don't
attempt to analyze or to be
Father/Mother Confessors and we aren't
magicians. That is not to say that
miracles do not occur. Bruce is a good
example. He showed up at our meeting
three years ago, a cross-addicted
alcoholic with both wrists bandaged.
We were meeting in South Burlington
at that time and he was out on a pass
from the Mary Fletcher Unit at the
Medical Center Hospital. Bruce spoke
his name that night and that was the
extent of his involvement. I gave him
a ride back to the hospital after the
meeting and he never looked up from
the floor; he was filled with shame and
despair and had almost given up hope.
He had drunk and doped from
Newport, Vermont, to Dallas, Texas, for
nine of his 25 years. His five-foot, ten
inch frame weighed less than 120
pounds. Bruce kept coming back, week
after week, got a sponsor (one of us
who has been in the program for over
two years), worked the Twelve Steps
and one day at a time got sober (as
opposed to dry). He is now a
strapping, good looking, happy man of
28 with a good job with one of
Burlington‘s leading firms. He had
never had a relationship that lasted
more than three months prior to AA;
he and his current lover will soon
celebrate their third year anniversary.

We also are not church people.
The only requirement is a DESIRE to
stop drinking. Many a first meeting
was attended by one still under the

influence of drugs or alcohol. One

needn't be a believer, much less a
Christian to attend; there are many
atheists and agnostics in the program.
We do say the Lord’s Prayer after each
meeting (our starts, "Our Creator ...")
but I know many who recite nursery
rhymes at that time of the closing.

The lesbians brought so much life
and vitality to our group that we
decided to hold the first gay and

continued, page 12

University of Vermont
Adopts AIDS policy

On March 27, the University of
Vermont adopted a policy of
"compassion and sensitivity" regarding
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
(AIDS). In a letter addresses to the
UVM community, President Lattie Coor
acknowledged that although the number
of cases of AIDS has been relatively
small in number in Vermont, the college

community is not exempt from its
effects.

"Fear of this disease, often based
on misinformation and myth, has added
significantly to the impact of AIDS on
many others. For these reasons it is
incumbent upon us to take a leadership
role, in educating our campus
community about AIDS" wrote Coor.

A task force was -formulated by
the University earlier this year to
seriously address the issue on the UVM
campus. With research
confirming that AIDS is not
transmissible by casual contact, the
University has adopted a policy stating
that they will not discriminate against
any student, faculty or employee who
has AIDS or related conditions. In his
letter to the campus, President Coor
further stated that "We shall offer
medical assistance to those who seek it.
We shall not deny admission to the
University or limit access to classrooms,
buildings, facilities or activities to
anyone who has AIDS.”

The University has also made a
strong commitment to provide ongoing
education and information in an effort
to dispel much of the misinformation
and hysteria surrounding this issue.
There is also a policy of strict
confidentiality of for those affected by
AIDS.

UVM is the first college in the
state of Vermont to make an official
statement of AIDS policy.

The staff of "Out in the
Mountains“ would like to thank the
Fund for Human Dignity for serving as
the financial administrator of our
Haymarket People's Fund grant. The
Fund's administration allows us to
receive the Haymarket grant, which is
normally reserved for tax-exempt
organizations.

The Fund for Human Dignity,
which is based in New York City, is a
non-profit organization dedicated to
education about the lives of lesbians
and gay men.

We would especially like to that
the Fund for providing this service at
no cost as their contribution to the
newspaper. We appreciate their support
and confidence in us.

For more information about the
Fund for Human Dignity, write to them
at 80 5th Avenue, New York, NY
l00ll.