IAC Newsletter – Spring 1996

IAC Newsletter – Spring 1996

Newsletter of the International Advisory Council for Homosexual Men and Women in Alcoholics Anonymous

🌿 The Answers Came in Working the Steps

In this Spring 1996 issue, IAC Secretary John E. opens with a personal reflection on how the Twelve Steps transformed his life. With six years of sobriety, he looks back at the day-by-day beginning that kept him alive long enough to find hope. He jokes that his last drunk fell on March 17—and with a middle name like Patrick, perhaps the universe was whispering a message he finally heard.

When he first arrived in AA, he wasn't sure why the program worked—or if it even could. But he quickly discovered that the people whose sobriety he admired all shared one thing in common:

They worked the Steps.

John describes learning to stay sober one minute at a time. Over the years, the Steps became woven into his daily life, guiding him through fear, emotional upheaval, and rebuilding integrity. Today, he measures success not by how his life looks on the outside, but by whether he drinks today.

His home group, Live and Let Live—the oldest continuously running gay-identified AA group in Canada—had just celebrated its 22nd anniversary. Through service, meetings, and spiritual practice, John reflects with gratitude:

“Thank you for my sobriety.”

🏳️‍🌈 A Note from Akron – The Founding City of AA

This issue also celebrates the history and resilience of LGBTQ+ AA in Akron, Ohio, the birthplace of Alcoholics Anonymous.

The first gay meeting in Akron began in the early 1980s at a member’s home—a quiet but courageous beginning shaped by pioneers who simply wanted to stay sober and create a safe space for others like them.

Over the years, the Akron gay AA community grew stronger and more visible. The city has hosted two “Gay Ohio Round-Ups,” including one planned for 1996—an honor in the very city where AA itself began.

Through challenges and perseverance, Akron’s LGBTQ AA groups have continued to reach alcoholics who might otherwise feel alone.

🧭 What IAC Is (and Isn’t)

A helpful reminder appears on page 2:

The International Advisory Council exists solely to serve gay and lesbian members of AA.It does not govern, legislate, or separate itself from AA. Instead, it provides:

• Experience, strength, and hope

• Fellowship-wide communication

• Representation when asked

• Support for groups, loners, and roundups

Volunteers can help by writing letters, assisting with newsletters, supporting the directory, attending Council meetings at roundups, and submitting group histories or articles.

🌎 A Network of Regional Representatives

The newsletter includes a complete list of regional representatives and service contacts, covering:

• Southeast, East Coast, West Coast, Southwest

• East Canada, West Canada

• Pacific Region, Northeast

• Tape Library, Roundup Liaison, and Mail Distribution

In the mid-1990s—well before widespread email or websites—these contacts were essential links that kept LGBTQ AA members connected across the globe.

🎉 Roundups Across the U.S. and Canada

A major portion of this issue reads like a vibrant snapshot of LGBTQ recovery in 1996. Page after page lists Roundups—recovery conferences for gay and lesbian AA members—representing every corner of North America.

Events highlighted include:

• Big D Roundup (Dallas)

• Boston Roundup

• Sedona Roundup

• Living Sober Western Roundup (San Francisco)

• Rendez-Vous Montréal

• Sunset Roundup (Key West)

• Courage Roundup (Halifax)

• Twin Cities Roundup

• Soberfest (Las Vegas)

• European Roundup (Germany)

  
  

These entries form a remarkable record of how LGBTQ AA was expanding at a rapid pace—creating spaces where members could celebrate sobriety, connection, and pride.

📼 A Look Inside the IAC Tape Library

One of the most fascinating features in this issue is a long list of speaker tapes from LGBTQ AA events across the U.S. and Canada. With 122 recordings available, the library offered “meetings on tape” for members who had no access to gay or lesbian meetings where they lived.

The collection includes speakers from:

• Living Sober (San Francisco)

• We Are Family (Reno)

• The Texas Roundup

• New Orleans Roundup

• Big D (Dallas)

• Grand Ole Roundup (Nashville)

• Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and Edmonton events

• Conferences going back into the early 1980s

  
  

Members could request tapes by mail—an invaluable service in a pre-internet era.

📜 Tradition Eight – A Personal Reflection

Writer Reilly K. offers a thoughtful meditation on Tradition Eight:

“AA, as such, should remain forever nonprofessional…”

Reilly recalls how early service tasks—making coffee, setting up chairs, cleaning up—taught humility and responsibility. Over time, they learned when to rely on their group and when to hire a professional (“If the plumbing is overflowing, call someone who knows what they’re doing”).

The heart of the reflection is simple: Sobriety is freely given, so we freely give it away. And in that giving, we learn generosity, dignity, and self-respect.

💜 Group & Individual Contributions

The issue ends with several pages of contributions from groups and individuals across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. Support arrived from meetings in:

• San Francisco

• Washington DC

• Honolulu

• Bakersfield

• Nashville

• Birmingham

• New York

• Portland

• Calgary

• Laguna Beach

• Charleston

• Minneapolis

  And dozens more.

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Total contributions in this issue included:

• Group Contributions: $5,679.94

• Individual Contributions: $802.40

  
  

These donations helped IAC continue its mission—maintaining directories, sending newsletters, supporting loners, answering correspondence, and helping LGBTQ alcoholics across the world find their way to AA.

IAC Newsletter – Spring 1996

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1996-04-01 newsletter.pdf

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