LGBT AA Round Ups!
Almost every major city in the United States has a weekend set aside for an LGBT AA Round Up every year. Round Ups are Alcoholics Anonymous Conventions aimed toward recovery, unity, and service for the LGBT community. Thousands of alcoholics within the LGBT community get together for a weekend to share their experience, strength, and hope with each other through back to back meetings, fellowship, speakers, and fun activities. They are a great place to meet people from all over the nation and share in a unity unlike anything else. Attending one of the events is a spiritual experience in itself; holding hands while saying the Serenity Prayer with thousands of people is unreal, witnessing newcomers attending the event for the first time, visiting with old timers that have been to several events and the list goes on.
Some of you might ask… Why an AA convention that is LGBT specific? AA meetings and conventions are happening right now as we speak and all are always welcome. The LGBT AA Round Up is open to anyone, not only the LGBT community, just like the LGBT community is able to attend any convention they choose. However, having an LGBT focused Round Up gives support to both communities, allowing people from all over to get together in one place, to meet other AA goers that are also LGBT.
AA Round Ups are an opportunity to support your AA and LGBT community all in one place. Every meeting is open to anyone that would like to participate. People from AA, Al Anon, NA, SAA, etc. are all welcome along with any family and friends you wish to bring. The round-the-clock meetings allow family and friends to see the support and commitment people have to this program and to begin to understand what AA is all about.
Here in Minnesota we have the Twin Cities Round Up, which occurred a few months ago. I attended the event and had an amazing time with all of my fellow LGBT Alcoholics. It gave me comfort, along with many others, to share a bond unlike anything else. For so long I struggled with admitting I was an addict/alcoholic, let alone a lesbian. I was able to meet people that had the same experience and to know I wasn’t alone which is the reason LGBT AA Round Ups are so vital in one’s recovery.
If you haven’t been and are curious to know more, check out www.gayalcoholics.com/aa-roundups-events.html
I have listed the upcoming Round Ups in 2010 below:
- 2010 Hotlanta LGBT Roundup on September 3-6, 2010 at the Georgia Tech Hotel and Conference Center in Midtown of Atlanta, GA
- Ohio LGBT Round Up 2010 in Cleveland, OH at the Double Tree Hotel Cleveland South, August 20-22 2010
- Rocky Mountain Round Up in Denver, CO on August 13, 2010 (LGBT)
- Sober, Strong and Free LGBT Round Up September 3-5, 2010 in Edmonton, AB
- Houston, Texas LGBT Round Up on November 23-25, 2010 at the Downtown Houston Double Tree Hotel
- The 36th Annual Bluff City LGBT Fellowship in Memphis, TN on October 21-24, 2010
- New Jersey LGBT Round Up, September 10-12, 2010 at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel in Asbury Park, NJ
- Lakeshore Retreat 2010 in Olympia, WA at Millersylvannia State Park on Oct. 15-17 (LGBT)
- Provincetown, MA – Serenity by the Sea LGBT Round Up on October 21-24, 2010
- San Diego ‘Feeling Good’ 2010 LGBT Round Up on September 3-5, 2010 in San Diego, CA
- Capitol Round Up 2010 in Washington DC on August 20-22, 2010 (LGBT)
Share your experience, strength and hope with other LGBT alcoholics, even if you’re not LGBT or an Alcoholic!
-Kristen