H E L P
Hotline ringing off
the hook
by S.. a lesbian
One of the fastest-growing services in our
com m unity is the Gay Alcoholics Hotline. Its
first night was February 1,1982, and its use
has tripled in two short years.
A survey just completed of reported calls
indicates that lots of people are using this
Hotline, and for many different reasons.
Some call for help with their own drinking
problem, some are sober alcoholics having a
rough night and needing extra support to
keep from taking that "fatal” first drink. Still
others phone because they are concerned
with the drinking of a friend or lover.
Twenty percent of reported calls in 1982
were repeats; that is, persons who already
had received assistance from the Hotline and
wanted to tap its resources again. Ages of
callers ranged from 24 to 55. Lengths of
phone calls ran the span from four minutes
to an hour and a half. Seventy percent were
alcoholics who had achieved sobriety at one
point in their lives, and over half of those were
still abstinent, calling for help in maintaining
that clean condition. O f those who drank
again, reasons given for relapse included
doubting their alcoholic diagnosis, or smok
ing marijuana — an activity which lowered
their resistance to other mind-altering chem
icals, such as alcohol. Some, including those
just mentioned, indicated that they had trou
ble feeling sociable around people without a
drink in their hand. Not one person, however,
felt good about having drunk again, and this
was why they phoned the Hotline.
Their specific reasons for calling the Gay
Alcoholics Hotline at the times they did so
varied widely: One clean and sober alcoholic
wanted a ride to a Narcotics Anonymous
meeting, and that connection was made.
Another needed moral support for upcoming
surgery. One was suicidal, and professional
assistance for this call was sought and re
ceived. One caller had gotten a year and a
half of sobriety previously through a local
alcoholism treatment program, but had
commenced drinking just three weeks previ
ously. Already, he was afraid of the conse
quences of “ another" D.G.I.I.
Referrals for 1982 calls came from many
sources, including the Salem Capitol Fomm
(now known as Impact News), the Portland
telephone book (under Live And Let Live
Club), from the Alcoholic Rehabilitation As
sociation (A R A ) treatment center and from
the Central Office of Portland's Alcoholics
Anonymous. Hotline volunteers, themselves
recovering alcoholics, have been amazed to
see how fast word of their service has spread.
In 1983, the story was much the same —
only in three times the volume. Ages of cal
lers closely paralleled 1982, and again, the
male/female ratio was nearly 50/50. Calls
came as early in the morning as 12:17 a.m.
and as late as 11:45 p.m. The shortest re
ported call was three minutees; the longest
two hours, 45 minutes. At least two calls
came from people at the time in treatment
centers who wanted to talk not only to recov
ering persons, but specifically to gay or les
bian sober alcoholics. Percentages ran
roughly where they were in 1982 in terms of
persons with previously-attained abstinence
calling for help to stay clean and sober
another night, or else to get back to a recov
ery program.
Several callers felt their sobriety threatened
by their lovers walking out on them or threat
ening to do so, and at least one call was
instigated by an emotional conversation with
the caller’s mother. One man called from a
hospital while recovering from major surgery,
just lonely for another sober person with
whom to speak for awhile. Another fellow was
greatly traumatized by what happened to him
when he drank wine, and he wondered
whether he could quit wine and still handle
the alcohol content of beer. That insidious
query, com m on to many problem drinkers,
was then discussed at length. One caller ad
mitted that he was a “ problem drinker,” but
could not stand the thought of being labelled
"alcoholic.” When it was explained to him that
a person can only diagnose their own condi
tion, he then felt more free to discuss his
out-of-control consumption.
Calls in 1983 came from the same sources
as in 1982, but were augmented at least in
part by local gay media, Kaiser Alcohol Treat
ment Program and the yellow pages section
of the telephone book.
The situations noted above are but a sam
ple of the calls jingling on the Gay Alcoholics
Hotline. The significance of the 300%
increase in use of this service cannot be un
derscored. An article heralding beginning of
the Hotline reported that 10% of the general
public is alcoholic, but that 33% of the gay/
lesbian com m unity is afflicted with this incur
able, progressive and frequently fatal disease.
Research over the past two years points to a
slight change in those figures: Up to 35% of
our com m unity is now recognized as having
serious problems with alcoholic addiction.
Notes of encouragement to counter this
glum statistic include the increased use of
such services as this Hotline, and improved
public understanding of alcoholism to be not
O U T
a sign of moral degeneracy, but rather of an
illness, an actual disease. Thus, alcoholics
are not "bad" people wanting to get “ good";
they are sick persons seeking arrest and re
covery of their malady.
The disease of alcoholism sometimes
takes years to m ount to a crisis point in its
victim 's life. By the time this happens, the
alcoholic may have crossed into the phase of
the disease from which s/he cannot stop
drinking solely on the basis of "will power.”
Asking an alcoholic to exercise “ will power”
alone over their drinking is like asking some
one who has just eaten a case of prunes to
exercise "will power” over their flatulence.
Portland's Gay Alcoholics Hotline is trying
to arrest the progressive disease of alcohol
ism in members of our com m unity who wish
that help. The Hotline is not a temperance
union, nor is it a dogmatic collective of un
looped lushes. It is simply a group of
ex-drunks who feel thankful for being
unchained from the bottle, and who want to
share their experience, strength and hope
with anyone curious about how they did it
Hotline volunteers take this opportunity to
publicly thank the Live And Let Live Club for
allowing them to use the Club's telephone
number during off-hours, because what is
“ o f f for the Club is increasingly "on" for the
Hotline. Volunteers are excited by gay
response to their presence, and fully antici-
pate hearing the phone ring even more often
Many of the volunteers see this activity as a
way they can thank the people who helped
them "get off the juice," and are living proof
that life is anything but boring without booze!
The Gay Alcoholics Hotline invites you to
call them at 231-3760 between 10:00 p.m.
and 7:00 a.m. any night of the week if you
have a question about drinking — yours, or
that of someone for whom you care.
The Live And Let Live Club is located at
2707 S.E. Belmont S t in Portland, its meet
ing schedule follows:
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
Every day:
Noon
Monday through Friday:
7:30 a.m.
Sunday through Friday:
5:30 p.m.
Note: The Thursday 5:30 p.m. meeting
is a non-smoking meeting)
Sunday and Thursday:
8:00 p.m.
Women only: Monday and Friday: 8:00 p.m.
Men only: Tuesday:
8:00 p.m.
AL-ANON meets Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m.
NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS meets Fridays
at 11:00 p.m.
Saturday nights are something special —
call and find out — it’s social, sober and fun!
The Club hosts several dances a year as well
as other events, to remind us that there really
is a fun (even gay!) way to live sober.
Holly Near
and
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