To support promises in AA literature against banning people
To get P... back into meetings at Lambda Houston
Lambda
Houston Mavericks believe that a handful of overly righteous people on the Lambda Houston
board violated many very important AA promises when it barred P... from attending A.A. meetings at Lambda. They did this in July, 1011.
The following texts in AA literature and culture promise people should not be banned from meetings for any reason other than disrupting a meeting:
AA Pocket Card: Whenever anyone anywhere reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA always to be there. (Prominently posted at Lambda Houston entrance.) P... has gone to meetings at Lambda Houston about 20 years. He has been sober 16 years straight now. He is gay.
Tradition One: “No A.A. can compel another to do anything; nobody can be punished or expelled.” (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, page
129, Paragraph 3.)
Tradition Three: “The
only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.”
(First
published by AA 1946 later confirmed at 1950 Convention in Cleveland.)
“This
Tradition is packed with meaning. For
A.A. is really saying to every serious drinker, “You are an A.A. member if you
say so. You can declare yourself in; nobody can keep you out. No matter who you are, no matter how low
you’ve gone, no matter how grave your emotional complications—even your
crimes—we still can’t deny you A.A.
We don’t want to keep you
out. We aren’t a bit afraid you’ll harm
us, never mind how twisted or violent you may be.”
(Page
139 Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions
published 1953)
Page 84 Big Book: “Love and tolerance of others is our code.”
Page 152 Big Book: “We have shown
how we got out from under. You say,
‘Yes, I’m willing. But am I to be
consigned to a life where I shall be stupid,
boring and glum, like some righteous people I see?’”
Page 18, paragraph 5 “no attitude of Holier Than Thou”
Page 69 Big Book: “Now
about sex. Many of us needed an
overhauling there...One school would allow man no flavor for his fare and the
other would have us all on a straight pepper diet. We want to stay out of this controversy. We do
not want to be the arbiter of anyone’s sex conduct.”
P...
was gay-bashed leaving a Houston Montrose neighborhood gay bar about 20 years
ago. This left him with a severe brain-injury
and he has some difficulty understanding that giving people a little tongue is
not the usual greeting in gay AA. Some
call it affection. A few call it sexual
harassment.
Despite
that brain injury, P... has 16 years of continuous sobriety. He continues to desire to stay sober and to
go to meetings at Lambda. Lambda Houston
boasts over 40 meetings a week and has a virtual monopoly on gay AA in
Houston. P... has never disrupted a
meeting.
****
Lambda
Houston Mavericks has created this blog because the Lambda Houston board barred
P... from all meetings there permanently.
No A.A. group at Lambda ever barred P...
The general membership never voted to bar P...
The
board, not the Mavericks, started this controversy. We Mavericks do, however, feel morally
obligated to voice objection to the board’s action barring P...
Lambda Houston Mavericks
will leave this list of A.A. texts about not kicking people out and about not
being an arbiter in sex matters until Lambda readmits P...
Anyone
who googles <<Lambda Houston>> can find this protest posting.
We
ask you to encourage people you know on the Lambda Houston Board to rescind
this ban.
