Group News
I had just decided to give up and I cut off the SA phone line. The day after, I got some calls. I now have six people, including myself, who want to start a group.
Sobriety and the Sea of Relativism
Today the world is adrift on a sea of rapidly shifting mores. Change is accelerating at an unprecedented rate. The last eighty years have surpassed the rate of change of the last eight thousand, and the last thirty have probably surpassed it all. Every aspect of our lives and sexual thinking is affected. Thousands of voices clamor for attention, preaching new “freedoms” of every kind. Was it not but a few years ago that “shacking up”—what the courts called “cohabitation”—was thought to be abnormal? Today it is called a “meaningful relationship” or having a “significant other.” And witness the new movement to legalize incest.
A Safe Haven?
Despite having a strong SA community in my region, the Fellowship here is facing a serious problem that I believe could one day lead to disaster.
H.O.W. It Works
Conference attendees were asked to write some of their thoughts and experiences on the conference theme—Honesty, Open Mindedness and Willingness—for sharing with the Fellowship at large. The conference organizers and the Essay wish to thank those who shared. Following is a selection from almost 150 submissions.
After Steps 1 – 11, Step 12 Takes You
My name is Michael and I’m a sexaholic. It feels weird to say that in front of several hundred people. It’s not something we can be very proud about in front of the normal public, but it’s something I can say here with confidence that it won’t go beyond the doors. Back in 1940 or so it would be awfully strange to say to a crowd this size that you were an “alcoholic.” This is a very strange disease, and it has a lot of shame to it. What’s wonderful is to be able to be in a crowd this size and know that when I talk about how awkward I used to feel and how wonderful I feel now, there’s a bunch of people out there who know what I’m talking about.
SACC
We are very excited about our upcoming trip to the Southeastern Correctional Facility near Lancaster, Ohio. We purposely scheduled this visit around the SA International Conference in Cleveland on July 9 – 11, as it is our hope some members attending the conference will be able to visit the facility July 9. We will leave the hotel at 10:00 a.m. and return at 10:00 p.m. The facility is about three-and-a-half hours south of Cleveland.
What’s Going On in SA
The last edition of Sexaholics Anonymous Member Stories was published in 1989. We currently sell about 500 copies of this every year. The SA Literature Committee intends next year to publish a new volume tentatively titled Member Stories 2000.
Voting at Intergroup
Recently a motion at my local Intergroup almost failed to win approval. Had it failed, two members with less than 30 days’ sobriety would have provided the margin for defeat. By comparison with AA, on whose experience the Traditions are based, the sobriety of AA representatives to Intergroup is generally measured in years. At the group level, many SA groups require members to have 30 days’ sobriety to vote at business meetings. Intergroup reps should have at least the same length of sobriety to vote.
Trudging the Road in the Northwest
The Northwest Region held its biannual retreat May 23 – 25. There were 70 members of SA and S-Anon in attendance.
Group News
Over the past months, 12 SA groups in the northern Virginia/Washington D.C. region have voted to clarify “spouse” and “marriage” in the SA definition of sobriety, stating that sober sex in SA can find its expression only in a vowed and legal union between a man and a woman. This clarification now is read at the beginning of these groups’ meetings.
