This ritualistic greeting used to be welcome. Now, it’s little more than a reminder of the worlds I became imprisoned in — the dual worlds of addiction and recovery.
When I joined Alcoholics Anonymous and its spin-off, Narcotics Anonymous, I was seeking escape from my dependence on opiates and alcohol. Three and a half years later, I am free of heroin and alcohol in part because of the 12-step program, and I continue to apply some of its principles to my life.
But the program’s ideology was in many ways irrelevant to me. The literature of AA and NA preaches a heteronormative approach to sexuality — unavoidable, perhaps, as both programs were founded by heterosexual men at a time when queer people were repressed. Politically, the adherents of the programs, and the text themselves, also promote an anti-liberation, “bootstraps” approach that I’ve never been comfortable with.