Proud Voices

It was harder to come out as an alcoholic than it was to come out as gay

Connor describes his twenties as being a period of time that was intoxicating in many ways. Having lived in cities like Chicago, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C, he realizes many of his relationships were centered around drinking, superficiality, and a lack of sober people in his life. Like so many before him, Connor struggled with relapse, and talks about how he used to stop at liquor stores on his way home from outpatient treatment. Today, he does his best not to focus on external factors like "living in the cool neighborhood" or staying busy just to stay busy. Instead, he tries to focus on inner peace and connection to oneself. Connor has been sober since February 11, 2021.

Teacher of the Year

This week's guest, Eddie has been to 55 treatment centers. Previously, Eddie worked as a teacher and basketball coach for a catholic school in Maryland  where he was named teacher of the year. He describes his relationship with drugs as a solution to a problem he couldn't find. Eddie has been sober since May 22, 2021. 

I can find a problem for every solution

This week's guest, Jim, is the CEO of one of the country's top addiction treatment centers. Jim grew up in New York and came out as "gay" in 1981 at the age of 15. A survivor of childhood sexual assault, Jim began using at a very early age and first came to Pride in 1996. Through humor, humility, and community service, Jim has captured 23 years of sobriety. He got sober on February 5th, 1999. 

I never got to be a kid growing up… and now I do

This week's guest, John, was first introduced to crystal meth through his boyfriend. In a three-year span, he lost his partner to an overdose, his mom to natural causes, and his best friend to suicide. While John has had many "downs" in his life, he lives today focusing on the "ups." Today, John is newly married, works a job he likes, and actively gives back to charities he is passionate about. John's sobriety date is August 13, 2017. 

Resource: Avenues for Youth

This week's guest is Ryan Berg, Program Manager of Avenues for Youth, a Minneapolis-based non-profit, which for more than 25 years has supported homeless youth ages 16 through 24 in Hennepin County. Berg is also an author and wrote the non-fiction work No House to Call My Home: Love, Family, and other Transgressions off of his experience working as a caseworker in a group home for disowned LGBTQ teenagers in New York City. If you'd like to make a donation visit avenuesforyouth.org or call them at 612-522-1690.

Resource: Visions Teen in Malibu, CA

This week's guest, Beck Gee-Cohen is the Director of LGBTQIA+ Programming at Visions Teen in Malibu, California. Beck is a master's level clinician and has worked in the mental health and substance use field for over ten years in various capacities (including supervisor of Pride Institute's Intensive Outpatient Program.) He talks about the unique challenges queer adolescents face today and how awesome Gen-Z is. 

One was never enough

This week’s guest, Patrick, didn’t have his first drink until he was 21 and went through seven treatments (two of which were at Pride) before he got sober. He considers himself a "black-out drinker" and was recently diagnosed with Asperger’s, a form of Autism Spectrum Disorder, and talks about the relief he felt post-diagnosis and how it may have contributed to his substance use. Patrick is just shy of seven years sober. 

I wouldn’t change a thing... Okay maybe some things I’d change

Wright was born in Texas and struggled with his sexual identity growing up. He came to Pride from Denver, a more diverse city, in 2016 after his boss in Corporate America had given him the ultimatum between going to treatment or being terminated. To this day, he credits his boss as being a massive factor in his getting sober. Having gone through relapse and a few treatments in between, Wright returned to Pride and has been sober since October 2019. 

If you go to the barbershop enough, you’re gonna get a haircut

Tom has been in and out of recovery for the last 32 years and lives in New York City. Tom was able to string together 10 years of sobriety before his first relapse, garnering two master's degrees along the way. Tom came to Pride having never really addressed his sexuality in prior treatment stints. He noted "The Velvet Rage" as being a book that was instrumental in his sobriety, going as far as to say, "it was the first time in his life where he felt seen." Tom has been sober since September 21, 2014. 

I don’t wanna be like that guy from Shameless

This week's guest, Marc, talks about the paranoia of addiction, the stigma and shame of experiencing homelessness, and addiction's toll on loved ones. A professional truck driver, Marc, talks about the primarily male-dominated, heteronormative standards he has to live up to in his profession and has to hide from most of the time. Mark has been sober since November 28, 2020.