“I accept myself as a 43-year-old gay alcoholic man in recovery.” I wrote that sentence in August of 2019, roughly a month after coming home from my second trip through Mountainside’s residential treatment program. Being able to put pen to paper and write those words together, in one sentence, represents a long journey of hard work and support to not only accept but embrace two parts of my identity that I kept hidden. I let go of shame to live a much happier, more authentic life as a gay man in recovery.
Growing Up in the Closet
Like many people who identify as LGBTQIA+, I knew I was gay long before I ever came out to anyone, and coming out of the closet wasn’t an option. Growing up, particularly in high school, I was so worried people would find out. (Were the comments I got from high school jocks because they actually knew I was gay or because that was their lazy bullying tactic—harassing anyone who was smart, skinny, and completely uncoordinated?)
I tried to convince myself I wasn’t really gay, and I lived life and based decisions on what I wanted to project into the world rather than who I really was. I used humor to deflect and ingratiate myself. I chose a Catholic college that was known for its parties and sports even though I had zero interest in tracking stats and players closely (I still need someone to explain to me how fantasy leagues work) and I’d attended a grand total of 1.5 parties in high school (the homecoming one was broken up by the police in 20 minutes). In high school, I consumed less than one beer total by graduation, but I still thought I was supposed to walk that way of life.
I had two girlfriends during my time in college and after graduation—and enjoyed that at about the level you’d expect. Drinking though, I came to enjoy A LOT. My claim to fame was being the guy who could chug an entire can of Busch beer without gagging the fastest (don’t overread into that last sentence, Freudians). Drinking was a way to let the walls down—not a lot but just enough—to relax, to have fun, to find acceptance. My drinking was heavy, but not out of line with my peers. I thought all of that would be enough, and I could be content hiding this big secret for the rest of my life, not realizing there was a 12-step model for LGBT substance abuse treatment.
Am I a Gay Alcoholic?
I kept my life compartmentalized throughout most of my 20s. Work provided pride and accomplishment. I had friends from college I still socialized with who didn’t point out why I never talked about dating even though they were starting to get married. I was respected and well-liked by colleagues as I seemed to have everything together, and socializing with coworkers meant you didn’t have to engage in a lot of personal talk. Just a lot of drinking.
Being gay meant finding a hookup online when I wanted that release with someone who wouldn’t even know my name, let alone anything about me other than physical attributes, sex, and “thanks for your time.” I didn’t realize how much of an emotional toll juggling all of these different identities was taking on me. I had gotten so good at hiding my true self from everyone else, even I didn’t know who that was. Coming out of the closet still was not an option.
Using Alcohol to Cope
But those walls can’t stand the test of time, as much as you may want them to. Cracks started to appear when I met the man who would be my first boyfriend; that relationship pressured me into coming out. But when that relationship ended I was left with a sense of “Why did I take that risk?” I did start to be more open about my sexuality—I eventually started coming out to my coworkers, but I took pride when people showed surprise that I wasn’t straight. It was a twisted “Hell yeah!” moment in my head when people would say, “You don’t come across as gay!”
Interspersed in all of this was alcohol. And as the cracks started to widen, more people knew I was part of the queer community; I met my now-partner, and my love for him and desire for him to be part of my life superseded wanting to project some distorted image of masculinity. The pressures of my career brought on new, heightened levels of stress. Alcohol was the way I coped. We’d all talk in the office about “opening that bottle of wine” when we got home to have a drink. Pretty sure I was the only one who meant it every time I said it and “a drink” meant “a bottle.” Then a “drink” meant a shot of whiskey. Then half a bottle of whiskey. This went on for a long time. I had years of practice hiding my homosexuality, so hiding how much I was actually drinking daily was almost second nature, not knowing the high rates of LGBT and substance abuse.
Coming Out as an Gay Alcoholic
Eventually, the foundations crumbled. Drinking became all-consuming. I was confronted by family, by coworkers. I dabbled in help—I went to my first AA meeting shortly after my 41st birthday, but I didn’t really commit. I also didn’t know gay Alcoholics Anonymous meetings or LGBT recovery meetings existed.
I’d drift in and out of different meetings for months, stringing together 40 days, 80 days. I made it over 90 days once before another alcohol abuse relapse. While I did finally find a home group with people I liked and trusted, I still let my fear of being authentic in all parts of my identity hold me back. I couldn’t retrain my brain to break down the mental barriers I’d spent decades fortifying. My therapist at one point said I was “exhausting to listen to.”
I made progress by finally accepting that I needed to go to residential treatment to “wrap my head around my disease,” as I put it to someone. I did make progress, but authenticity was a struggle; eighteen days passed before I finally said to the group at a fire ceremony hike that I was gay. Looking back, it seems strange to think that I was fearful while being surrounded by other people who had some of the same struggles as me, some of whom had the same struggles as me. But I was. As much as I began to work on myself because of the support of the Mountainside community—both inpatient and outpatient—there was still a long way to go.
Hitting Rock Bottom
Things began to change in June of 2019 when I had my (hopefully) last alcohol abuse relapse, which was short but scary in how quickly it spiraled and how fast the trip to the bottom was. A weekend alone in which I decided to try drinking “just one more time” quickly devolved into a really dark experience. I was so close to losing everything—my family, my partner, my career.
Knowing there was evidence-based practice in substance abuse treatment, I had to return to detox and the full residential program after only being out for just over six months. Sitting in detox with the chemicals in my body, the deep, deep fear and shame I felt—I didn’t have active thoughts of ending my life but I definitely wondered if the world would be better without me in it. I thought I’d hit bottom before, but nothing compared to the despair I felt at that moment.
Surrendering to Sobriety
There was one phrase that got lodged in my head through all of this. Mike, my recovery coach in Chappaqua, who convinced me to go back, said to me, “You’ve got to purge all of it.” What does coming out of the closet mean, really? It means all of it, not just my sexuality.I can’t remember exactly how he phrased the rest of it, but the meaning was clear—if I truly wanted to heal, to live life in recovery, I needed to face all these different parts of my persona. I needed to confront my mistakes and negative feelings. I needed to vocalize my fears and be willing to sit with them. I needed to be honest about what I wanted my life to be, not what I thought it should look like based on other people’s projections. I needed to accept who I am, to celebrate the good, to be honest about the bad.
To believe that I deserve to live a healthy, authentic life. I needed to surrender. Truly, completely surrender. To be honest about what I wanted. And what I wanted was to live a sober life in LGBT recovery. As an openly gay man in recovery. I didn’t want to hide anymore. I was so tired of spending all that energy worrying about what I thought people thought of me.
Returning to Rehab
I approached my second time in treatment differently—I was out before even leaving detox. When Marc, the chaplain, came in on Wednesday mornings to remind us we could have sessions with him, I asked my clinician to schedule one because I didn’t have any clue how to grow spiritually which is key to alcohol relapse prevention. I forced myself to go to the gym even though I was embarrassed at being out of shape and not knowing how to use any of the equipment (Thank God Leandro is so patient).
In Family Wellness I was able to hear, truly hear what my partner needed to say, and not just acknowledge it but understand it. I was also able to ask in return for what I needed for our relationship, something I am terrible at doing. They suggested trying EMDR therapy in Outpatient when I came home and I embraced it, even though some sessions have been really difficult to work through. I kept up exercising. I was fully honest about relapsing and going back to treatment with my gay Alcoholics Anonymous group. I reached out for help from my network, from my recovery coach when I’ve been thrown curveballs—and there have been some doozies thrown my way this year, even before COVID-19. But I’m in it for long-term sobriety.
Living as a Gay Man in Recovery
On June 5th, 2020, I celebrated one year of continued sobriety as a person in LGBT recovery. I won’t say every day is easy—there are some days that I feel the only thing I did right was not drink. But I recognize each day I wake up sober is a tremendous achievement. I’m able to be open about living as a gay man in recovery. My friend recently asked if I’d be willing to speak about my experiences in college living in the closet to help his daughter, who is transgender, in deciding how important having a queer community may be for her. I couldn’t have done that even a year ago because I struggled for so long with vulnerability. I look back on how much time I spent trying to keep all these parts of who I am hidden from the world, and even I can’t believe I worked so hard to maintain that façade for so long. It’s a world I don’t ever want to return to, and I am grateful that LGBT recovery meetings exist.
I was talking to two friends of mine recently (both straight women) and I made an off-the-cuff gay reference, which I can’t recall. What I can recall was how one of my friends responded. She said, “I can’t pinpoint when it was exactly you went from not wanting anybody to know you were gay to being so open about it.” That was a “Hell yeah!” moment for me.
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