Awareness and compassion is all i desire from this post…
Its Pride Month where we get to see many businesses swap there logo with a rainbow one, social media influencers will be trying to educate others on the beauty of LGBTQ…
I’m not here to throw anything down your throat but i would like you all to discover perhaps something you never knew!
Substance abuse is a significant problem among members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning (LGBTQ ) community. From alcohol abuse and binge drinking to the use of harder drugs like methamphetamines, heroin, and opioids, many people in the sexual minority struggle with addiction!
And why is this still so high:
Discrimination and stigma - harrasment, bullying and hate crime.
Lack of support for LGBTQ people - facing rejection if you declare your sexuality or hide and be miserable both lead to substance abuse. I turned to drugs as the pain i felt from being disowned killed apart of me inside, a family can turn their back because they do not accept love is love!
Internalized Homphobia - when you self-identify with anti-gay stigmas, this is such a conflicting one. The inner battle and struggling people go through because they feel one thing but have been told something different.
This has took me forever to decide to post, i have felt the most pain because of who i chose to love
Thank you for posting about this! It’s so important to bring awareness. I’m so happy to see queer sober spaces springing up here and there. Here’s a cool article from a magazine called Them if anyone wants to read more https://www.them.us/story/sober-queer-spaces/amp
Edited to add: I’m so sorry that lack of acceptance contributed to your struggle! I’m glad that you’re here and you’re sober!!
I’ve have seen in the meetings how much damage can be done from rejection of a person sexually and hiding it
Also my daughter has been asking questions about being attracted to other girls and she will be getting the full support from me and her mother
You are an amazing dad and i know that your daughter will be fine as she has you two wonderful people as parents!
I know that for your daughters generation it will be easier as LGBTQ movement is not hiding away it wants to be heard!
The lgbtq are not the only one whos have felt the rejection, even just being an addict can bring up hate crime and rejection and many other people from different backgrounds
We have to show the love, courage and hope.
As i was once told
'If they were taught a certain way how can these people know any different.
This is an important share/thread, Danni. Thank you. I hadn’t made the connection that people from the LGBTQ+ community would be susceptible to addiction because of a lack of tolerance and/or acceptance from society causing them trauma and/or isolation - but now that you have brought it to my attention it is, of course, blindingly obvious.
Thank you for educating me.
Thank you,
It is for me now one of the areas that im supporting with the company who offered the drug training/counselling.
As they have even admitted they don’t have a team trained who can support or who have experienced it.
I’m glad i shared something new, thats all i wanted to do
Momma to a closeted kiddo here. I have adopted many “children” in the community, some of them a decade older than I am. I stand beside, in front and behind my child. I am ready, when he is ready, to come out. The support count in the family = 2. My daughter and me. The rest of them - bigots.
Thanks Danni. I still have problems with my sexuality but I do know that love is love and fear is fear and fear becomes hate. So we got to fight the fear. One day at a time. And btw, the group I stayed longest with in NA was a LGBTQ group that sadly doesn’t exist anymore. Not only is substance abuse very big in the community, it has its very specific characteristics and problems too. The strong connection between sex and substance abuse for one. Goes for me for sure. X
I am so glad that I dropped the homophobic and transphobic believes which I was raised with. It has helped me realize that you are all fantastic people, who deserve to be loved. And it hurts me that I still see homophobia at my school.
