LifeLube: How can we talk about drinking without pointing fingers?

Friday, July 18, 2008

How can we talk about drinking without pointing fingers?

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Sidetrack
Chicago
Wednesday, July 23

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9 comments:

AnonymousJuly 18, 2008 at 12:55 PM
Alcoholism is a major problem for the LGBT community, I believe more so than meth, cocaine marijuana and even sexual promiscuity. Young, old white, black, upper middle class, lower middle class, republican, democrat we all drink alcohol, but who is to say what is too much and when does it become a problem.
The problem is that since so many of us indulge in alcohol on a regular basis (weekends, afterwork, social gatherings) that we are all a bit biased on the subject, what is considered a problem for one person may not be the same as another.

What I've seen and experienced tells me that for the most part people are drinking to have fun or to let loose. But why should we inject ourselves with poison just to have fun? Are we incapable of having a good time with friends without any alcohol?

At every party and get together i've been to for the past 2 years there has always been some amount of alcohol, are we becoming dependent on the stuff? I don't think so, I think our culture has become so relaxed to the idea of drinking that it is now the norm. I'm 19 years old and i've been drinking since high school, as have many of my gay peers, so as you can see the "norm" is not always a good thing for a community.

At 19, i've seen several of my friends go to the hospital from liver poisoning, it's a scary thing to witness. The scariest part was the realization that that could have happened to any one of us. The time I'm referring too was last summer, a huge keg party in the suburbs, and we were all wasted. My friend James was right next to me most of the night dancing,drinking and having fun. There was nothing strange about the way he was acting, after all we were all drunk and could barely stand, so when he fell over on the table I merely picked him up and put him in a chair to wake him up. James wasn't coming around, I slapped him as hard as I could and he just sunk down deeper in the chair. I panicked I ran into the kitchen to find the host of the party, after more panicked murmurs of what to do and shouting we agreed to call the hospital and cancel the party.
James is doing great now, but he is STILL drinking alcohol. I stopped hanging out with him after learning he still drinks.
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epiloniousJuly 18, 2008 at 1:57 PM
Everyone is allowed to make their own mistakes.

While I think that steps need to be taken to make it so people are less likely to do violently stupid things to themselves and others (drink so much they poison themselves, try to drive themselves home, drink with people they don't know who might get them into more trouble or not watch out for them)... trying to prevent it completely will just cause a backlash and push things underground.

I'd say the easiest thing to do is to be careful and watch out for your friends, all while accepting things might go to shit anyways. At least you will have tried and won't feel as bad or powerless if you choose to eschew all drinking.

BarbieBoy: Why did you stop hanging out with James? It sounds like he did something very Human... Is he still binge drinking and being dangerous? or does he just have a beer once in a while?
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AnonymousJuly 18, 2008 at 10:17 PM
I stopped hanging out with him because being around someone that almost died from drinking, was too hard for me to watch.
I admit I could've stayed his friend and slowly tried to teach him responsible drinking, but he acted as if nothing happened and he still does keg stands 3 nights a week. I don't want to be around for the next time he gets liver poisoning, it may be his last.
Drinking is something that most teens struggle with, but the main thing is knowing when you've reached your limit, or at least seeing that maybe, just maybe after going to the hospital for liver poisoning the person may want to slow down.
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AnonymousJuly 19, 2008 at 10:49 AM
why do you guys think drining may be more of a problem for lgbt? and why so much binge drinking among teens and college kids?
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AnonymousJuly 19, 2008 at 11:24 AM
It isn't that i think drinking is more of a problem for lgbt, I was hitting on drinking is something that everyone needs to do responsibly.
Good question, i'm not sure why binge drinking is so prevalent among teens and college kids, i know the reason i drink is for social occasions, not to mask some kind of closeted tension or pain. I'm sure most teens start drinking because their friends are drinking and seeming cool is extremely important during adolescence, at least it was for me and my friends.
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AnonymousJuly 19, 2008 at 11:29 AM
right on drinking for LGBT, when i said that it is a major problem, i meant compared to the other problems our community faces, drugs, sex addictions ect..
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AnonymousJuly 19, 2008 at 11:33 AM
yeah, it seems like everyone gets all upset about other drugs and barebacking and shit and just totally ignores alcohol. i was just looking at an ad for a barcrawl to fund an aids organizaiton in chgo - AIDS Care - its called Bar AIDS or something - which got me thinging, its like, so much of what we do is sponsored by absolut and smirnoff and budweiser
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AnonymousJuly 19, 2008 at 3:15 PM
i myself am uncomfortable w/the amount of liquor ads and endorsements. i like to drink and have no problems with that - it is just odd for me to see orgs that are supposed to be about our health pimping vodka and cocktails. and miller beer selling us "pride"
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AnonymousJuly 24, 2008 at 5:12 AM
The forum last night was so great - thanks to our speakers, the Feast of Fools, Sidetrack, the Chicago LGBT Task Force on Substance Use and Abuse, and everyone who came - really really fantastic. Can't wait to hear the podcast when it goes up.
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Friday, July 18, 2008

How can we talk about drinking without pointing fingers?

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