As members of the LGBTQIA+ community, we are familiar with silence and hiding. Many of us spent significant amounts of our lives living in a closet, shackled by guilt, shame and fear that was instilled in us by the world at large. We lost our most valuable resource, time, afraid of being our authentic selves out of fear of what others would think about who we are and the hate we faced for being different.

Despite those obstacles, as a community, we found our voice in the face of the sweeping AIDS epidemic that ravaged our communities in the 1980's. We got loud and created the change our community needed. Houston Roundup exists because of countless individuals stolen far too soon by the disease but whose legacy lives on in our roundup that fosters a place for LGBTQIA2S+ people to come together in community.

We also faced the shackles of those bedevilments in our alcoholism and addiction. Once again the guilt, fear and shame kept us frozen, unable to find the path to recovery out of fear of what others would think of us, shame for how it impacted those around us and guilt for the disease that annihilated all that was good in our lives. But much as we did in the 80's, we must shed the fear, guilt and shame that far too often silences us. We can live loudly and unapologetically, survivors of the epidemic of addiction. We Recover Loudly, acting as beacons of hope for those who are still sick and suffering, pointing the way to a new and better life.

Live Authentically

Love Unapologetically

Recover Loudly