Since 1983, Live and Let Live Alano Club (LLLAC) has made it their mission to provide a safe, sober, community-focused space for LGBTQ+ individuals in San Diego. Yet after fundraising losses during COVID-19, the club closed its doors on Park Blvd. while struggling to pay the rent to continue its life-saving work. Whether that closure is temporary or permanent is up in the air – and depends upon the success of finding a new permanent location.
“We really served our community so consistently,” said former board member Richard Correale of the club’s 39-year history before its recent closure.
LLLAC was founded after the realization that the city lacked a social environment for LGBTQ+ people that was not a nightclub or bar. In hopes of creating a space that fostered community involvement and recovery, the Alano Club did just that and has widened its offerings to include 12-step recovery programs. In addition to offering an uplifting sober community and standard meetings like Narcotics Anonymous, San Diego’s Alano Club tailored their services to unique communities like trans people in recovery and the kink community as well as those who wanted to attend Alcoholics Anonymous but without the religious aspect.
Before its recent closure, the club prided itself on being open every day of the year – including on holidays. They offered recovery support to 40,000 participants annually. A main goal was to focus on “long-haul” support for people in recovery to ensure participants have access to resources to ensure a lifetime of sobriety. It is this goal that made LLLAC such a robust community for those in search of support.
In 2019, they moved to a new location on University Ave. and Park Blvd. However, they have been unable to pay the rent or find a cheaper alternate location.
Despite financial struggles since the pandemic began, they continued to offer important services to the community.
“This year, we joined with the County of San Diego and the San Diego Harm Reduction Coalition to distribute Naloxone,” Dian Lee, the most recent program manager for LLLAC, said. “To date, this has saved numerous LGBTQ+ lives.”
Naloxone is a medicine that reverses opioid overdoses, something Lee said is a notable issue in the community.
“Multiple studies show that addiction to substance abuse is significantly more prevalent in our community,” Lee said.
In surveys of the U.S. population, LGBT+ people were more than twice as likely as their heterosexual counterparts to have a substance use disorder. Multiple factors contributed to this issue, including night life and bars being a historically safe space for LGBT+ people as well as LGBT+ people depending upon substances to cope with the social stigma and discrimination they experience for their sexual orientation and gender expression.
“Systemic discrimination and lack of competent care in the healthcare system can deeply exacerbate these issues even and especially for individuals seeking support. Organizations like Live and Let Live Alano Club create safe and welcoming spaces for our LGBTQ siblings seeking compassionate care in their recovery journey and a sober space to feel an ongoing sense of community,” said Fernando Lopez, the Executive Director of San Diego Pride.
SD Pride partnered with the Alano Club to host Recovery Village inside the Pride Festival annually as an intentional space for sober community members to gather together, find resources and even attend NA and AA meetings throughout the weekend. After years of providing tailored services LGBT+ people, the Alano Club may not be able to continue, at least in the form of a neighborhood center.
“We remain hopeful that LLLAC will find a way to overcome their current obstacles and are committed to ensuring the sober community is welcomed and well served at our festival,” Lopez said.
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, LLLAC lost a great deal of their sponsors. Several gay bars in Hillcrest used to donate a portion of their proceeds to the Alano Club but those proceeds diminished during quarantine restrictions. Support from paying members, coffee bar sales, fundraising events, and donations from local LGBTQ+ businesses were not enough to pay for rent on a storefront in Hillcrest.
With a growing need for support to continue their work in the LGBTQ+ community, the organization began fundraising to found a permanent LGBT+ recovery center. They also reached out to other nonprofits and government officials to plead for alternative interventions but did not find an underwritten or subsidized location.
Moving to a new space and continuing support for recovering members of the community will only be possible with help from members of the public, Lee said. The organization is still fundraising to open a new recovery center.
If LLLAC can find a permanent home, they will be able to continue offering assistance to those in the LGBTQ+ community that need their support.
“Anyone seeking recovery is welcome —regardless of sexual orientation, religion, sex, race,” Lee said.
Information on how to donate, how to seek support, meeting and event info can be found at lllac.org/donate.
