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Connor Bry is a Masters of Social Work student at the University of New England.
Recovery houses are residences in which people recovering from substance use disorder seek a substance-free and peer support environment. The number of these houses in Portland continues to rise, as does the number of people seeking the particular flavor of recovery that Portland has to offer.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration supports the use of recovery housing as an effective tool for individuals seeking recovery for substance use disorder and support in their relapse prevention. The current guidelines and best practices for these houses are in their infancy, leaving Portland in a unique position to lead the way in modeling standards for houses across the nation.
A specific opportunity for local recovery residence operators and staff to spearhead would be to look at how current models of recovery housing address issues of inclusion for LGBTQ people. The current system of recovery residences exists on a gender binary: Male or female. One rationale for this binary gender-specific model is to reduce romantic and sexual distractions between men and women and to foster a peer-support environment in which individuals connect over gender-specific life experiences. There are additional benefits to having gender-specific recovery residences, particularly for residents with trauma histories associated with another gender. This model was made for the majority of people seeking these services: cis-gendered heteronormative individuals.
However, under this gender-binary model, individuals who identify along the sexuality spectrum (lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer or questioning) do not get an environment in which romantic and sexual distractions are removed. Additionally, gender minority individuals (trans, gender non-conforming, genderqueer, non-binary, etc.) and their sexual minority peers do not have a shared life experience with their heteronormative cis-gendered peers. The current model would have these gender and sexual minority individuals compartmentalize, or even repress their identities to choose a recovery house that is “close enough”, or more realistically, “safe enough.”
The National Association for Recovery Residences and its local affiliate Maine Association for Recovery Residences (MARR) adhere to a code of ethics that calls for MARR-certified recovery residence operators and staff to “value diversity and non-discrimination.”
Most recovery house operators and staff that I have met are in recovery themselves; as such, they aspire to live up to values of respect and compassion. Most of these recovery houses (their operators, staff and residents) are accommodating to residents who identify as a gender or sexual minority. They are willing to make room, and lend an empathetic ear to the specific life challenges that come from an LGBTQ identity. But I think more can be done.
In accordance with their ethical code, MARR-certified recovery residences should strive for inclusion and non-discrimination of persons who identify as gender and sexual minorities. I believe that this can be achieved by increasing the competency of current recovery residence operators and staff with trainings through organizations like MaineTrans.Net.
Additionally, I am calling for the development of an all-genders LGBTQ specific recovery house in Portland. The presence of an all-genders LGBTQ specific recovery house would reflect the larger value of inclusion that I believe this city has been cultivating for decades, as well as meet the needs of a marginalized community.