Sexaholics Anonymous

Sexaholics Anonymous was founded by Roy K. (in twelve-step fellowships it is customary to refer to members by their first name and the first initial of their last name, in order to preserve their anonymity). SA received permission from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) to use its Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions in 1979. He claimed that he had been sexually sober since January 31, 1976. Group commitment to sobriety definition From the earliest attempts by Roy K. to found SA in the 1970s, and throughout the history of SA, some members have sought to change the group's concept of sexual sobriety. This was an attempt to generalize marriage similar to the 12 Step concept from Step 3 of "God as you understand God." It was an attempt to endorse as sexually sober, sexual activity by couples, not legally married, whether they be of the same or opposite sex. The fellowship did not accept this and, as a result, in 1991 some SA members and groups left SA to form Sexual Recovery Anonymous (SRA), citing the SA sobriety definition's lack of endorsement of same sex relationships and committed relationships. Murray R., one of the SRA founders had served on the SA General Service Board and had long attempted to change the SA sobriety definition to include committed relationships with either the same or opposite sex. As early as 1991 Roy was writing to the fellowship regarding same-sex acting out. In an article titled Principles Corroborating SA's Interpretation of Sexual Sobriety Roy wrote: In the section titled "The Great Same-Sex Controversy", Roy goes on to explain how society was divided on the "nature vs. nurture" argument about homosexuality: The issue came up again in the late 1990s. A survey was held, reaching out to various individual meetings through the regional councils and local Intergroups. A solid majority of responders felt that the sobriety definition did not require clarification. Agitation on the issue continued due to a perception that the ambiguous nature of the survey questions rendered the results meaningless. The Chair of the SA General Delegate Assembly summed up this ambiguity: "I received conflicting opinions about the meaning of the January 1999 vote that we do not need to clarify the SA sobriety definition. Many (probably most) were convinced this vote meant that we are already clear on the meaning of traditional SA sobriety and no further clarification is needed. Others were equally convinced this vote meant that "spouse" and "marriage" could be interpreted as understood by each member. Some were convinced that SA is afraid to "say what it means and mean what it says." On July 9, 1999, the General Delegate Assembly, meeting at an international conference in Cleveland, unanimously voted (9-0) to clarify the definition of "spouse" to be "one's partner in a marriage between a man and a woman." This is known as the Cleveland Clarification or the Cleveland Statement of Principle. It was overwhelmingly accepted by the membership at the group, intergroup and regional levels. In 2000, same-sex attracted SA members expressed their support for the Cleveland Clarification in a letter to SA Delegates and Trustees signed by 66 members from 7 countries. Candidates for membership in the SA Board of Trustees, are now required to affirm the SA Sobriety Definition including the Cleveland Clarification. This controversy continues to circulate within the fellowship. The General Delegate Assembly (GDA) "is the policy-making body of SA." Any Delegate is free to propose a motion at the GDA to debate the SA sobriety definition. SA Conferences are about recovery, not for debating policy matters like the sobriety definition. ESSAY, the bimonthly international SA newsletter, states the principle in its Editorial Philosophy: "SA’s sobriety definition is not debated, since it distinguishes SA from other sex addiction fellowships." In July 2016, the GDA passed a motion further entrenching the 1999 Cleveland Statement of Principle : "In SA's sobriety definition, the term "spouse" refers to one's partner in a marriage between a man and a woman." The motion requires the inclusion of the Statement of Principle in all SA literature on the SA website home page. Further, the motion declared that "Meetings that do not adhere to and follow [...] the Statement of Principle [...] are not SA meetings and shall not call themselves SA meetings." SA has attracted a subsection of the same-sex attracted population who seek not to act sexually on such attractions. At the July 2007 SA International Convention a survey was conducted of 176 SA members. Asked the object of their sexual fantasy and acting out, 23% nominated same-sex and a further 7% indicated both genders. Topic meetings on same-sex issues are held at SA International Conferences and personal stories of same–sex recovery appear in ESSAY, the official SA publication. There also exist other organizations which serve such individuals (see ex-gay movement). ==International conventions==