By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

Members of the Chicago LGBT Task Force on Substance Use and Abuse met Aug. 20 to discuss the scope of their work and assess the reaction to the “Let’s Take a Glass Together” forum held July 23 at Sidetrack.

Members of the group, formerly the Chicago Crystal Meth Task Force, this year decided that its scope should be enlarged to encompass the use of substances other than meth. As such, they’ve been faced with the challenge of establishing what falls under its purview and mission and have been forming a statement of guiding principles.

Rev. Kevin Downer of achurch4me?, which meets at the Center on Halsted, led a discussion that broke down how the Task Force needs to engage the community.

Among the principles the group established were addressing substance use and abuse in the GLBT community; addressing the relationship between mental health and addictive behaviors; looking at how those issues might affect Chicagoland GLBTs differently than GLBTs in other regions; identifying means of access to evidence-based research and treatments; and identifying gaps in treatment and access, among other topics.

The group agreed that they had to be more specific in identifying what kind of substance abuse issues the Task Force would address and what the scope of its intervention would be.

Pamela McGann, of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said the Task Force should ascertain what is meant by substance use and abuse.

“What types of substance uses are we talking about here? As it’s written here, it could be daily vitamins,” she said.

Many thought the Task Force needs to keep a fairly reactive stance, gauging what issues regarding substance use and abuse seem to be important in the GLBT community.

Downer said the Task Force should be asking itself, “If there’s something percolating in the community, is there something that could be capitalized upon?”

The group next discussed the reaction to its “Let’s Have a Glass Together” gathering at Sidetrack in July.

Overall, the presentation received positive feedback, according to Simone Koehlinger, of CDPH, but she said that some in the community did not appreciate the venue, and she discussed a letter published in the gay press criticizing the choice of venue.

“For some people who are in recovery, it did not feel like a safe venue for them,” Koelinger acknowledged.

Others felt that the gathering might not have been able to disseminate enough information about treatment and recovery.

“I felt like we were only scratching the surface” said Lisa Rivitz, of Howard Brown Health Center, who was one of the speakers on the panel.

Braden Berkey, of the Center on Halsted, said the Task Force in the future might consider multi-part gatherings that would allow participants who wanted information on recovery and treatment to learn about various options.

“What I’m envisioning is a second part where we’re discussing treatment. We would be continuing the conversation but at a much deeper level,” Berkey said.

Most agreed that it was appropriate to have the gathering in a venue where those most affected by the issue would gather.

“It was very powerful addressing the elephant in the living room while you were still in the living room,” Berkey said.

The Task Force then finalized many of the details on its website, which it plans on having online by the end of August.