Alcoholics Anonymous in Santa Clara County, which includes San Jose, has meetings for it’s diverse population as well as it’s “special interest groups.” The table below lists the major meeting types.
An “open meeting” means the meeting welcomes the public, but especially to those who are not quite sure if they have a drinking problem. Non-alcoholics, such as an accompanying partner, are welcome too. In addition, people from other groups, such as Ala-non or Narcotics Anonymous attend open meetings. Occasionally, psychology and medical students sit in on open meetings to help with their research.
A “closed” meeting means it is for alcoholics or people who are having problems with alcohol. They need not be a member of AA, but perhaps have a desire to quit drinking.
None of these meetings, by A.A. traditions, are allowed to exclude anyone by race, creed, politics, sexual preferences, etc. If they did then they could not call themselves an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Whatever their preferences, alcoholics generally attend a variety of meetings, learning and helping others to achieve sobriety.
| Meeting Type | No. | % of Total |
| Open | 434 | 83% |
| Closed | 84 | 16% |
| Men-only | 38 | 7% |
| Women-only | 36 | 7% |
| Wheel-chair Accessible | 274 | 52% |
| Spanish Speaking | 10 | 2% |
| Tagalog | 1 | 0% |
| Vietnamese | 1 | 0% |
| Gay* | 9 | 2% |
| Lesbian* | 8 | 2% |
| Vietnamese | 1 | 0% |
| American Sign Language | 1 | 0% |
*Some meetings are Gay and Lesbian combined.
Other Resources:
Tagalog (Angeles City, PI)
Vietnam (Vietnam Alcoholics Anonymous)
Carrying the A.A. Message to the Deaf Alcoholic, A.A. Guidelines
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