August 21 in A.A. History

In 1988, during the 1st Canadian National A.A. Convention at the Halifax Metro Centre—renamed Scotiabank Centre in 2014—in Halifax, Nova Scotia, a group of LGBTQ members met at the Sheraton Hotel. In 2011, Mike A., who attended the event, recounted the details of that meeting:

    In August, 1988 we had the first Canadian National AA Roundup [sic] which had nearly 5,000 people at one time in the Metro Center. People from all over the US and Canada (and perhaps other continents, not sure) came to this gathering.  Eyebrows were raised, eyes rolled when 3 people who got up to read Steps, Traditions, etc. said “Hello, my name is _____ and I am a GAY alcoholic.” The G Word caused a slight flap. One member, JJL[――] [right], met a number of friends of Bill W. and ‘Dorothy.’ He was tall and carrying a shoulder-bag, they couldn't miss him. Someone said, “There are an awful lot of ‘us’ here, perhaps we should have our own meeting!” A Flyer [sic] was typed up and put on notice boards and a member from Vancouver said we could have a meeting in his Suite (at the Sheraton, now called Marriott) which had a large meeting room.
    Twenty-seven people came to our meeting on Sunday afternoon. Surprise! We're everywhere! It was a most uplifting meeting, we were all impressed that so many nice people came on short notice. Several people said, “Hey! We could have our own Roundup!”
    Georgina C[――] and Leonard, Mike A’s partner, were surprised that they were nominated—right out of the blue—to be our first Co-Chairs. They accepted (relented?) and a date was set for October to have a meeting to discuss the possibilities.

    The outcome would be the Courage Roundup [left: logo], “an annual gathering of LGBT alcoholics and those affected by the alcoholism of others, that is, an LGBT Alcoholics Anonymous and Al-Anon.”