RESEARCH SHOWS THAT QUEER PEOPLE ARE MORE LIKELY TO SMOKE, USE ALCOHOL AND DRUGS, ATTEMPT SUICIDE AND SUFFER MENTAL-HEALTH PROBLEMS THAN THEIR STRAIGHT COUNTERPARTS. AS OUR COMMUNITY CONTINUES TO PROBE THE REASONS WHY, CLIFF JOANNOU VISITED RESORT 12 — AN LGBT REHAB FACILITY IN THAILAND — THAT AIMS TO HELP THE HEALING PROCESS

REHAB

Resort 12 is a 40-minute drive from the northern city of Chiang Mai, in Thailand. Located at the foot of the surrounding mountains, a lush green jungle hangs over its thick stone walls and a bamboo fence that must be 12ft high. We approach a guarded gate before we snake around the perimeter to the towering main entrance.

The huts that are visible through the foliage look akin to those in a fancy resort, with their perfectly manicured gardens and man-made lakes.

“From the moment I came through the guard gate, I noticed little things,” Jim, 54, from St Louis, and a client at R12 tells me later that day. “I immediately spotted the barbed wire between the bamboo, and the next gate had to be opened by a fingerprint scanner. It is scary. Then the gate closed behind me. It’s a very subtle prison. But you know you’re in a safe environment. I love not having triggers such as bottles of booze in a restaurant.”

As we talk, the birds chirp and flutter outside. It’s a tranquil environment, peaceful and still. But the calm in the air runs counter to the psychological and emotional turmoil its residents are battling. The majority of people at the “villages” within addiction treatment centre The Cabin are fighting drug and alcohol problems. Some are sex addicts or even hooked on the gym.

I’m escorted through the grounds to R12, the only addiction clinic outside of the USA dedicated to treating LGBT+ people. Everybody at The Cabin shares common facilities such as the gym, but the treatment rooms are separated, with the main distinctions being The Edge, which is for young straight men dealing with anger issues, and R12 — which treats the very specific needs of LGBT+ people.

At R12, I meet Stu Fenton and Sandi James. Stu was a school teacher in Sydney and a former crystal meth and GHB addict. His first experience of rehab was in 2003, age 33, when he spent 11 months getting clean.

Sandi is also from Sydney. “I was from a similar stomping ground to Stu,” she tells me as we sit in one of the therapy rooms at R12. “I was one of the gutter-dwellers. Heroin was my drug, I didn’t really touch anything else and I was on methadone for years.”

The main difference between the experiences of Stu and Sandi and other people here is that they are the counsellors leading the recovery programme. When Stu left rehab he decided he was done with teaching. Inspired by his experience, he changed career direction and trained as a therapist. Since then, he’s worked in his own practice and at hospitals, helping treat gambling, sex addiction, love addiction/avoidance, depression and anxiety.

Sandi has studied extensively and is about to embark on her second Masters degree in applied science psychology. She previously worked in the mental-health sector with Aboriginal people (both adolescents and adults), and people with severe behavioural disorders or alcoholism. She has also worked with the trans community and people with gender-identity confusion.

The two of them have only worked together for a matter of weeks and their personalities appear quite different, but there’s a clear synergy between them. I joke that they come across like a married couple, at which Stu smiles. “It really is like that, which kind of feels nice in a way because a lot of the relational stuff that drives people towards an addiction comes from the family of origin.

“If I had to put it in a nutshell, in a way Sandi and I are trying to be functional mum and functional dad,” he adds.

“He’s the mum,” Sandi chimes in, grinning.

The lack of healthy adult role models in the lives of many young LGBT+ people is a contributing factor to the problems that Stu and Sandi encounter. While there may be more LGBT+ faces in the public eye today, historically visibility has been lacking. For most gay men, the tangible examples of other gay people they meet are often those in bars and clubs, or via hook-up apps.