By Ken Knox

With its clean and sober party offering a healthy and festive substitute to the White Party, Alternatives is helping to teach the gay community that you don't have to be on something to have fun.

If you're a gay man in the early stages of recovering from drug and alcohol abuse, you might find the prospect of the White Party to be a bit daunting. Though it would be unfair to say that the White Party encourages drug use, it's no secret that, for many gay men, the experience goes hand in hand with certain kinds of "party favors." Which is why the Off-White Party may appeal to those hoping to avoid such temptation. Sponsored by Alternatives, Inc., which specializes in the treatment of drug and alcohol addiction, depression and mental illness among the LGBT community, the Off-White Party provides a relaxing but fun alternative to its higher-profile cousin by providing gay folks with a drug-free experience.

"We want people to come and have a good time at a place that is clean and sober, where they don't have to worry about someone offering them drugs or someone being there who is high," says Michael Ralke, who co-founded Alternatives in 1992 with his late partner Frank Boudewyns. "Our experience has been that the people who show up have a great time, and that's the message I want to send. I'm a recovering addict and alcoholic myself, and a lot of people, particularly in the early stages of recovery, don't have a concept that they can have fun anymore -- that they can have a good time without being on something."

Up until now, the party has been an informal event held in the back yards of people's houses. As Ralke says, former fans of the White Party started it. "There were a lot of people in the 12-step program who were feeling left out during the White Party," he explains. "They used to do, but when they got off drugs and alcohol, they chose not to go to the party because there's too much temptation. So, a bunch of people got together and decided to start a gathering where people could get together and have a good time and not use alcohol and drugs."

Meanwhile, after opening a Palm Springs branch of Alternatives (it has since been dubbed Studios), Ralke had begun hosting several barbecues for recovering gays and lesbians. After getting folks like Paul Lekakis (of "Boom Boom Boom" fame) and drag personality Jackie Beat to play at the events, they began to catch on -- so much so that the Off-White organizers eventually asked him to turn their event into an Alternatives shindig. This year will mark Ralke's first as the party planner for the event. "We're going to bring a DJ in from L.A. We'll provide food, there's an area for dancing, and there'll be a surprise guest as well that is in keeping with the White Party tradition," he says. (Jackie Beat has already been announced.)

Though Ralke says he is prepared for some people to say, "Yeah, but it's not the White Party," he adds that they are missing the point. "It's not the White Party, but that's the good thing about it," he stresses. "We are probably catering to the ones who are relatively new to the recovery programs. I know a lot of sober people and former addicts who go to the White Party, but for those that are still shaky and need someplace safe and fun to go, we're going to provide that."

Ralke has, in one way or another, been doing just that for years. In 1973, he and his life partner Boudewyns were grassroots organizers of the state-funded Christopher Street treatment center in Minneapolis. In the late '70s, they relocated to California, where they continued their work with the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center's Alcohol Dependency Program and other social service centers. In '83, along with Summit Health Corporation, they helped launch a chemical dependency clinic at Los Angeles Midway Hospital; by '87, they'd opened their own residential gay and lesbian recovery center in Silver Lake. In turn, Alternatives became a national company in 1993, with treatment centers opening in New York City, Austin, and Minneapolis. Ralke opened the Palm Springs branch in 2004. (Boudewyns died of complications of Hepatitis C and HIV in October 2003.)

"Certainly the impact of crystal meth is the number one health issue in the gay community at this point in time," Ralke states. "So much of the research we're seeing now is indicating that new HIV cases are related to the use of crystal meth. And so slowly, I think, from coast to coast, we're beginning to see that there's a chipping away at the problem, and that there's beginning to be some conscientiousness."

Through individual and group counseling in a well-supervised but not rigidly controlled environment, Alternatives provides psychiatric and chemical dependency treatment specifically addressing the GLBT community -- one that is inundated with late-night circuit parties and similar recreational activities that indirectly promote drug use. Because of this, Ralke concedes that he has his work cut out for him. "I don't think you can counsel people that you don't have to have drugs to have fun easily," he says. "I think people have to see that sobriety is not dull by experience. Life is not over if you get into recovery. That's what I try to promote by doing things like Off-White Party -- to show that you can be vibrant and healthy and have a lot of fun and have a career and not use drugs.

"I get stopped at meetings at the Desert AIDS Project and people say, 'What you're doing with [Alternatives] is really nice,'" he adds. "They say, 'It's really important for me to have something to go to other than 12-step meetings to be with sober people.' So, I think, in a real short time, we've created a real positive impact on the community here. And I think the Off-White Party gets the word out that we're doing something that's fun for the recovering community. Because everybody likes to have fun."

The Off-White Party will be held April 16 from 1-5 p.m. at 560 Grenfall Rd., Palm Springs. The event is free, but donations are encouraged. Proceeds will benefit Rainbow Bridge Community Services. To RSVP, call 760-318-1562. For more information on Alternatives, see www.alternativesinc.com, or call 800-DIAL-GAY.