*Names of current Rainbow Warriors have been changed to protect their privacy and anonymity.
Two years after founding member Timmy F. was featured in a Story of Healing highlighting Healing Transitions’ LGBTQ+ recovery meeting, The Rainbow Warriors, the group has continued to grow in both size and impact. What began as a dedicated space for LGBTQ+ participants has expanded to welcome allies into its weekly meetings, strengthening a community built on support and shared recovery.
Today, Rainbow Warriors is more than a meeting. It is a place where recovery and identity coexist — a space where participants are free to show up as their authentic selves without fear of judgment or stigma.
“You get to free your mind in this meeting,” says current Rainbow Warrior Luke. “It’s a place where you can express yourself, and a lot of people need to do that.”
For many participants in Healing Transitions’ long-term recovery program, seeking help already requires overcoming the stigma attached to addiction. For those who also identify as LGBTQ+, that journey can carry additional layers of hardship shaped by experiences of prejudice, rejection, and isolation.
“It’s already extremely hard to come here and ask for help with our addiction,” says current Rainbow Warrior David. “I’m happy that they have this community and this meeting because I think it does a lot to help them feel comfortable in a place where it’s not always easy to feel comfortable.”
The Rainbow Warriors offer refuge from those challenges. It is a place where participants can find belonging and connect through shared experiences.
“A lot of us went through life, especially our young life, being bullied and so we used drugs to build our confidence and to make us feel better,” says current Rainbow Warrior Jill. “But now we have to learn how to live, love, and learn while sober.”
And no Rainbow Warrior has to navigate that journey alone. Around the meeting table, regardless of sexuality or identity, participants find peers who stand beside them through recovery.
“There are some people who have kept me here on days when I didn’t want to be here,” says current Rainbow Warrior and ally Charlie. “So when those same people told me about Rainbow Warriors, I was like, ‘I get to show my support and my love for you guys and your community,’ and that’s why it’s such a big part of my life.”
Although Rainbow Warriors continues to rapidly evolve, some traditions remain unchanged. Each year, the group volunteers at Run for Love, the annual 5K benefiting the LGBT Center of Raleigh. The event reflects the group’s commitment not only to supporting one another within Healing Transitions, but also to uplifting the broader community.
“It’s my hope that one day, another trans girl will see who I was and who I am now and realize they don’t have to live her life stuck in a body that they don’t feel ever belonged to them” says Jill. “And I hope she knows she certainly doesn’t have to live a life stuck in addiction.”
For many participants, events like Run for Love represent more than community service. They offer visibility, connection, and a reminder that acceptance extends beyond the walls of Healing Transitions.
“It’s a big deal for people to see that they’re supported outside of here,” says David. “It gives them confidence and helps their recovery to feel accepted inside and outside of Healing Transitions.”
At its heart, being a Rainbow Warrior is rooted in a simple philosophy:
“Be accepting, courteous, and open-minded,” says current Rainbow Warrior Alex. “Because not everyone is going to look like you and not everyone is going to dress like you, but we all have a common goal — to be as one.”
This Pride Month, Rainbow Warriors continues to remind participants that recovery is strengthened through community, acceptance, and the knowledge that no one has to walk the journey alone.
Join Rainbow Warriors at Run for Love on Saturday, June 6 at 9AM and help support the LGBT Center of Raleigh while meeting some of the participants helping build this community of hope and belonging.
Read the 2024 Story of Healing about the Rainbow Warriors and its origin here.