Tradition Twelve: does anonymity mean keeping A.A. secret?
In short:
- No. The Long Form of Tradition Twelve is about humility, not secrecy: anonymity "reminds us that we are to place principles before personalities; that we are actually to practice a genuine humility" (p. 566).
- In 1946 Bill W. wrote that few members were anonymous in daily life, and that they had dropped anonymity with friends and associates on purpose, because those people "ought to know about Alcoholics Anonymous."
- The one firm line is at the level of the public media: no full names or pictures as A.A. members in the press, radio or film. Everything closer to home is left to each member and group.
- Each member may keep as much personal anonymity as he wants, and others must respect it.
What the Long Form says (pp. 565–566)
The Twelfth Tradition is the last of the twelve. A.A. believes that the principle of anonymity has "an immense spiritual" significance (pp. 565–566). It reminds members to put principles before personalities and to practice "a genuine humility" (p. 566). The purpose: "that our great blessings may never spoil us; that we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all" (p. 566).
There's nothing in it about hiding A.A., hiding meetings, or hiding that you belong. The practical rule about names is in Tradition Eleven, and it's about the public media: members' names and pictures "as A.A. members ought not be broadcast, filmed, or publicly printed" (p. 565).
What Bill W. wrote in "Anonymity" (1946)
What anonymity means. The word "anonymous" reminds members to put principles before personalities, and shows that the movement has given up personal glorification in public (P-17, p. 41).
Members weren't hiding. Bill says plainly that few members were anonymous in their daily contacts (P-17, pp. 43–44). "We have dropped anonymity at this level because we think our friends and associates ought to know about Alcoholics Anonymous" (P-17, "Anonymity", 1946, p. 44), and because members wanted to lose the fear of admitting they were alcoholics. Members often spoke under their own names at semipublic gatherings, asking only that reporters not print them (P-17, p. 44).
Where the line is. If every member felt free to publish his own name, picture and story, A.A. would be launched on endless personal publicity, so the line has to be drawn there (P-17, p. 44). Bill proposed three points (P-17, p. 44): 1. It is "the privilege of each A.A. to cloak himself" in as much anonymity as he wants, and others should respect that (P-17, "Anonymity", 1946, p. 44). 2. A member should respect his own group's feeling about anonymity in their town. 3. No member should publish his name or picture in public media in connection with A.A. activity, though he can use his name in other public activities so long as he doesn't disclose his A.A. membership.
Protecting newcomers. A newcomer's anonymity should be kept as long as he wants it, even under an assumed name, because A.A. promised it when he came (P-17, p. 46).
Secrecy is a mistake too. Groups that shut themselves away year after year grow stale and forget "their obligation to other alcoholics in their communities" (P-17, "Anonymity", 1946, p. 46). See Tradition Eleven: does A.A. advertise?
His summary. With one important exception, how far each member or group drops anonymity is "left strictly to the individual or group concerned" (P-17, "Anonymity", 1946, p. 47). The exception is publication: writing or speaking for publication as A.A. members, nobody discloses their full name (P-17, p. 47).
Bill in 1955 (dated)
Nine years later he was just as clear: "no A.A. need be anonymous to" family, friends or neighbors, and telling them is usually right and good (P-17, "Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous", 1955, p. 56). Speaking at group or semipublic A.A. meetings carries no special danger, "provided, press reports reveal first names only" (P-17, "Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous", 1955, p. 56). Before the general public, though, "the revelation of full names and pictures is the point of peril" (P-17, "Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous", 1955, p. 56).
What this means
Anonymity in the Traditions isn't a vow of secrecy. It's humility (no personal glory from A.A.) plus one public rule (no names and faces as A.A. members in the media), plus respect for anyone who wants to stay private. Telling your friends and associates that you're in A.A. is something the 1946 text describes members doing as a matter of course, and the 1955 piece adds family and neighbours.
Read it yourself
- Appendix I, the Long Form of the Traditions (pp. 561–566), free from A.A.: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/2021-11/en_bigbook_appendicei.pdf
- P-17, A.A. Tradition: How It Developed ("Anonymity," pp. 41–47; "Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous," pp. 48–58): https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/assets/p-17_AATraditions.pdf
- Related: Why is A.A. anonymous? · Tradition Eleven: does A.A. advertise?
Sources
| Source | Pages | First published |
|---|---|---|
| The Twelve Traditions, Long Form, Traditions Eleven and Twelve (Big Book Appendix I) | 565–566 | AA Grapevine, 1946; in the Big Book from 1955 |
| Bill W., "Anonymity" (P-17) | 41–47 | AA Grapevine, 1946 |
| Bill W., "Why Alcoholics Anonymous Is Anonymous" (P-17) | 56 | 1955 |
Big Book page numbers are from the fourth edition (2001). P-17 page numbers are the pamphlet's printed numbers (© 2019), which match aa.org's free PDF.
Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. Quotations are brief and cited; the Big Book is © A.A. World Services, Inc.; the P-17 articles are © AA Grapevine, Inc., reprinted by A.A. World Services.
These pages answer questions about A.A. from A.A.'s own published literature, read in full, with every quote checked word for word against the page it cites. Recovery Starts is independent and not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous. What we read, and when each source was written.