| Liberals. Beer. The two go hand in hand. So what better way to combine the two than to form what has become a nationwide sensation called Drinking Liberally.
What started in Hell's Kitchen in New York City in 2003, has exploded into 170 chapters nationwide. Texas will welcome it's 8th city chapter of Drinking Liberally when Houston start's its own on December 6th.
Cities like New York and Boston would seem the ideal spot for liberal drinkers to want to congregate. But the DL concept has spread widly to 42 states in the country and to cities that one would not find to be especially liberal. |
| Texas chapters exist in Dallas, Addison/North Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. But they also have formed in cities not traditionally seen to be blue, such as Amarillo, Lubbock, and Waxahachie.
"I saw the link for Drinking Liberally on a blog and I like to drink," Waxahachie chapter host Nathalie Guyol said when asked why she started one. "I didn't have anything to do since the Dean meetups and I like to talk to intelligent people. It's that simple."
Peter Walbridge of Houston had a similar outlook on why a DL chapter should exist in Texas. "I looked up DL on the internet a couple of hours after hearing about it on the Hightower Report. Apalled at a two chapter deficit to Dallas, I contacted the national folks to start one up in Houston."
I began my own in Addison in June 2005 for similar reasons. It was a way to step into the political realm of finding like minded people, without falling head first into the Democratic Party. Of course for me, I eventually performed my tumbling act into the party shortly after. And what started as a group of 7, has exploded into a mailing list of 250 people (with our largest meeting turnout of 31 in Fort Worth during the state convention- where I first met our own Annatopia).
But Drinking Liberally is an outlet not simply for Democrats. It is inclusive to all liberals, whether they be Green, independent, or whatever. DL also welcomes conservatives if they so dare join in. But Drinking Conservatively doesn't have quite the same flair.
If you would like to join in on an existing group, or start your own chapter in your own city, please check out the website drinkingliberally.org. And if you live in Houston, be sure to join their first meeting on December 6th. |
