GYE asked an old-time SA member and this was his response:
Yeah, some people like it while some don't; in some countries and cities it's attendance and sobriety presence is pathetic while in others SA's is; etc, etc. I don't know if it's more robust, but they have a section for LGBT members and it sounds like they are much more inclusive than SA is, in that respect. I've never been at an SAA meeting though, so I have no experience with it.
I have met many former SAA guys in SA who say they 'finally found it' in SA after years of playing a game in SAA...but I am sure that there are stories of the opposite happening, as well; SAA has (what SA guys perceive as) no clear bottom line - some frum people see that itself as 'anti-Torah' because there are guys who are sober from hookers in SAA but still masturbating and are considered sober success stories by the SAA chevra. But personally, I just see SAA and SA as different approaches to the same thing: sobriety and a sane life. What you want to do with it and how far you want to go with it, is up to you - just like for any member in any 12 Step fellowship. So it doesn't bother me.
But GYE has been down this road before, no? Didn't you say that GYE feels it cannot align itself with any 12 step group that openly 'allows' masturbation in it's sobriety definition? Well, I think that would include SLAA, RCA, and SAA, etc...
If it is indeed more robust than SA is, I'd suggest that may be because of it's more inclusive nature - perhaps it fits better into modern American cultural values by defining sobriety more loosely, and so, it may enjoy more popularity. Maybe there are other factors I know nothing about, like historical or demographic ones, or it's age. I believe that real recovery can be found in any 12-Step fellowship.
Just some thoughts.