Trans Kids

Most people don’t get it, you hear them say that the children are too young to know their gender but the children prove them wrong.

California transgender camp one of only of its kind in the world, plans underway for branch in Colorado
The camp in the San Francisco Bay Area city of El Cerrito caters to transgender and “gender fluid” children ages 4 to 12
Denver Post
By Joclyn Gecker | The Associated Press
August 7, 2017

EL CERRITO, Calif. — In some ways, Rainbow Day Camp is very ordinary. Kids arrive with a packed lunch, make friendship bracelets, play basketball, sing songs and get silly. But it is also unique, from the moment campers arrive each morning.

At check-in each day, campers make a nametag with their pronoun of choice. Some opt for “she” or “he.” Or a combination of “she/he.” Or “they,” or no pronoun at all. Some change their name or pronouns daily, to see what feels right.

The camp in the San Francisco Bay Area city of El Cerrito caters to transgender and “gender fluid” children ages 4 to 12, making it one of the only camps of its kind in the world open to preschoolers, experts say. Enrollment has tripled to about 60 young campers since it opened three summers ago, with kids coming from as far as Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. – even Africa. Plans are underway to open a branch next summer in Colorado, and the camp has been contacted by parents and organizations in Atlanta, Seattle, Louisiana and elsewhere interested in setting up similar programs.

It is the children that lead the way…

“Once she could talk, I don’t remember a time when she didn’t say, ‘I’m a girl,'” said her mother, Molly Maxwell, who still trips over pronouns but tries to stick to “she.”
Gender is formed much earlier than sexual orientation. When I get asked in workshops about how children know they are trans, I usually reply “When did you know you were a boy or girl?”

This is not the first youth trans camp. There is Camp Aranu'tiq which is a part of the Harbor Camps which I believe is the first overnight summer camp for us. According to their website,

Aranu'tiq was founded in 2009 by Nick Teich, who dreamed of a safe & fun place for youth who felt like they might not fit in at other camps because of their gender and/or who wanted to be with others like them. We launched our first summer week in New England in 2010 with 41 campers. We now have our very own camp in New Hampshire! We have our flagship summer camps in NH & CA as well as leadership programs for older teens and weekend family camps, serving 500 campers over the course of one year.

And they now have two summer camps in California.