Summer Camp Was Never Like This…

…When I was growing up.

One summer I was sent off to summer day camp… we thought you would love it. Well you could have asked me first. I hated it; I was not a “organized activity” kid.

From hiking to sex ed, camp provides unique experience for transgender youth
Sixty transgender and gender-nonconforming youth from across the country gathered this past week in Big Bear Lake, California, for a free summer camp.
NBC News
By Eric Duran
August 6, 2018

Sixty transgender and gender-nonconforming youth from across the country gathered last week at picturesque Big Bear Lake, about two hours east of Los Angeles, for a free summer camp program.

The six-day program, now in its second year, includes kayaking, hiking, drama and other activities one might expect at a traditional summer camp. Camp Laurel, however, also offers optional workshops on transgender rights, sex education and developing healthy relationships. These latter offerings, according to Cris Cardenas, the camp’s program director, were designed to help trans and gender-nonconforming campers find and elevate their voices.
[…]
Camp Laurel is run by the The Laurel Foundation, which was founded more than 25 years ago. The nonprofit has organized yearly camps for at-risk kids since 1994.

But they are not the first…

Camp Laurel is not the first camp for transgender and gender-nonconforming youth. Camp Aranu’tiq, launched in 2009, serves gender-variant campers from across the world at its New Hampshire location.

Its first location was in the Berkshires in Massachusetts.

This is good a thing as Martha Steward like to say.

Even though I didn’t like camp many kids do and it is nice to have a safe space for trans kids to enjoy their youth.