Youth of queer parents are coming together for a crash course in diversity issues this summer as part of a four-day leadership camp.
Camp Ten Oaks is a gay-friendly camp in Vanier, tailored for youths ages eight to 17. Project Acorn will be held at Camp Ten Oaks, but will focus on youth ages 16 to 24.
Danielle Sutherland, part of Project Acorn’s youth advisory committee, says the camp will be like any other youth camp, but with interesting twists to typical activities.
“We’re going to do drag dodgeball, where both genders dress up as the other one,” she says. “Though I don’t think we’re going to allow high heels . . . that might be a little dangerous,” she says. “As well, we are having queer storytelling. "
Sutherland says that growing up with a queer mother was challenging, and she wants to help other kids with queer parents, deal with such a transitory period of their lives.
“Essentially, Project Acorn is about making better advocates for the queer community,” says Sutherland. “The main thing we want to do is teach kids how to affect change,” says Sutherland.
“We want kids to be leaders in changing policy related to queer rights,” she says. “At the same time, we want to make this camp as accessible to people as possible.”
The cost of the camp will be about $100.
“I’m excited about it and I think it’s a reasonable price,” says Leah Kivisto, who is planning to attend. “What I’m excited to hear about is other people’s stories about how they came out,” says Kivisto.
“My coming out was really positive: my parents were supportive, but I understand that a lot of kids don’t get to have that, and I’m really interested to hear what they have to say,” she says.
Sutherland says this is the first year for the camp and that registration will be limited so they won't be understaffed.
Bernadette Campbell, a psychology professor at Carleton University, says she thinks it is beneficial for youth to deal with their gender diversity issues in a group setting.
“Especially when you are a teenager, the approval of your peers is so important. Bullying is so much of an issue if you get support from another group of peers, you can really benefit from that sense of not being all alone,” she says.