LGBTQ+ Summer Camps You Can Feel Safe Sending Your Kids To

By Anne Gregg

School has started again and the cold weather has a lot of us dreaming of summer when we’ll be able to step outside without putting on seven layers of clothing, hang out with our friends without assignment deadlines hanging over our heads. Maybe we can even spend time enjoying nature and relaxing by the water. So why not direct that daydreaming to plans to attend summer camp? Summer camp can be scary for many children and teenagers, and spending a week away from home in a totally foreign environment can be especially scary for those who identify as queer. The summer camps compiled below are all safe and inclusive spaces for children and young adults to express themselves freely. They allow children and teens to be their authentic selves and participate in an exciting range of activities catered to their interests. There are many LGBTQ+ inclusive camps around the country, but the ones below all provide the traditional sleepaway summer camp experience and offer financial aid.

Brave Trails

Ages: 12–17
Location: Southern California and Southeastern New York State
Financial aid available?: Yes
Cost per session: $2,500
Activities include: Archery, Circus Arts, Craftivism, Creative Writing, Drag, Farming/Gardening, Gaming, Makeup Art, Music, Puppetry, Sports, Swim, Tarot & Astrology, Theater, Zines,
Description: Camp Brave Trails is a week long summer camp for LGBTQ+ youth and allies. The camp prides itself on being part summer camp and part leadership institute. Campers will not only have the summer camp experience, but also an environment to foster young leaders and activists. The camp is a completely unplugged experience that encourages disconnecting from phones and connecting to community and nature. Camp Brave Trails has genderless lodging, an onsite health team, mental health professional, & first aid center, and provides three meals a day plus snacks that accommodate for campers dietary restrictions.
Link to site: https://www.bravetrails.org/summer-camp

Camp Highlight

Ages: 8–15 & 16–18
Location: Pennsylvania
Financial aid available?: Yes
Cost per session: $1500
Activities include: Arts & Crafts, Climbing, Dancing, Hiking, Fishing, Swimming, Writing
Description: Camp Highlight is a week-long summer camp for children ages 8–15 with LGBTQ+ parents. The camp also offers a Leadership Academy for teenagers ages 16–18 who have LGBTQ+ parents. Camp Highlight’s mission is to create a welcoming space where campers can interact with others who have families like theirs and find support and friendship within the camp’s community. Campers are encouraged to be the best version of themselves they can be through being kind and united. Camp Highlight has gender-inclusive housing and family-style meals. They are a peanut free camp.
Link to site: https://www.camphighlight.com/chl

Camp Lilac

Ages: 13–17
Location: Ohio
Financial aid available?: Yes
Cost per session: $950
Activities include: Archery, Arts & Crafts, Boating, Clay Models, Creative Writing, Dungeons & Dragons, Hiking, Improv, Sewing, Swimming
Description: Camp Lilac is a week-long camp for trans and gender diverse youth. The camp aims to give campers stronger confidence in themselves and their gender identities and provide them with a supportive community. Campers are encouraged to participate in a wide variety of activities that celebrate their trans identities, including make-up and hair tutorials, and voice training. Campers are allowed to bring their phones to contact their parents in the middle of the week, but electronics are meant to be put away, so they can connect with nature and their peers.
Link to site: https://www.camplilac.org/enroll

Camp Quinebarg

Ages: 6–16
Location: New Hampshire
Financial aid available?: Yes
Cost per session: $4275
Activities include: Arts & Crafts, Archery, Boating, Ceramics, Drama Fencing, Horseback Riding, Nature, Sports, Swimming, Woodshop
Description: Camp Quinebarge is a 2–8 week camp for all children ages 6–16. The camp specializes in fostering an inclusive, respectful, and kind environment. It strives to increase self awareness, self esteem, personal responsibility, and independence. Camp Quinebarge fosters a friendly and understanding community between its campers and nature. It is intentionally queer-friendly but the camp is designed as a safespace for everyone. Camp housing is not gender-neutral however, the camp is happy to make accommodations for nonbinary and transgender campers. The camp also values the privacy of its staff and campers, and if a camper wishes for their identity to be kept private the staff will ensure their information is not shared.
Link to site: https://www.campquinebarge.com/prospective-families/the-mission/

Odyssey Teen Camp

Ages: 13–18
Location: Massachusetts
Financial aid available?: Yes
Cost per session: $2,100
Activities include: Activism, Arts & Crafts, Canoeing, Car Maintenance, Cooking, Dungeons & Dragons, Fairy Houses, Gaming, Magic: The Gathering, Performing Arts & Music, Set Design & Theater Tech, Social Justice, Swimming
Description: Odyssey Teen Camp is a 1–4 week camp for gamers, goths, geeks, artists, activists, and LGBTQ+ teens. The camp is eclectic and celebrates individuality. OTC is a transformative experience for teens, focused on helping campers embark on journeys of self discovery through relationship building, unique activities, and spending time in nature.
Link to site: https://www.odysseyteencamp.com/

The Naming Project

Ages: 14–18
Location: Minnesota
Financial aid available?: Yes
Cost per session: $400
Activities include: Arts & Crafts, Canoeing, Hiking, Singing, Swimming
Description: The Naming Project is a camp for christian LGBTQ+ youths and allies. The camp offers a safe space for campers to understand their identity and spirituality. The camp includes spaces for small and large group discussion and campfire reflection on top of having the typical camp activities. The Naming Project’s goal is to help their campers have life in abundance and foster a welcoming community of LGBTQ+ christians and allies.
Link to site: https://www.thenamingproject.org/summer-camp/

‘Camp’ Camp

Ages: 21+
Location: Maine
Financial aid available?: Yes
Cost per session: $1975
Activities include: Aerobics, Arts & Crafts, Beauty Parlour, Canoeing/Kayaking, Broadway Dance, Chainmaille, Cooking, Hiking, Knitting & Crocheting, LGBTQ+ History, Mindfulness Meditation, Model Rockets & Saucers, Mountain Biking, Pickleball, Stained Glass, Swimming, Theatre, Writing,
Description: ‘Camp’ Camp is a LGBTQ+ week-long summer camp for adults. The camp serves as an alternative to alcohol and party based vacations (but they do have an open bar). ‘Camp’ Camp is a place for LGBTQ+ adults and allies to connect with their inner child, explore nature, and foster friendships. The camp offers traditional summer camp activities but also includes activities with a LGBTQ+ or adult spin. Lodging is separated by gender, but there are gender/neutral and co-ed options available.
Link to site: https://www.campcamp.com

About the Author

Anne Gregg is a poet and writer from Northwest Indiana. She is an English Writing major at DePauw University and is the editor-in-chief of her campus’s literary magazine, A Midwestern Review. She is a Media Fellow at her university and loves dissecting how LGBTQ+ people are portrayed in film and tv.