10 Best Summer Camps For LGBTQ Youth
Looking for the right LGBTQ summer camp for your kid? We’re here to help! We at Camp Brave Trails believe that every LGBTQ young person deserves the opportunity to have a safe, welcoming, and affirming summer camp experience. Our team put together this list of incredible camps to help you pick the right one for your future campers! Each of the camps below is unique and offers a different kind of experience. Camps have been listed in no particular order. If you have questions, feel free to contact info@bravetrails.org!
Now let’s see which one is best for you!
CAMP BRAVE TRAILS
CALIFORNIA & MARYLAND (OUT OF STATE & INTERNATIONAL CAMPERS WELCOME!)
Ages: 12-17
Camp Brave Trails is the largest residential summer camp for LGBTQ+ youth, with locations in both California and Maryland, offering one and two weeks camp sessions. The mission of Camp Brave Trails is to help LGBTQ+ youth find their people, place, and passion. At camp, campers connect with supportive LGBTQ+ adult mentors, make lifelong friends, and have the time of their lives! This awesome leadership-focused camp offers top-of-the-line leadership training and quintessential camp activities with an LGBTQ+ twist, such as archery, theater, hiking, drag classes, arts & crafts, dance, campfires, swimming, identity groups, game nights, epic evening activities, and SO MUCH MORE! A big plus, all of the cabins and bathrooms are genderless at camp! Camp Brave Trails is accredited by the American Camp Association and offers financial assistance to those in need. Fun fact, Camp Brave Trails has welcomed campers from 39 different states and 9 countries!
HARBOR CAMPS
NEW HAMPSHIRE
AGES: 8-18
This awesome camp specifically for transgender and non-binary youth offers campers the opportunity to build confidence, resilience, and community through camp experiences. They emphasize kids just being kids and having fun at a “traditional” camp, there are no formal conversations about gender/sexuality. Camp activities include swimming, kayaking, arts and crafts, campfire songs, archery, Gaga (a form of dodgeball), drama, field games, D&D, and more.
CAMP HIGHLIGHT
PENNSYLVANIA
AGES: 8-15
Camp Highligh is a week-long camp for children who have a LGBTQ parent, though they welcome all youth to attend. They offer a safe space where kids feel celebrated for who they are and who their family is. Their mission is to “create a community where children of LGBTQ families can connect, grow, and play! We provide an amazing range of camp experiences that are fun and encourage campers to be more mature, more community focused, and kinder. “ You’re kid is bound to have tons and feel tons of pride at this colorful, exciting camp!
CAMP OUTRIGHT
VERMONT
AGES: 13-17
Camp Outright is a six day/five night residential summer camp program for queer, trans, questioning, and allied youth. We welcome folks from throughout the US and beyond, with campers that range from age 13 to 17. You don’t need to identify as LGTBQ+ to come to camp; straight allies are also welcome. Their program is a traditional summer camp experience with queer elements! Campers enjoy activities based on their interests, from sports to visual and performing arts, to nature exposure activities, and workshops addressing social justice issues within the queer, trans, and questioning community. Come to Vermont and experience the beauty of Camp Outright!
CAMP TEN TREES
WASHINGTON
AGES: 8-17
Fun facts, Camp Ten Trees was one of the first camps for LGBTQ youth. This is the place for LGBTQ campers who love to play in lakes, meet people who share their values, and sing songs about having two moms! This camp is social justice-oriented, and along with the typical camp activities, the campers will engage in age-appropriate workshops that explore identity, oppression, social justice, and activism. Come as a family or just send the kids.
CAMP FYERFLY
ALBERTA, CANADA
AGES: 14-24
Camp fYrefly is Canada’s only national leadership retreat for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, asexual, intersex, queer, questioning, and allied youth. The camp provides a space for youth to explore their identity, build resilience and enhance self-esteem, all while having an awesome camp experience. Camp fYrefly Southern Alberta began in 2013 thanks to a partnership between the University of Alberta’s Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services (ISMSS) and Calgary Sexual Health Centre (now the Centre for Sexuality).
CAMP LIGHTBULB
MASSACHUSETTS (SOME PROGRAMS OFFERED IN OTHER STATES)
AGES: 14-18
Camp Lightbulb celebrates LGBTQ+ youth, aged 14 to 18, with magical summer camp experiences filled with fun, pride, community, friends, support, self-discovery, and memories to last a lifetime. Hang with new friends and frolic through world-renowned LGBT haven, Provincetown, MA! This urban camp puts a new spin on camp by hosting camp in a town instead of a forest! Enjoy whale watching, beach bonfires, self-discovery workshops, and trips in to town. Campers stay in a local hostel, just steps away from the beach. Camp is always organized around six elements: “camp fun & art & the outdoors & community & well-being & service.”
CAMP OUTDOORS
ARIZONA
AGES: 11-24
This colorful camp takes LGBTQ youth “out of the closet, and in to the woods” for 4 days of fun! While this camp welcomes campers from all over, they focus on serving Arizona LGBTQ youth and giving them the opportunity to build community. Campers enjoy adventure activities and workshops of their chose, while connecting over their common bond of queerness. You’re bound to make tons of new friends at this camp! ““Camp OUTdoors! is my source of strength during everyday life.”
CAMP LILAC
OHIO
AGES: 12-17
The Camp Lilac mission is to provide a safe, welcoming space for transgender youth to be themselves in a positive, supportive, youth-focused environment. “Trans youth often face stressful, unwelcoming, and even hostile environments in their day to day lives, and depression, anxiety, and suicide are much higher among them. Since 2017, we’ve been creating a safe, welcoming, and confidential space in which gender diversity is the norm. Our program is designed so that campers emerge with an increased sense of confidence in their identities and a strong community of peers and supporters.”
THE TEN OAKS PROJECT
ONTARIO, CANADA
AGES: 8-17
Camp Ten Oaks is a one-week sleep-away camp for children and youth from 2SLGBTQ+ (two spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer) identities, families, and communities. “In addition to swimming, campers are able to enjoy a variety of high and low ropes courses. With names like the Flying Squirrel and Vertical Playground, there are lots of great adventures to be had. A double-sided climbing wall and Frisbee golf course add to the fun. A natural setting for building community! Our activities are designed to empower campers through play that enhances self-esteem, life skills, independence, and self-confidence.”
WE HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS LIST!
Need helping picking the best LGBTQ camp for your future camper? We’re here to help!
Contact us at info@bravetrails.org
Our goal is help connect all LGBTQ youth to meaningful, welcoming camps.
Much love, Team Brave Trails