Written: 7/27/2012
Out in California, a camp staff member was fired for “appearing too gay.” Out of protest, 10 other staff members (of the 30-person staff) walked off the job with two weeks of program left. Walking off the job were also the Program Director and the number three staff member (out here it would be the Commissioner Director, but I’m not sure how their staff is set up).
I’ve written about it many times, camp staff was so important to me, he sums it up very well:
And although the official policy was that he was not welcome, Griffin said, counselors at summer camp had a different message.
“The thing that really kept me going was Camp Winton,” he said. “It was full of enthusiastic role models … the staff taught me it was OK to be who I was.“
The same is true here, which I think speaks volumes to the quality of the staff members at our camps. It was very rarely an issue, instead we were judged on the quality (and occasionally quantity) of our work.
Some of the best staff members in the history of our camp are gay, and I look forward to the time when we all feel welcome back at an alumni event, or coming up to volunteer for a weekend with their partners.
It is one of those truths that the younger generations hold without any reservation, but having to wait for the older generations clinging to fear will take too long, and cost too many lives, that is why we fight.
All my best,
The King of Spades
