‘This was a safe place’: concerns grow over summer camp’s anti-2SLGBTQ+ beliefs

The update also includes a link to ‘The Nashville Statement’, which opposes same-sex relationships and transgender identity.

Following the update, Alison Hildebrandt, a former staff member, took to social media. She created a petition to address her concerns and make a call for change.

“This is a space that could be the one positive association that so many people have with religion and Christianity. What this [statement] is essentially doing, is pushing people that are already at the fringes of society and already minorities further away,” she explained.

Many Saskatchewan residents agreed with her concerns, and the petition quickly gained interest with some even sharing their own experiences.

“Camp Kadesh was one of the few religious spaces I spent time at as a tween after coming out. I will never forget someone asking the counsellor in my cabin if she was accepting of gay people and she spoke only of love and acceptance,” Gwen commented on the petition.

“I attended Camp Kadesh twice, and thoroughly enjoyed myself each time, as counsellors allowed for discussion around my and a few other campers LGBTQ+ identities and were entirely supportive of us. To hear that the camp is now taking a stance against the identities of many youth attending is entirely disheartening,” said Sophia, in another comment.

During the petition starter’s time working as a cabin leader, she said she regularly met youth who shared personal difficulties with understanding their gender and sexuality.

“Sometimes they were really scared to tell cabin leaders, because of the Christian roots of the camp. It was a really incredible place that I got to tell them that I love them and I cared about them, and that I also believed in a God that did too,” Hildebrandt said.

Much like Hildebrandt, Avery Marchand, a former camper support coordinator, shares the same views.

“While I was there as staff, if any child disclosed that they identified a different way or said these are pronouns that I prefer, that was always honoured and never disrespected by anyone.”

“The response was always ‘this is a safe place for you, you’re welcome here’, and there was no one saying who you are is wrong,” she explained.

For her, reading the new statements brought a sense of fear.

“There’s a level of confidence and trust that just goes away, and I think that has very heavy implications on a child’s wellbeing, even if it is a minority of campers that are coming in. It just takes that one camper out of the over a thousand in a summer to go home and feel that there is something wrong with who they are,” she said.

Marchand and Hildebrandt both shared concerns about what will happen to the camp moving forward.

“There were big turnovers in leadership, and there are a lot of past staff now choosing not to return because of this,” said Marchand. “Caregivers are not wanting to send their kids, campers are expressing that they don’t want to return. But there also are some people that are like, ‘now I’m going to send my kids because you’ve adopted this belief’.”

These former staff members continue to contact the board of directors for Camp Kadesh, along with the member churches to express their concerns, but have not heard back.

“I did ask if they could hold a meeting with previous staff and I do think that would be beneficial because I do think things are best dealt with face to face and I think having an open and honest conversation is so important.”

“I don’t know if there’s a middle ground, but I just think there needs to be a conversation; I would like some people to hear us out,” she added.

BattlefordsNOW reached out to Camp Kadesh’s board of directors for comment and have not received a response.

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Alyssa.rudolph@pattisonmedia.com

by Alyssa Rudolph

‘This was a safe place’: concerns grow over summer camp’s anti-2SLGBTQ+ beliefs

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