A-Camp Is Taking a Break in 2020

This announcement has also been posted on the A-Camp website.

After careful consideration, we have decided to take a year off from A-Camp. We feel strongly that transitioning camp into its next phase — whatever that looks like — needs to happen thoughtfully, intentionally, and with a clear, inclusive process, and that doing that work properly takes more time than we have between this winter and next summer.

We know that this will be disappointing news for many. A-Camp holds a special place in so many of our hearts. A lot of campers were eager for their first trip and others anticipated returning to see beloved friends. We are very sorry that our prospective A-Camp dates had been released prior to us coming to this conclusion, and that some of you may have made plans with those dates in mind.

We will miss seeing your faces and sharing space with you this spring, but are confident that this time is needed in order for us to do internal work as an organization around structural racism, class and disability; areas in which A-Camp has failed in the past. That work has begun, but there is so much work left to be done.

Over the past few months, we’ve been all-hands-on-deck for the website — gathering feedback on improving Company Culture and implementing new Company Values and policies, increasing transparency and communication with our staff around hiring and pay rates, bringing new people onto the team through transparent and thorough interview processes, building leadership and teamwork skills with a coach and making plans for racial justice and workplace inclusion trainings. We know in our hearts that giving this website work the time and devoted focus it deserves will be imperative to its success.

Our next steps for A-Camp are this: in early Spring 2020, we will assemble a primarily Black and other POC transition team to determine next steps for A-Camp or a different kind of Autostraddle-adjacent event, as well as landing on a reasonable compensation package for new leadership and other staff. Our work will be informed by an independent professional financial analysis of what is possible for us to execute responsibly as we move away from a structure that relied too heavily on already-strained website staff/freelancers and other unpaid/underpaid labor. We will update you on the results of these conversations on the A-Camp website as we have them.

The outgoing co-directors and CEO will follow new leadership in the offboarding/onboarding process to ensure this and work that’s already been done by Black and POC staff is amplified and uplifted. Any future events will be designed to center of POC leadership, voices and experiences in consult with our Black and other POC staff.

The staggering strength, integrity, spirit and personalities of our staff and incredible community of campers has left us consistently awestruck, year after year. We wish to honor that work with this process. We sincerely hope that taking this time to evaluate and rebuild with vulnerability, bravery and open hearts; employing practices rooted in community care and hope for comprehensive change; will lead to a better experience for all.

OneTable and A-Camp Team Up to Create a Meaningful Shabbat Experience for Queer Jewish Adults

all photos by Molly Adams

It wasn’t quite sundown when Shabbat dinner got started at A-Camp 2019, but we didn’t let that stop us. We weren’t hung up on following exact traditions, or policing how any one person or the entire group of us was going to celebrate Shabbat together. Our goal was feeling good and fostering community, not agonizing over rules.

Earlier in the day, a small group of us had made challah at a workshop where we paired up and learned to do four-strand, five-strand, and six-strand braids while sharing our baking backgrounds and our religious (or not so religious!) experiences. Now those loaves of bread, baked to perfection and all looking fairly professional considering many of the participants had never braided challah before that day, sat on each table ready to be enjoyed.

Also on each table: wine and stickers, provided by OneTable. Candles were placed in a group at the front of the room, and when all the Shabbat dinner participants were gathered, everyone who wanted to light came up and did so. Then we stood, most of us with our hands covering our eyes, and said the prayer over the candles.

The magical event I’m describing above was our second annual Shabbat Shalomosexual dinner at A-Camp, a week-long 400 person queer adult summer camp experience. Autostraddle’s CEO and editor in chief, Riese Bernard, texted me one day two years ago and said, We should have Shabbat at A-Camp. We couldn’t believe we hadn’t thought about it before. Being a queer Jewish adult looking for community that encompasses all the facets of your identity can be a lonely experience. Shabbat is intrinsically a holiday that allows for connection, but many queer Jewish adults don’t know how to go about finding the people they would like to celebrate Shabbat with, or perhaps have never celebrated before and want to start but don’t know how. Our first A-Camp Shabbat was such a success that one of our campers, the communications director for OneTable, asked if we could collaborate together if we ever did it again. So for our second A-Camp Shabbat, that’s exactly what we did!

OneTable, whose tagline is “A New Way to Friday,” is an incredible organization that provides tangible resources to Jewish young adults looking to build community. Their belief is that Shabbat can change the world, and they aim to empower people who don’t yet have a consistent Shabbat dinner practice to build one that feels authentic, sustainable, and valuable. The non-profit’s goal is to help Jewish young adults – ages 21-39 – create community through Shabbat dinners.

One of my favorite things about Shabbat at A-Camp is that we strongly believe everyone should come with what they know, and if what they know is nothing, that’s okay. A huge thing that keeps people away from developing or strengthening their ties to religion is a fear of not knowing what to do, or feeling as though they are not “enough” in their religion. I loved working with OneTable this year because their approach matches ours when it comes to who can celebrate Shabbat and how we can all do so. OneTable’s approach to Shabbat dinner is non-prescriptive, and the organization encourages participants to envision what they want their gathering to look like, then works with them to provide the support needed to make the dream a reality.

“We envision a whole generation of millennials slowing down, joining together, unplugging from the week, creating intention in their lives, and building meaningful communities,” OneTable’s website proclaims, and I can say with certainty that as we said prayers, ate challah, sang songs, laughed, joked, and simply enjoyed being in the presence of more than 50 queer Jewish people all at once, we were certainly building meaningful community. Al Rosenberg, former A-Camper and director of strategy and communications at OneTable, described the goal of the company like this: “[We want] to meet people where they are. We believe in the healing powers of community, intention, and good food. Judaism offers these ancient rituals that we hope to make accessible to all of those who want to make them their own.”

“I liked Shabbat at camp because I was closeted the last time I got to participate in Judaism like this and it was very emotional to be able to do it all again with a family of queers,” said Gaby Dunn, NYT best-selling author and noted bisexual millennial. “Almost like rewriting the memories.” Autostraddle staff writer Drew Gregory agreed: “Since coming out I’ve been to a lot of Jewish family dinners,” she said. “And while Manishevitz is a great cure for micro-aggressions, there’s something really special about leaving those behind for a Jewish family dinner with my queer family. Here’s to taking our traditions and making them our own!”

If you are a Jewish young adult (ages 21-39) and you’re inspired to create your own Shabbat practice in your home community, OneTable can help! For more information about the resources and support OneTable can offer you in this endeavor, go online to the hosting section of their website specifically for people interested in hosting Queer Shabbats, call their main line at 646-887-3891, or email hello@onetable.org.

46 Innovative Ways You Giant Weirdos Described Yourselves When Signing Up for A-Camp XI

Ahh, it’s that time of year again: when I make ten million index cards, spread them out all over my floor, dump fairy dust all over it and then (and then!) use magical powers to sort them into neat stacks representing where y’all will be laying your heads in … a very soon amount of time. This process occurred last weekend, when my dear friend / A-Camp human Courtney flew all the way to Los Angeles on an airplane and we had a nice time talking about how cool you all are and where you should sleep and shower. Also though there’s a showerhouse so you don’t have to shower in your cabin. You do you!

So here, pulled mercilessly out of context, I present excerpts from the personality descriptions of over 350 (!!!) campers, all of whom I cannot wait to meet or see again on June 5th!

1. Dirtbag mommi looking for trouble

2. I’ve been wearing socks with sandals for 29 years

3. I’m terrified of candles

4. Sometimes I don’t realize how loud I’m talking and then I get embarrassed

5. I’m a queer trans weirdo with lots of snakes that broke her arm last year

6. Almost 30 and wow did I really use to queer oil wrestle half naked? When did I start wearing dress shirts?

7. I’m still sad about Callie and Arizona

8. Xena could get it.

9. One time a girl kissed me and I blurted out “don’t die” and then cried.

10. I love to read and cook and explore Greece in 480 BCE.

11. I dream of someday starting a friend-commune in a castle in Scotland while writing the lesbian historical romance novels that the world needs now.

12. Talk dirty to me while quoting Antonin Artaud and discussing contemporary meme theory.

13. I would describe myself like Diane Nyugen from Bojack Horseman mixed with a very enthusiastic drag race lover.

14. I admire Mary Poppins because I also desire to be beloved for my weirdness, rudeness, timeless style, and unlimited power.

15. Lana Condor in Deadly Class on the outside, Lana Condor in To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before on the inside.

16. Librarian in the streets, person who actually wants a good night’s sleep in the sheets

17. My best friends describe my personality as ‘Hayley Kiyoko meets Eeyore’.

18. Cabinmates have described me as an Agreeable Biscuit-Type, a Femme Flower Child Uncle Situation, and a Goddamn Sea Prince, among literally 82 other things, I have a list.

19. If I was a drink, I’d be bagel store coffee: better in the morning, culturally Jewish, a lil dull, a lil sweet, always reliable.

20. Lamb Chop Sun/ Pepper Ann Moon/ Daria Rising.

21. Abby sun / Therese moon / Carol rising

22. Hufflepuff with a Ravenclaw rising.

23. Ideally I’d have Rhea Butcher’s hair and Shawn Mendes’ biceps

24. Wednesday Addams/Miss Honey personality (closet goth kindergarten teacher)

25. Camp counselor vibes are like 78% of my personality.

26. I’m the greatest bottom who ever lived.

27. I love my Xbox almost as much as my flogger

28. Terrible dancer- will dance anyway.
Terrible singer- 100% will sing anyway.

29. Please point me towards the pool, where I will have a standing daily appointment to nap.

30. I cant wait to drink an obnoxious amount of orange juice with my fellow Sea Serpents.

31. I try to dress like a queer fat babe Dean Winchester.

32. Wondering if Hey Dude! x The Craft/MTV Sprang Break ‘98 is an appropriate fashion reference point for my A-Camp attire… the fact that I’ve been thinking about it…

33. I’m your dad-friend. It’s basically the same as your mom-friend, but I don’t carry a purse, my jokes are terrible, and I really just recycle the same three outfits

34. I bought my 1st pair of fuzzy boots this week & they changed my life

35. I think I got sorted in to Slytherin because I’m attracted to villains

36. I liked NASA before they were cool again!

37. Letting loose: I am a likable lionhearted levelheaded lesbian legislative librarian litigant laughing at a lamentably literally alliterative life.

38. Hark! A tall and shaven-headed presence resembling an angry baby, drinking iced coffee that will necessitate a lie-down.

39. I can be described by the inspirational phrase, “It’s trash CAN, not trash CAN’T.”

40. I’ll bring my bat detector to camp!

41. I once was told I was “not nerdy enough” for a girl and was deeply offended by this.

42. A thing that always disappoints me: when someone else is subbing in for Rachel Maddow.

43. Short af with a personality larger than the menu at the Cheesecake Factory.

44. Some year I’ll write something clever enough here to make onto one your A-Camp Autostraddle lists

45. If I ever actually write anything useful here, I’ve been replaced by a cyborg and shouldn’t be allowed on site

46. Born and raised in the Bahamas so I’ve got that laid back island vibe going on most of the time. Except when I’m flailing excitedly over fictional lesbians or letting “Taylor Swift is announcing her coming out” consume my life. Hope this helps!

It’s A-Camp 2019 Campership Time: Apply For One, Donate Some Money

Sometimes you wanna go to A-Camp but you just can’t afford it, and sometimes you don’t really want to go to A-Camp but totally could afford it, and if we mash both of those types of people together, we create a symbiotic relationship known as “the campership.” Although we have lots of good ideas around here, this particular idea just-so-happens to be yours.

Our campership program has sent around 70 people to camp on full or partial camperships, including 18 campers last year alone!

This session is gonna be particularly kickass: we’re at a brand-new location in Ojai, California, and our talent line-up includes Roxane Gay, Be Steadwell, Nia & Ness, Gaby Dunn and Brittani Nichols. There’s a beautiful pool and it’s gonna be so great!

This year we have two options for donating and applying to the campership fund:

1. The typical way — contributing to the A-Camp Campership fund via Paypal and applying via our website. Applications are open to anybody, although we do prioritize first-time campers, people of color and trans women.
2. The A-Camp Arts & Resistance Fund, a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. If you go this route, your donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law, and you will be supporting camperships specifically for QTPOC. You can read more about that here and you can donate here.

Now, let’s hear from some of the wonderful human beings who were able to attend A-Camp X in Ojai BECAUSE OF YOU. If you’d like to read further testimonials that’d tug at your heartstrings, you can do so here: Spring 2017, Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013 and Fall 2012.

We also hope to have some special camperships and sponsored camperships announced in the coming weeks!

Amanda, 29. Chicago, IL.

A-camp feels like it was 5 years ago… So much has changed this past year.

I was super thankful that the staff let me host a couple of archery clinics. Being able to share something I love doing with my community was great. (Sorry I didn’t have left handed bows!)

This was my second A-Camp, my first was the Spring of 2013. I didn’t know what to expect this time around. But I wasn’t disappointed and felt like I belonged there. With the added spaces for QTPOC, I could connect more deeply within my community. It also allowed me to work on writing and expressing myself in a way that I was not able to before. Plus being in the greatest Cabin with a more diverse staff made the experience warm.

Also… The Kitchen staff was bomb as hell!

Best part of A-Camp: Lex! Partners in crime, Thank you for being you!

Michelle, 37. Los Angeles, CA.

Camp! Oh my goodness, where do I even begin?

Like, okay, I blend into the cishet world pretty seamlessly and for the most part, this is a good thing. Girls like me don’t have the highest life expectancy. But even though I have this whole Deep Stealth Thing down to a science, I live with a persistent fear of discovery. What if people knew what I was? What would they think? What would they say?

For five magical days, I jettisoned all that bullshit. I didn’t just let my hair down — I dispensed with it completely. I didn’t have to “femme it up” so much. And most importantly, I could be my most honest self, without reservations or apologies. So basically, I was living my best life.

I won’t lie, I had some serious reservations going into it. I hadn’t been to camp before. I didn’t know anyone else who was going, and as a socially anxious potato, this sent me into a death spiral of worry. Would I like them? Would they like me? Am I even queer enough for all this rainbow madness? This fear persisted right until the moment I stepped into my cabin for the first time. The warm welcome I received put me at ease right away. Yep, I was definitely among my people! And within minutes of meeting said people, I knew they’d be friends for life.

I was definitely among my people! And within minutes of meeting said people, I knew they’d be friends for life.

Then there’s the setting. Ojai is glorious. Cell reception is middling to nonexistent, but that’s a feature, not a bug. My advice to new campers? Take a deep breath of fresh mountain air. Hike up the hill to the treehouse. Stargaze with a special someone. Eat all the things, including an extensive selection of berries. Be there, in the moment, with your fellow queers. Bask in their glory!

The only bummer is that it ends. But that’s okay! Camp leaves an indelible mark, one that persists until the next camp and beyond. Life is so much better knowing you’re not the only wonderful weirdo out there.

If you’re on the fence, let me make this easy for you: GO! Seriously, A-Camp will change your life. It might save your life too.

Linda, 24. Orlando, Florida.

I was never the cool kid. I’ve always been the awkward, nerdy, shy, brown, ugly duckling queer girl — but never the cool kid — until I went to A-Camp.

A-Camp was the first place where I’ve ever felt accepted and embraced wholeheartedly for who I am. The first night when my cabin mates and I introduced ourselves to each other, I shared the fact that I have emetophobia: “So, I’m afraid of throwing up or being around people when they are.” I was so nervous and embarrassed, but everyone looked at me with eyes of compassion and understanding, and together, with the help of my wonderful counselors, Audrey and Valerie, we devised a plan for what to do to make sure I was okay if someone else had to hurl. From the get-go, I felt so cared for and loved.

There were a bunch of cool workshops during the day, and my favorite was “Bad Breakup Art.” I made a poster that read “FUCK U 2 CISHET WHITE MEN.” At the end of the workshop, I explained to everyone that my piece was dedicated to my ex-boyfriend: “I don’t hate him… but I kind of hate him.” Everyone laughed with me — including Brittani Nichols. Yes, I made Brittani Nichols laugh!

For the first time ever, I felt like the cool kid. Everyone loved my art, and Kristin Russo even posted a picture of it on Twitter. (Apparently, she posted it on Instagram as well, but it got taken down. Fuck you, too, Instagram!)

At A-Camp, I felt so cool and appreciated and beautiful and important — something I’d never felt before.

At camp, I found my chosen family. In my cabin, I met two amazing humans who I came to realize were my long lost soul sister and my best friend for life. My soul sister and I were serendipitously bunkmates, and by the second day or so, we realized that we were able to communicate with each other telepathically. Months later, she continues to offer me guidance and support, and I’m so grateful for her. And my BFFL, my cabin’s kween extrovert, helped to bring me out of my shell. We laughed and laughed, and she showed me that the simple everyday joys are what make life worth living. Although we live in two separate countries, she’s still the first person I text whenever I have news to share. In the span of hours, it feels like it has only been mere minutes whenever we talk.

At A-Camp, I felt so cool and appreciated and beautiful and important — something I’d never felt before. My fellow queers complimented my crazy outfits and mediocre makeup. We laughed and hugged and sometimes kissed. My newfound soul family loved me so hard that I realized I ought to love myself back. My experience at camp definitely gave me my first taste of self love, and it prompted a personal journey of mine that’s far from over.

If you’re thinking about applying for a campership, I’d advise you to take the plunge. I didn’t think I’d receive one, but I did. Having the opportunity to go to camp completely changed my life for the better. And if you have the funds, consider donating to a campership or sponsoring one. Camp is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and I can’t wait to make even more amazing memories this June in Ojai.

Lyra, 30. Camden, New Jersey.

In my 30 odd years of being on this planet, I’ve never been surrounded by a community like the one I encountered at Autostraddle’s A-Camp. From the very first moment that I met my fellow campers at LAX, I could feel the acceptance. This group of fabulous queer people acted as a community that is present, understanding, and free from so many of the limitations and fears that take a hold of LGBT people when they are in the public sphere. A-Camp and everyone that attended this glorious and inclusive event, made me feel safe. Safe to be me. Safe to be weird. Safe to be gay. And safe to explore every single facet of my odd personality.

A-Camp and everyone that attended this glorious and inclusive event, made me feel safe. Safe to be me. Safe to be weird. Safe to be gay. And safe to explore every single facet of my odd personality.

A-Camp also felt like a teaching moment that presented me with a wider and queerer world that I’d never encountered before. I learned the significance of pronouns. I learned more about consent and body acceptance in a handful of seminars than I have my entire life. And I saw parts of my queer community that I’d never even known could be this grand and fabulous if not for fear of what the public would do to them or think of them.

Months later, I carry A-Camp inside of me. I don’t live in a place as accepting, dynamic, and wonderful like A-Camp. So it’s really important to me that I remember everything that I learned and everything that changed inside of me because of the people I spent time with in Ojai, California. I see myself knowing that community is out there, even when it’s not easily accessible. I see myself processing, accepting, and learning more about the LGBT community in a manner I’ve never done so before. And I see myself as the best version of myself in the face of all the bigotry and hate that we still have to deal with in 2019.

So, thank you A-Camp. Thank you for making this queer Latinx woman feel accepted, understood, and not alone. It matters and I hope you now have a better understanding at why I’m so grateful for Autostraddle, A-Camp, and the wonderful people who make A-Camp camperships possible. You’re changing people for the better.

Wendy, 20. Folsom, CA.

Amid a flurry of intern and scholarship applications, during a quick Twitter break, I found a link to apply to a campership from a Mara Wilson tweet. I’d never heard of Autostraddle before, but I figured that I might as well apply. Little did I know that that it would be one of the major forces behind a healing that I didn’t know I needed.

Fast forward to a month or so before camp, and I was in the midst of what felt like a never-ending panic attack. My heart wouldn’t stop pounding. I never had any appetite. I barely slept. My student organization had an impossible deadline approaching, and somehow it had fallen upon me to be one of the major gatekeepers to completion. Every day, it was the only thing I thought about and I let so many other aspects of my life slip — my grades, my relationships, my health. All this only to eventually realize that I was a pawn and for all that hard work to come to nothing.

A-Camp gave me some time to really just take care of myself, and that experience has changed how I work now.

I wish I’d had the energy to connect more with my fellow campers, but now I realize I came to camp simply to heal, and more importantly — it was okay that I did so. From morning meditation sessions to diving lessons (thanks Mac!) to a fabulous spread of food (I ate two plates every meal), I regained a lot of strength. A-Camp gave me some time to really just take care of myself, and that experience has changed how I work now.

I’ve never been particularly in touch with my queer identity. I don’t have very many queer friends, and while my queerness isn’t something I’m necessarily ashamed of, it also isn’t something that I bring up all that often. I’ve always been fiercely independent and somewhat introverted. I want to do everything for myself, and I never want to rely on anyone else. In the competitive environments I put myself in, I’ve always felt like I have to put up a front, one that’s invincible and infallible. I think A-Camp taught me that I really am part of an incredible community of gifted individuals that are enhanced by their wonderful queer identities. At A-Camp I was able to seek help and have some hard lessons and honest conversations with cool people that are a little bit more like me than the majority of people I deal with. I feel like I’ve only just broken the surface of engaging with the queer community, but it’s already proven to be an extremely valuable experience. I couldn’t be more grateful.

Jessy, 27. Buffalo, NY.

Attending camp in May 2018 was the experience of a lifetime and one I didn’t realize I badly needed. As a broke graduate student, I never would’ve been able to attend camp without a full campership and I feel incredibly honored to have received one. I had the time of my life and met life long friends. I can’t wait to experience camp again.

CLS, 21. Los Angeles, California.

A-Camp was the one moment in 2018 where I could forget about the news and forget about how I, as a lesbian Mexican and product of immigrants, am perceived in modern America. I’d never gone camping so wow, was this a great introduction to the practice! The entire experience was unreal, from the amount of fun and strange and informative workshops to the bomb-ass food to the hill that served as a way to burn off everything I had just eaten. As a person with around 1.5 queer friends, being completely surrounded by all you beautiful people was unlike anything I’d experienced before, and it’s something I’ll never forget.

It was here that I was actually understood, and I understood others.

I met the friendliest people I had ever met and I had quite the time catching glimpses of my favorite writers from Autostraddle. Tbh it was like seeing celebrities, but well-spoken and intelligent ones. I loved how all I had to do was say “Jodie Foster” to be met with equally-smitten sighs and nods of approval. It was here that I was actually understood, and I understood others. There was a lot of effort put into this camp, a hell of a lot of effort, and man did it pay off. Thank you!

Chingy, 20-something. Los Angeles, California.

In my day to day life, I’m a very confident, boisterous femme, so people usually assume I’m comfortable in any scenario. But truly, I was terrified going into my first A-Camp. I was anxious that no one would like what an obnoxious freak I am, both for my loud thirsty tendencies and for the things I hate about myself that I can’t hide. I was concerned I wouldn’t “win” at camp, which to me meant taking advantage of every activity & pushing myself out of my comfort zone. I was stressed that it might not impact me, a long-time gay who has lived in many a queer Mecca, as meaningfully as it might a baby queer or a smalltown gay. On all counts, my fears were completely unfounded.

A-Camp was an incredibly transformative experience for me. I’d known about it for years and can’t recall what made me decide to go this year, but I’m so glad I did. I experienced more catharsis and joy from moment to moment than ever before. And I did win at camp. For instance: Dancing! Doing anything I’m not naturally skilled at has always petrified me, but while I was at camp, I did dance workshops every day, got down with my homies all night at Klub Deer, and did the Magic Dyke strip tease performance in only a rope harness and Lisa Frank “pasties.” And while I did cruise and live my best bottom life, I felt far more drawn towards time with friends than people I was sleeping with (which I and every other lesbian rarely do).

But most important to the experience were the people. Getting to exist and feel seen by queer women and trans folks of color meant the world to me. Seeing queers pray and do communion with coffee cake and champagne at Gay Gospel Brunch hit the softest spot in my cold gay catholic heart that I still can’t fully explain, even if I broke the sentimental moment by shouting “JESUS WAS A PARTY BOTTOM”. Almost a year later, I still talk to my cabin mates regularly and they are some of my dearest friends. I’ve told them secrets, both in and out of camp, that I’d rarely shared because I trust them so deeply. I usually eschew tenderness and insist I can’t or don’t cry, but I wept my eyes out at the staff reading and cried a lot for the rest of camp, and that was largely because of how safe my cabin mates made me feel.

A month after A-Camp ended, I wrote “Camp was beautiful and amazing and I miss it in every moment since I have come back to L.A.” And that still rings very true.

You can apply for a campership here (If you’d like to completely sponsor one camper, a full campership is $900.

You can apply for an Arts & Resistance Fund campership here.

Make a tax-deductible donation to the Arts & Resistance fund here.

Make a donation to the A-Camp Campership fund here.

If you’re a business who would like to sponsor a campership, please email sarah [at] autostraddle [dot] com.

Introducing Camp Autostraddle XI

Hello, beautiful humans who are now officially invited to sign the f*ck up for our eleventh A-Camp event in beautiful Ojai, California!

After four years and seven A-Camps at Alpine Meadows in the San Bernardino Mountains and two A-Camps in Wisconsin, we went back to the Southern California coast last year and boi are we glad we did. From the four varieties of berries served at breakfast to the sprawling swimming pool and the orange grove providing us all with serious Photo Backdrop Game, A-Camp X was undoubtedly our best camp yet.

So we’re keeping the dream alive this year.

What Is A-Camp?

A-Camp, an idea I had in the middle of the night about eight years ago, is a manifestation of this website in three entire dimensions, mixed with a dash of old-fashioned summer camp goodness and an infusion of conference-style programming. A-Camp is workshops, panels, classes, meet-ups, discussion groups, crafts, activities and performances designed to inspire, educate, entertain, build community, and make you laugh. It’s a chance to support Autostraddle, be kids again, and make new friends forever — and it’s been wildly successful, with the waitlists to prove it. We’ve held spectacular A-Camps in April 2012, September 2012, May 2013, October 2013, May 2014, June 2015, June 2016, October 2016, May 2017 and May 2018.

A-Camp has created much-needed community and safe space for LGBTQ women, non-binary and other trans folks from all over the world. It is a queermonormative refuge from the burning hellfire of our current political climate. It’s a space to let go and have fun, while also strengthening our commitment to resistance and community care.

When

7:00 PM June 5th – 11:00 AM June 10th

On June 5th, we’ll be running shuttles from LAX to the campsite from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM. Registration will open at 4pm on the 5th, dinner will run from 7-8 and opening ceremonies commence at 9pm. On June 10th, shuttles will leave camp for LAX at 10:30 AM, and we ask all campers to hit the road by 11 AM.

Where

Just 90 minutes from Los Angeles and right outside of Ventura, Ojai is a “charmingly hip wine mom of a town” and a popular weekend escape located at the foot of the Topatopa Mountains. Our campsite is a secluded retreat nestled into the Ojai hills, offering fresh mountain air, a peaceful wooded setting, and so much more: we’ve got two swimming pools with waterslides, basketball and tennis courts, softball fields, a gorgeous chapel, two libraries, two teaching kitchens, three arts & crafts rooms, a secluded treehouse and meditation platform, an adventure course, climbing wall, outdoor amphitheaters, an orange grove, a rec lounge with pool and ping-pong, and multiple lodging options to ensure everybody is comfortable, happy, and ready to have SO MUCH FUN.

Who?

You weirdos! At past A-Camps, half our campers have been over 25 and half under 25, and they’ve come from all over the world. Usually 50% of our campers are new and 50% are returning. Although initially created as a space specifically for lesbian, bisexual and queer women (cis and trans, of course!), A-Camp now also welcomes non-binary people and trans men.

Also: Us! We are headed up by A-Camp Directors Marni Kellison & Kristin Russo, and in order to give you the broadest range of programming possible, we’ve got a staff-to-camper ratio of about 1:6, with volunteer staff members mostly drawn from Autostraddle the website.

Diversity & Inclusion

In order to best serve the needs of our diverse community, we also have five leadership positions addressing specific camper populations. Abeni Jones is our C.U.T.I.E. (Consultant/Coordinator Undertaking Trans Inclusion & Experiences), and Lex and Alyssa are our Accessibility Co-Coordiantors.

The QTPOC Speakeasy, headed up by Mackenzie McDade and Carmen Phillips and built up by all our QTPOC staff, celebrates the diversity of our group with frequent activities and community spaces specifically for QTPOC campers. We also prioritize people of color (as well as trans women) for Camperships. In 2016, we launched the Arts & Resistance Fund through Fractured Atlas (a non-profit technology company that allows non-commercial art-related projects like ours to be supported through grants and tax-deductible donations without having to maintain a 501(c)(3) status), a project exclusively dedicated to providing camperships to queer artists of color.

We’ll also have designated go-to staffers for Sober campers and Newbies.

How Much?

Only $795 Total or $159/night!

• 3 healthy meals/day and snacks (with options for vegans, vegetarians, gluten-frees, and so forth)
• 5 nights accommodation in cabins sleeping 12-19 people
• 100+ programming options: crafts, panels, workshops & adventures
• A dedicated staff with a staff to camper ratio of 1:6
• 5 Nights of Stellar Entertainment
• Kickass swag bag with your A-Camp tee and other cool goodies from indie and queer businesses.

This site is significantly more expensive than our previous sites, and the cost has gone up since last year as well —if we adjusted the cost proportionately, this camp would cost $1,604 per person. We are doing our best to keep costs low so that camp is as accessible as possible to a diverse array of campers, but the truth is that last year we profited literally $5 per early-bird-tuition camper — yes, that’s right, I said FIVE DOLLARS PROFIT PER CAMPER — and the entire website was in tumult for the rest of the year as a result.

If you’re able to pay a little more, then please donate to our campership fund.

Accommodations

We have two options for accommodations at our new site:

The standard camp experience! Cabins sleep 15-20 people each, with 2-4 private bathrooms and showers inside each cabin, and are all within walking distance of a freshly renovated bathhouse with extra showers should you require them. There’s lots of storage and all cabins are located near each other and the main camp area.

The Campus Inn or The Odyssey Hotel: The Campus Inn has 14 hotel-style rooms on two floors, and The Odyssey Hotel has 16 hotel-style rooms on two floors. Each furnished room sleeps one or two people each and has a large private bathroom with tub/shower. Hotel/Inn guests can also enjoy a shared common area with couches and tables, as well as refrigerators for the exclusive use of guests. We’re still sorting out if it’s possible to also provide microwaves and toasters. Also, some special amenities/goodies TBD.

Your “homeroom” will be the residents of your inn/hotel, and you’ll have assigned “advisors” just like they’ve got in the bunks!

A shared room (with one roommate) is $975 per person, and a private room is $1595 (for a twin bed) or $1695 (for a queen bed). (There are only two queen bed rooms and we are reserving them for solo campers.)

Daytime Programming

You’ll have full access to a variety of activities, workshops, panels, sports, discussion groups, classes and arts & crafts, offering a variety of tones to set for your week.

Activities offered at previous A-Camps include…

Arts & Crafts: Itty-Bitty Avocado Jewelry * Let’s Draw Wakanda: DIY QTPOC Comics * Leatherworking 101 * Dapper Collar Pins * Kinky Cross-Stitch * Coptic Bookbinding * DIY Oracle Decks * Chingona Chats and Crafts: Sacred Queer Heart Shrines * Look After Yourself: Self-Portraits * Nerdcraft * Personalized Frosted Glassware * Draw Me Like One Of Your French Girls *  Make A Thing: Merit Badges * Finger Knittin’ Good * Pit Stop: DIY Deodorant * Sexing the Collaging Cherry

Workshops: Bloody Hell V: Once More With Bleeding * Shibari Rope Bondage * How to Take Care of Each Other: Community Care in Times of Crisis * YO! A-Camp Raps! * Expanding Your Erotic Imagination * Financial Planning 101 * From Story to Screen with Jen Richards * Queer Astrology 101 * Lez Talk About Sex(ual Health) * Swagger 101 * Casual Sext * Feminist Improv Troupe * Gay Your Makeup * Bodi Posi Party

Food & Drink Classes: String Cheese & Boxed Wine Tasting * Great Grilled Cheese Bake-Off * Bitches Brew * Femme Brûlée * Taco Tuesday * Homemade Oreos 

Sports, Games, Etc: Dana Fairbanks Memorial Tennis Tournament * Masculine-of-Center Stage * A-Campella * Dark Trivia * So You Think You Can’t Dance * Spice Girls Aerobics * Basketball Wives * Chair-Dancing * Self Defense 101 * Queerleading * Rock Yoga * Beyonce’s Dance Grooves * Canoeing * Pop Science Trivia * Mindfulness & Meditation * Haus of Vogue * Hogwarts Trivia

Discussion Groups, Panels & Presentations: Ally Ally Oxen Free: Making Queer Spaces Better for Trans Women * Queering Masculinity * Three Cheers for Sober Queers! * Hoes Before Bros: Sex Worker Kiki * Gaming, Identity and Community * Queer People of Color Politicking & Zine-Making * Mixed-Race/Biracial/Multi-Racial Discussion Group * Profesh Pantsuit Power Hour * Maybe Gayby: Baby Making and Family Creation Discussion* Tardy for the Party: A Coming Out Later In Life Discussion Group * Mountaintop Bisexual Discussion Group and Hummus Appreciation Society * Real Talk: Your Relationship Doesn’t Have To Suck

Nighttime Entertainment

Autostraddle After Dark is where our Special Guests shine most brightly, and where you get a chance to dance your ass of in a ridiculous costume. Past A-Camp After Dark activities have included stand-up comedy from Cameron Esposito, Deanne Smith, Brittani Nichols, Gaby Dunn, El Sanchez and Rhea Butcher; sexy game shows hosted by Julie Goldman and Brandy Howard; the legendary Staff Reading; Talent Shows; Variety Nights hosted by Hannah Hart and Jasika Nicole and concerts featuring musicians including Mary Lambert, Julia Nunes, Jenny Owen Youngs, Be Steadwell, Mal Blum, Bell’s Roar, Haviland Stillwell and Somer Bingham.

The last night always brings a kickass themed dance party and a performance from the legendary A-Camp Family Band, with lots of special guests (last camp, we had Mara Wilson doing “Dancing On My Own” and it was EPIC.)

Special Guests 

This is who we’ve got on board so far!

Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay’s writing appears in Best American Nonrequired Reading 2018, Best American Mystery Stories 2014, Best American Short Stories 2012, Best Sex Writing 2012, Harper’s Bazaar, A Public Space, McSweeney’s, Tin House, Oxford American, American Short Fiction, Virginia Quarterly Review, and many others. She is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times. She is the author of the books Ayiti, An Untamed State, the New York Times bestselling Bad Feminist, the nationally bestselling Difficult Women and New York Times bestselling Hunger: A Memoir of My Body. She is also the author of World of Wakanda for Marvel and the editor of Best American Short Stories 2018. She is currently at work on film and television projects, a book of writing advice, an essay collection about television and culture, and a YA novel entitled The Year I Learned Everything. In 2018, she won a Guggenheim fellowship.

Be Steadwell

Gaby Dunn

Gaby Dunn is a New York Times Best Selling author, podcaster, writer, actress, and LGBTQ activist living in Los Angeles. Her book Bad With Money came out Jan 1. Please get it.

Brittani Nichols

Camperships & Tuition Discounts

• Your generosity has sent over 70 deserving humans to A-Camp over the past six years and you’ll have the chance to make dreams come true again this year by donating to the campership fund! We take donations of all sizes, and to keep things simple, we’re pricing full camperships at $900 each. This covers tuition, shuttles, and linens.
• You can apply for camperships here. All campership applications must be in by February 20th, but we’ll be assessing applications on a rolling basis up until the 20th, so get yours in as soon as possible and you may hear back from us about an opportunity sooner!
• We also recognize that as A-Camp becomes more expensive it becomes harder to maintain the diversity we require for a truly successful A-Camp. We encourage campership applicants who are POC and/or trans women, and will have some offers for those groups specifically.

+ If you cannot attend camp without a full Campership, do not register for camp! We reserve spaces for Campershippers so you don’t need to snag one in case you become a Campershipper — that’s been taken care of. If you sign up and then end up getting a full campership, you will not be refunded the $75 registration fee.

+ If you have a business who’d like to sponsor a campership, get in touch with sarah [at] autostraddle.com. Previous sponsors have included Planned Parenthood, Glad Rags, TomboyX, Catalyst Wedding Co, Tomboy Toes, OUT Play, Sharpe Suiting, Kipper Clothiers, Scout’s Honor, Kreuzbach10, OK Cupid and Hannah Hart.

+ If you’re a person who’d like to sponsor a campership for a specific demographic, get in touch with cool [at] autostraddle [dot] com. In the past, we’ve had individuals donate camperships specifically for groups including trans women, queer people of color who need help with travel costs, Mexican/Mexican-Americans, people from small towns, and campers from overseas who need help with travel costs.

+ One time Hannah Hart donated a full campership with travel and it was so rad! If you’re a very financially comfortable famous person — please do consider it!

Okay, I’m in. What now?

If you wanna get on the saddle and trot on over to A-Camp with us this fall, just head over to the registration form where, for the low low price of a $75 non-refundable non-transferable deposit, you can snag your spot. Please read the instructions carefully. You are not going to lose your spot while reading the instructions. Please read the instructions even if nothing seems confusing. Just read them for fun!

You’ll also have to add tuition to your cart during the registration process, but you’re not required to pay in full until April 15th. You can make partial payments up until that point. Please be aware that your entire remaining balance will be charged to your chosen payment method on April 15th.

For more information about airport shuttles, refund policies and other money-or-travel related questions, please read our FAQ here.

If you need to cancel, you can just log back in to the registration interface and cancel! QUESTIONS ABOUT REGISTRATION OR TRAVEL GO TO cool@autostraddle.com. (“COOL” stands for “Coordinator of Logistics”) Please keep in mind that our COOL has a full-time job on top of her work for camp, and allow 24 hours to hear back.

For More Information

On our A-Camp website, you’ll find our FAQ, the staff and talent we’ve got on board so far and a link to register the hell out of your unit. For more information about what goes on at A-Camp, you can check out our recaps from past camps and testimonies from campers about the joy of the experience. (We had to stop doing Recamps in 2016 because of the time it took, but previous camps should still give you a good idea!) Ultimately, A-Camp is whatever you make of it: every camper writes their own story. Come with your heart wide open and do whatever you want.

What are you waiting for?

Sign up now!

Please note that this is our first time using the Regfox interface and there are bound to be a bevy of unexpected issues today!

A-Camp 2018, We Hold You In Our Hearts: The Autostraddle Roundtable

In May, hundreds of queers descended upon Ojai, California for a week of workshops, pool parties, crafting, yoga, photography, field day games, social justice inspiration, dancing, lounging, trivia, smooching, raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and entertainment and education by Mary Lambert, Be Steadwell, Brittani Nichols, Gaby Dunn, Jen Richards, Mara Wilson, Mal Blum, and Kim Katrin Milan. It was mostly sunny the whole time, and the entire camp vibe was acceptance, restoration, and love. It’s been a brutal year; we needed this space in 2018 more than ever.

In this week’s Monday Roundtable, our camp staff shares some of their favorite experiences from A-Camp X. If you were there, we miss you already. If you weren’t, we hope to see you next summer!

Sarah Sarwar

CAMP! I’m so sad it’s over and can’t believe I have to wait a whole other 11 months before I get to see everyone’s beautiful faces again. This experience is truly unmatchable and can’t be reproduced. It’s one of my favorite times of year — I only wish it could be twice a year, or maybe just forever. I wish I could see people feeling affirmed in their identities, bodies, and hearts every single day — the constant transformation that happens all around me is super inspiring and breathtaking. I love being witness to it, and I love the way camp changes me too.

I DANCED SO MUCH! I was lucky enough to take all the dance classes — Line Dancing and Dance Team with Kaylah and Magic Dyke with Jen. WOW. I loved feeling so in tune and connected to my body and the way it moves! It was also really cool to see so many people trying dance (some for the first time) and feeling themselves. There was this one move Jen taught us… whew! I mean — have you ever seen fifty babes slink towards you and every single one of them looks incredible and powerfully sexy? That happened to me. I am not mad about it.

Sexing the Collaging Cherry was a workshop where people made insanely good sexy collages and also listened to Riese read an erotic fan fiction I wrote about Catherine Zeta-Jones when I was 15. Being mortified in front of a room of 30 people was such an uplifting and hilarious experience! Because of the content of the story we held the workshop in a closed space. What we didn’t know was that the mic Riese was using was somehow broadcasting my erotica across the entire lawn outside. Whoops!

Can we take a second to talk about these grounds? Hello to the crystal blue pool parties, where all sorts of queer babes hung out like literal angels that fell from a celestial galaxy wearing (or not wearing) all the beautiful things that make them feel good — to the TWO waterslides — one that gently deposited you (slow hole) or ejected you so fast it made you shriek (fast hole). The fucking mountains, which were a gorgeous backdrop to an absolutely stunning grassy knoll, full of lounging and strolling beauties with smiling and shining faces! LISTEN PEOPLE TALK ABOUT BELIEVING IN HEAVEN BUT ACTUALLY I THINK WE FOUND IT IT’S A-CAMP AND I WANT TO BE BACK THERE RIGHT NOW.

A-Camp, as always, was transformative. I love that even though camp is exciting, energetic and wildly fun it’s also an opportunity to shed my skin to uncover the emergent and beautiful parts of me. I can’t wait until next year!

Archie Bongiovani

My fav part of camp is always The Outsiders. They take such good care of each other and are always pushing and encouraging themselves to get outta their comfort zones. Plus they all look hot in jean vests. I’m so blessed to get to know them in all their collective weirdness a little better each year.

I also enjoyed slippin’ a nip and dancing at The Under The Sea Dance.

Valerie Anne

A-Camp X was more wonderful than I could have hoped. I had been to a few camps as a camper before, but this year was my first year as staff. I was almost as nervous as I was my very first time at Camp — not quite as nervous, because this time around I knew more people, but a similar kind of nervous in that I really didn’t know what to expect. So many of the people of staff had been doing it for so long, I was afraid I wouldn’t fit in. And I would be co-leading a cabin of campers! What if they hated me? What if I didn’t know how to help them make the most of this amazing experience? What if I accidentally treated these adult humans too much like children even though they were not that much younger than me just because I was used to working with children?

And I’ll be honest, starting from when I landed at the airport and shuttled off to pre-camp, I was a literal ball of anxiety. I would be standing there with these people I’ve admired for years and I felt like I was trapped outside my body. I kept being like SAY SOMETHING, VALERIE, but my body just stood there silently, watching them in wide-eyed wonderment. Luckily they were all extremely kind and welcoming and I had some great conversations about all kinds of things, with everyone from Heather, who I had been close with for years, to Mary Freaking Lambert (who is sunshine personified). And even when I didn’t speak, folks didn’t seem to mind me being there anyway.

And my campers! The first day I was so nervous because THEY were so nervous and they were so quiet and I was afraid they would stay quiet and never talk to each other. But I crashed a lot of their meals over the week and watched their bonds grow and their friendships blossom and by the last night they had a special hand symbol to represent Atlantis and they had scheduled Cabin Feelings sharing circle; it was very special and adorable and sweet. Watching that happen was one of the most magical things I’ve ever witnessed. Also they’re still being super cute in their Facebook group and I love them forever and I couldn’t have asked for a better co-parent than Audrey.

I also really liked being support staff?? I know that sounds weird, but I love helping, and I love tasks. I loved decorating my campers’ name tags, I loved helping workshops get set up and going on errands for people. I loved working the Canteen even though I never had the right change for anyone. I even loved making balloon bubbles for Under the Sea Day with Stef and Austen even though all of our best laid plans fell through our hands, got tangled together and floated up to the too-high ceiling.

The evening programming was an emotional roller coaster to be sure. Mal Blum and Mary Lambert had me crying so hard I still have little half-moon marks on my arm from where I was digging my fingernails in trying to keep the emotions from coming out in a literal wail. Gaby Dunn and Brittany Nichols were SO hilarious. Be Steadwell ruined my life in a good way. And the A-Camp Family Band was so fun, as always; I’ll never be able to get the memory of Stef Schwartz singing “don’t tell your mother” out of my head and I’m more than okay with that. Also the team-ups and the covers and the key changes were all on point.

I ran the Autostraddle Instagram story during the week, so I spent a lot of time running from place to place taking pictures of people and things, and at first I was afraid people would think I was being creepy. But everyone was so nice and welcoming and it was so fun to be able to just be hiking up a demon hill and running into friends old and new. I live in New York City so I very rarely just ~run into people I know, let alone like, and by the end of the week, it seemed I had friends everywhere I went. Queer friends! It was a very cool, nice, fun feeling.

There were so many little things that were such specific camp-joys that it would be impossible to list them all. Sitting in the shade and watching Spice Girls aerobics, hiking up the hill and hearing the band practicing, the happy hour where everyone cheered when someone new entered the space, learning about horoscopes and Enneagram types, the Staff Reading, the talent show, hearing Heather talk about the feminist history of beer for the billionth time and still not being sick of it, the Mx. Ocean contest, the butches who got the campfire going again, getting a behind-the-scenes look at Laneia writing the newsletter, the joyful sounds of friends playing made-up games in the pool, making scallion pancakes with Cameron, finding caterpillars literally everywhere, meeting Carol the dog, losing all sense of time and place and just enjoying every moment of the magical universe we created together.

It would be impossible to pick a favorite (in fact, I refuse to) but one of the “workshops” I particularly enjoyed was Block A on the first full day of camp. We did a feminist Disney sing-a-long and it was so chill and just FUN. We were in the Fingerhut chapel singing our little hearts out and having some Feelings about the song Reflections. It was beautiful and a great way to kick off camp.

I’ll end with a picture of the dance, because I will never get over the feeling of being able to re-make the memories of my youth. I always hated dances, and in retrospect it was because I was trying to attend dances as a high-femme straight girl and I wasn’t any of that. So being able to attend a dance as just ME, whatever that means at the time, is very important to me.

Samantha Green

Dark Trivia was my favorite program! A room full of people answering questions about the horrific, grisly, and tragic events of our past was a daymare come true. Everyone had a really good time, and some campers even stayed after to discuss theories and other favorite cases. Stay Sexy, and Don’t Get Murdered!

I did a promposal and got a date for the last night dance! It was well thought out and I had a lot of help to pull it off. And it was awesome! Over dinner, I held a sign that asked if she would “Bee” part of my prom world because I love a good pun. I also played “Part of Your World” on my phone as I asked because it went with the dance theme of Enchantment Under the Sea.

Alexis Smithers

HELLO this will get messy so first workshops I loved were: Community Care with Abeni, Queer Pop Songwriting (like these people made REAL SONGS LIKE WHERE ARE THEIR ALBUMS), QTPOC activities like made my life, all the talent performances were amazing and the staff readings made me just so thankful for every person in the room. My therapist told me right before I left (I was in the middle of panicking), “You have made it this far in your life for a reason.” and like, not to speak too soon, but this is definitely one of the reasons. Okay! What made A-Camp great for me is I’ve been trying to go for years and this year I got to go and it was better than I could’ve even imagined!!! People used my pronouns and my nickname I was trying out (it fits!) and would ask before touching me and I got to use all-gender bathrooms and I’m sure that this is what my heaven looks like.

I never knew that there’s this like constant layer of fear whenever you’re around people you might find cute, but won’t know if that attraction (not just romantic, platonic too) could end dangerously. Having that fear stripped away for a few days helped me realize just how much shit I’ve been carrying and it gave me a chance to put it down and learn some new things about myself and embrace things I only thought about in secret. I laughed so much and learned to be present (because I didn’t want this opportunity to leave before I got the chance to experience it) and it even gave me the confidence to come back home and take steps to get away from my toxic ass job! It gave me strength to even admit I’m in a toxic place and it wasn’t gonna get better but I deserve to get out! Before I came here, I was just really stuck in the motions, just hoping something would come along that would help me get out of settling for less than basic human decency and that’s what camp did for me. Everyone treated me like I was worthy of love and respect and kindness and maybe even interest and to have that surrounding you on all sides for at least a week straight? is dam near magic.

I got to talk about crushes! Like I never got to in school or anywhere really! I got to like try new stuff like being more open about my autism and learning about nonbinary stuff and I got to be all of me just, being a whole person instead of a chopped up version that’s least likely to get me hurt. Also I learned that I for real am not a party person, I love getting drunk (and also learned here that maybe I don’t have a drinking problem! Maybe it was literally a result of, say it with me, my toxic work environment! because as soon as I came home I was able to drink like…….in a way that doesn’t destroy me) but the dynamics of clubbing and shit is just too overwhelming for me. Like, what are the dance moves kids even do nowadays? I danced to Say My Name and went to bed, this was a great journey in like “Know Yourself” and then act accordingly. I’m trying to be like halfway coherent but really if we could make A-Camp like just a big ass state for all of us, that’s where I’d move to YESTERDAY. I’ve had so many wonderful, smart, hilarious conversations with people that I wish I could hug or at least sit close to forever. LIKE EVERYONE IS SO KIND AND I DIDN’T BELIEVE I WAS EVER DESERVING OF ANY GOOD THING AND YOU ALL JUST KEPT GIVING ME GOOD ANYWAYS WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT THANK YOU SO MUCH I LOVE YOU ALL okay I need a nap I started crying lol

Audrey White

I feel lucky as heck to meet up with 400 weirdos once a year and build a universe out of glitter and clothespins. It always meets a need, but this year. This year!! was really something extraordinary. And it’s not just about the berries and orange juice, though my God, wow, but perhaps those things fortified us for the work and play of that week. It just felt like something clicked? So many staff members were emerging from hellacious years of all kinds of loss, and I think it made it all the more necessary for us to pour ourselves into camp. I think a lot of campers were in a similar kind of headspace. We all, more than ever, needed to be there and needed each other.

I would like to give a major shout out to my cabin for being the cutest, kindest, bravest angels imaginable and Valerie for being such a fun and cool co-leader and singing Hamilton in a closet with me. I will put glitter on your faces ANY TIME <3 <3 <3

Eternal love to the folks who caught me when I didn’t know how to ask — Austen and Alyssa and Al(aina) and Mal and Yvonne and Cee and some campers who I didn’t even know, and others who I’m forgetting (sorry!!!!) or maybe it’s just all blurring together into a pile of beauty that I hesitate to imagine I deserve and yet am so grateful to have.

Listen, a lot of stuff happened. I sang non-binary karaoke and I prayed with people who really needed to pray. I read a story about being scared to be trans because my dad is dead and then cried for a while in the back of Archie and Cameron’s Pictionary game. I wandered up and down that hill and drove the van with Carrie riding shotgun and Demi Lovato blaring. I got to see and get seen. It was very, very good.

Laura Wooley

I loved teaching macrame to a group of queers. Although no one could quite figure out square knots at first, when I changed my teaching method so that one strand was Mal Blum (who played first the night before), another was Mary Lambert (who played second), and the middle two were Tegan and Sara (who didn’t play last night), it just CLICKED.

Izzy Rotman’s figure drawing class was fantastic! She’s just a gentle teacher with really good tips. I’ve never taken a queer-normative class before and definitely never been able to chat with the models while I doodle, so I was in heaven. Not to mention: one of the models told her that I really captured the essence of her boobs.

Laneia Jones

How is Ojai so perfect? Just, what sorcery is this. From the second we stepped off the bus (and into Sarah Sarwar’s open arms) I felt like I could breathe, you know? Like the sky was both bigger and closer to me and the trees were giving me space and the grass THE GRASS (we don’t have a lot of grass in Phoenix!) was like, “Hey, how’s it going? You doing alright?” And reader, I was. I was doing alright. The vibe of this campground is the opposite of playing the floor is lava.

Then we filled the grounds with so many queer people who expanded out into it and we made a bunch of tiny little moments and a lot of powerful big moments and we took up that space. I mean, I need you to really wrap your head around five days of 400 queer people from all over, taking up space at the same time, together, in 2018. A-Camp is always a kind of magic, but this year was nuts. I’m usually terrified of being myself and/or having a body in public, but this particular camp got its message across quickly: It’ll Be OK. Like, be bold and mighty forces/queers will come to your aid etc. And they did! And not just for me, I’m talking about seeing this energy play out for other people in real time and just remembering again and again what unmitigated love looks like, I guess?

I loved helping Austen with their whiskey tasting workshop. Riese and I were recruited to help pour and it was the first time I’d had the chance to experience the program from start to finish. It was fun and informative, and then Austen closed it out by talking about being an active participant in tradition as a queer person, and this one line about drinking rainwater from several years ago, and I cried on the fucking spot because they were right.

A handful of staff stays behind to do inventory and put things in order for next year. Some people were packing and I had a minute to myself in the lounge area of our building when I heard this music come on — I think it was Hayley Kiyoko? — and then Abeni was singing along, just packing up her things and being a person in Ojai who hadn’t left yet. I swear I’ve never felt so tender toward the entire world as I did in that moment. I can’t even articulate why! It was the end of a week where we’d all tried so hard to be our best and to help each other and sometimes I get these moments where I remember that we were all just kids not very long ago, and if someone had told us we’d be doing this with our lives one day, we wouldn’t have believed it. Maybe Riese would’ve. She’s wild.

My biggest regret is not making it to any of the pool parties, because I was so excited to be myself and have a body in public and not feel weird being half-naked, but NEXT YEAR.

Abeni Jones

The number one thing was seeing camp friends that I hadn’t seen since last year! It was like no time had passed, but also, a bunch of time had passed, and everyone was glowed up and doing really dope shit in the world and I love camp for that reason: meeting really awesome inspiring people!

Also: Meeting Mary Lambert and Jen Richards was dope, and the music in general was excellent this year, doing my workshop and the panels I was on were dope, the arts & crafts workshops I attended were dope and the camp site this year was dope! Can’t wait for A-Camp next year!

Austen Osworth

Archie and I did a brand new workshop this time around called Expanding Your Erotic Imagination on their actual birthday, and let me tell you. I learned so much about sex from Archie. Go listen to their podcast, go read their words. You too will become this amazing, conscientious person regarding bodies, both yours and others. It was so nice to create community with Archie on their birthday; so incredibly giving and intelligent and wise. Ugh, I love them so much.

Once again, my favorite workshop was the whiskey tasting. This time around, Alex Vega WASN’T going to be coming at all, and at the last minute, she could attend. As a result, I picked the whole lineup myself—usually, Alex drives the selection (and I’ve found some of my favorite whiskeys because SHE IS BRILLIANT AT IT). I was so excited to step up and share my favorite drams with my favorite queers, so this time around, the tasting was entirely made up of Islay Scotch. There are eight distilleries on Islay, an island off the coast of Scotland. We tasted four of them, and of those, I’d actually been to three. So I got to share a lot of what I learned about the distilling process and the importance of place in taste. I love partaking in this hobby with queer folks because this (and many other forms of luxury that the masculinity fairy touched with his masculinity wand to deem it acceptably masculine) is dominated by straight, white, cis men. Pushing folks to be creative in the way they describe what they’re tasting in spaces that allow for wild abandon without a single “well actually” in earshot? Love it. It’s the goddamn best. Plus I got to share these drams with Vega, who is responsible for a lot of my whiskey taste. It just felt…nice. It felt nice to do.

But probably most importantly, this was my first Camp identifying as trans, and going by my name. I knew it was going to be a big deal for me; I didn’t realize how much. In my personal life, coming out has been really difficult. I haven’t gotten the support or positivity I would have expected, even and especially from those closest to me. Even and especially from queers. My Camp family has always had my back, though, so I was excited. But nervous too. It turned out that seeing my Camp family, specifically my trans family, has entirely changed my life. I will measure my transition in BC and AD: Before Camp and After Departure. Sitting in a circle with Audrey, Cee and Eli, processing ish—I will never be the same. Helping to organize the non-binary feelings fire, a place where I wasn’t the only nonbinary trans person there? I have never been so at home. My trans friends holding my hand while I went to the pool party for the first time ever, because I’m so blessedly uncomfortable in a swimsuit and I was scared? I’m less scared to do it again, now. Sitting in the Outsiders’ cabin talking with Gavin late into the night? This is the stuff that will keep me running for the next year. Camp has always been important to me; now it’s braided into my skeleton, keeping my head held high. And let me tell you: you ain’t lived until you’ve belted ‘Reflection’ at a queer Disney sing-along with a room full of trans folks. I am still a crying emoji.

Stef Schwartz

The A-Camp Family Band is my favorite thing I do all year, and we spend a crazy amount of time putting together the set list, figuring out which guest stars will sing which songs and cranking out arrangements. This year was particularly hectic because we didn’t even know if we’d have our very very essential drummer Alex Vega on hand until the very last minute. In the end, Alex showed up the day before our set ready to learn ALL THE SONGS AT ONCE and we practiced as much as we possibly could before our gig on the last night of camp. I’m never totally sure we’re going to pull this off until we get up there and there’s no choice but to just do the fucking thing.

We opened up with “Dreams” by the Cranberries, sung by Mary Lambert and highlighted by some pretty excellent backing vocals via Reneice Charles and Al Monts. Marni had really hyped me up for the Under the Sea themed dance so I had taken the stage dressed as an anglerfish.

This year felt special – all of the songs landed and our guest stars were incredible. Reneice’s debut with the band felt very special and I’m very excited to have her around for future shows. We’ve played a mashup of TLC’s “Waterfalls” with Mary Lambert’s “She Keeps Me Warm” since around 2013, so to have actual fucking Mary Lambert on hand to sing her own parts felt like a fever dream. Be Steadwell is such a fun, versatile singer to work with and I had a great time doing some stupid stage moves while she sang Janelle Monáe and Hayley Kiyoko to 400 screaming weirdos. Mara Wilson is a goddamn delight, aggressively wiggling her shoulders through a particularly smoky rendition of Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” Al Monts and Mal Blum are always game for whatever weird ideas I throw at them, and this year was no exception: Al was equally great as our resident Cardi B AND as a fellow co-Demi Lovato. Mal’s energy made “Mr Brightside” one of my favorite songs we’ve ever played together; for the entire second verse they climbed onto Cameron’s shoulders and “crowd surfed.”

For an encore, we played something I’ve wanted to perform at camp for years – Beyoncé’s “Love on Top,” with Al singing lead and Be and Reneice on backup. There’s four fucking key changes at the end of that song, and Al goddamn Monts did all of them. With every triumphant half step, the crowd roared; it felt surreal.

My other favorite part of camp was getting to lead the Thirst Games with Taylor and Al again. For the uninitiated, this is a very intense series of sex toy-related relay races and it is very, very silly. For our second inaugural Games, we added opening and closing ceremonies where we marched around the campsite waving vibrators over our heads while Al very solemnly sang “Pomp and Circumstance” into a megaphone. The games themselves were wild; we had a major upset in the butt plug in a spoon relay race that could ONLY be solved by reviewing the slow motion footage Taylor had captured from the finishing line. Heroes were made, hearts were broken. In the end, the generously donated vibrators went to the MVPs of the winning team (Orange). I can’t wait to see what next year’s Thirst Games bring.

Rachel Kincaid

I feel like this camp everyone really got to be their best, most honest and weirdest selves — for instance, and bear with me, when Sam and Riese and I created an intense trivia experience centered entirely around cults, true crime and murder and not only did people show up but many of the questions were TOO EASY FOR THEM. I will never forget you, person who sighed dramatically when I started a question with “When a young aspiring actress” because you already knew based on that I was talking about Black Dahlia. You terrify me and I love you.

I was a little skeptical that people would choose to come inside, out of the idyllic rolling hills, sunshine, wisteria arches and orange groves of Ojai California to play a bunch of dumb games based on internet memes, but they did and I’m so grateful. I don’t have a picture of Al(aina) laying back on a table doing an impeccable impression of Woman Laying In Bed Yelling meme but about two dozen of us got to see it, and it was beautiful.

For me, this was maybe the best staff reading ever, and I have seen literally all of them! Everyone was really vulnerable and strong in a really beautiful way and the writing was incredible; I had a lot of feelings and valued them all so much and still do.

Yvonne Marquez

One of the best parts of camp is meeting the campers. Laura W. and I were co-counselors for Ocean Spray and they were some of the best introverted, fun, kind weirdos I’ve ever met. They’re my kind of people and I’m so glad I got to hang out with them.

This year Mackenzie and I, as co-Speakeasy directors, were more intentional about creating QTPOC-only spaces outside of just the QTPOC Speakeasy that happens every year at A-Camp. For those of you who haven’t been to camp, the Speakeasy is a closed space for queer people of color to gather, share some feelings~ and support one another without any white people around! It’s truly a magical space, one that continually makes my heart beam with love and hope. This year we wanted to create spaces where we could also have FUN, be ourselves, and bond with one another over something that wasn’t just about microaggressions or the fucked up shit we experience daily.

I led the Wild Tongues: QTPOC Writing Hour workshop with Abeni and I wish it was a lot longer than just an hour! I’ve been in writing workshops where I had to explain my queer, Mexican self to a room full of white, straight women to understand my writing. In this room, I could just be. It was a small but mighty group of campers who showed up to let it all out on paper and it was beautiful. I was so impressed and moved by what everyone wrote in just 10 minutes for each prompt. I wish it was a whole writing workshop day, tbh!

I know that y’all know that Kayla is our resident Riverdale expert and recap writer but I also LOOVEE Riverdale! Cameron and I had the great idea to do Riverdale-themed cocktails and trivia at A-Camp and let me tell you, we both got INTO IT. I donned a River Vixen outfit and Cameron transformed into Lesbian Jughead and it was all I ever wanted. I was very grateful to all the campers who came in and fucking murdered Riverdale trivia because they knew all the answers. I didn’t want to be super obscure with the questions because I didn’t want people to feel bad if they didn’t know the answers but they literally knew everything; they even corrected me on one of the answers! And y’all Cameron made the most bomb ass drinks based on Cheryl Blossom and Toni Topaz, chef kisses.

I was so excited to finally meet Kim Katrin Milan, our special guest who gave a keynote speech on how to move racial justice theory into action. I have been following her career for several years now and am so amazed by her work. I had the pleasure of editing a few pieces she wrote for Autostraddle several years ago and was excited to have her come on board as a special guest at A-Camp. I finally got to meet her and her baby, Soleil! I feel like everything Kim Katrin Milan said at her speech were things I’ve been aware about and have learned about over the years but she said everything with so much compassion that I felt re-energized to do the hard work. She broke it down, back to the basics and refueled me so I can do better as an ally.

A-Camp X was one of the best camps yet. I think it had something to do with sunshine, berries and the pool, really. I heard so many amazing things about the pool but I was really bummed I never got to make it out! The day I had a chance to go, the sun was hiding behind some clouds and it was chilly. Next time I’m going down the fast slide!

Heather Hogan

I had a really good feeling about A-Camp X from the moment my cabin, the Sea Serpents, started exchanging messages — and I’m not just saying that because I got to Photoshop Toni Topaz in her Southside Serpents leather jacket into a picture with Cheryl Blossom as The Little Mermaid for my introductory email. The Sea Serpents all hailed from various, overlapping fandoms and even though they didn’t all know each other, they kinda knew each other, you know? The first night of camp, I gave them a choice of magical stones (beads) to put on enchanted bracelets (rainbow shoelace) and told them to pretend a sea witch (on theme) was granting them all their wishes for an entire week.

Some Serpents wished to find their voice, others to explore their identity, and everyone must have wished for connection because over the course of the week we bonded for life. There were Disney singalongs; late-night, all-cabin discussions about minority representation on teevee; bow-tie tying lessons; and on the very last day, those queer babes threw me a Hogwarts acceptance letter party — complete with owl post! — and when they left in the bus I went back to my room and cried my non-Muggle eyeballs out. Two of the Serpents got super sick, one fell down a hill and busted their knee, one fell out of a tree! But they didn’t let it slow them down and gosh they infused my life with so much hope and love in those few days we had together. It honestly was magical. Spending time getting to know them was hands down my favorite part of camp.

I always love teaching Bitches Brew, my feminist beer history/beer tasting workshop. Watching queer people get hopped up (get it? hopped up?) on the knowledge that women created and sustained the craft of beer brewing in every culture on earth for centuries before men systematically pushed them out, and then watching them get empowered to go out into the world and take back beer, is just the coolest transformation to witness. I also hosted a La Croix mocktails party this time for the purpose of hydration and hanging out with sober queers this year, and it was so much fun. I actually learned a lot from everyone, and got to spend over an hour just chatting to so many brilliant humans. Slytherin came back at the last second and beat Ravenclaw at the Hogwarts House Cup (but Hufflepuff represented in droves and gave everyone high fives in the end)! And doing lesbian/bisexual TV trivia with a united, in-person fandom remains my favorite way to spend an afternoon. (I’m sorry I tricked everyone at The L Word category; I thought it would be funny!)

Other highlights of A-Camp X include: The entire hour I got to spend in the swimming pool, one of which 30-minute sessions involved Mac trying to teach me how to high dive and the other of which involved slide top Stef Schwartz gently guiding me through the maze water slides. The A-Camp family band’s best performance ever at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. Mary Lambert ripping open my heart and then stitching it back together again. And so many berries and so many avocados and the night I hosted a bingo table at game night and gave it little plushy Nemos while wearing a green visor and forcing everyone to listen to the Carol soundtrack.

I miss the Sea Serpents every day. I don’t have any tattoos, but I’d get a tattoo if they asked me to.

Riese

Every camp I put so much pressure on myself to be perfect in every area, even though I can’t be! But this camp I went easy on myself — I had to accept what I was capable and not capable of, because most importantly I needed to not let the whole stress fire of the past few months overshadow my ability to do my job. This camp took so much work, and everybody’s life happened to fall apart at the same time. I needed very badly to have fun!

AND I DID. I HAD SUCH A GOOD TIME. I walked out into A-Camp on our first full day and saw, sprawled on the lawn, so many campers. I thought “wow, a big open space for people to sit on! we needed this!” Everybody out there smiling and laughing or quietly panicking because it was the first day and oh my g-d what if this was a terrible idea (95% of the time it turns out to be a very good idea, but the first day can be hard!). I remembered just how beautiful y’all are and fortifying A-Camp is.

By letting go, I think I experienced, for the first time, the A-Camp magic y’all talk about. I mean, I’ve always felt it, it’s always been there, and I’ve seen you hold it. Many of my highlights have been covered in other roundtable selections — like participating publicly in my number one favorite activity which is reading Sarah Sarwar’s adolescent fan fiction out loud — so just a few I really wanna add:

Mx. Ocean Contest — I was inspired to create this activity by the Los Angeles Lady Arm Wrestlers, a group that throws periodic events to raise money for various non-profits. My then-girlfriend took me to a LALAW event a few months prior to camp — her friend Alexis (who led the Sober Queers panel at A-Camp X) was competing. Competitors, who participate for free out of love for the game, develop intense characters with elaborate costumes, personalities, quirks and entourages, some of which have gradually gathered genuine fan bases. I’d assumed they were mostly actors who loved performing so much that they took any opportunity to do so, but turns out most of them weren’t. They just thought it was fun because they were weirdos. Thus, immediately, I thought of my favorite weirdoes — A-Campers! Thus, Mx. Ocean was born. Notably, the Pink Team’s gorgeously costumed sea witch, in defiance of Ursula’s oppression of Ariel, delivered voices back to the people with a tap of her magic wand. Campers in all manners of drag and costumery, possessing a wide range of talents, inspired us all, and I can’t wait to do something like it, but even better, next time! Also, Kristin was very game when I informed her she was co-hosting with me, that’s the A-Camp Spirit.

A-Camp Family Band — As a lifelong family band groupie, anticipation of the last night concert is the only balm capable of temporarily soothing the pain of camp being just about over. Our talent was, of course, incredible, but this year’s most thrilling moments were moments when our staff / my friends were shining like the brightest stars in the sky and the whole room swelled with applause and maniacal screams for Reneice doing the yodel-y bits on Dreams and Al taking it next-level on “Love on Top.”

Shabbat Shalomosexual – Although my somehow mostly-Jewish neighborhood growing up gave me a strong connection to my faith, I’d always struggled to connect with my peers at Jewish camp and Hebrew school. I didn’t realize until Shabbat Shalomosexual how connected I could feel to my spirituality when surrounded by peers I really liked a lot and felt connected to as well. Lizz Rubin cried and said it was the first time she cried at camp, and I was shocked to hear my voice break when I told Eli and Kristin about it a few days later. I can’t believe we’d never done it before, and I want to do it every camp forever.

Body Posi Party with ModCloth — I didn’t attend this activity because my specific size is not stigmatized, but Vanessa told me it went incredible, which made me very happy! Sarah and I had lunch with a girl from ModCloth (read: asked her 10 million questions about Wal-Mart) earlier this year and so it was fresh in my mind when we were talking about how to put inventive spins on repeat programming, like Destigmatize Your Size. I was like… what if it became part-fatshion-show and ModCloth gave us like a million outfits??? Sarah kept on reaching out to them until they said yes, and I was nervous all day that there wouldn’t be enough outfits for everybody but I think there mostly was and it went really well!

Boxed Wine & Cheese Plates — Um, the spread Laneia prepared for this particular iteration of everybody’s favorite opportunity to get drunk was outstanding. It’s always one of my favorite activities ’cause it feels like a really great mid-afternoon garden party, a concept I’m familiar with only in theory. Felt the true depth of Mommi Power that afternoon.

Lastly, I’d be a downright fraud not to address that my dear friend/roommate Erin brought my dear dog Carol to A-Camp for an afternoon. If she had a larger than walnut-sized brain, she’d have noticed that she’s VERY FAMOUS. My friends snuck Carol in to the A-Camp reading in a tote bag and she apparently stayed buried within the folds of Mika’s blanket situation until she heard my voice, and perked right up.

Also: Be Steadwell is maybe the best live performer of all time, I feel immense pride and joy whenever a certain cabin group works or does not work that’s mostly all I think about at camp, the ASL interpreters enhanced every minute of every activity they were a part of, and y’all know a LOT about murder, I swear it!

It turns out that having basic human needs — access to healthy food, green space to sit with friends, nice weather, sleep and a reasonable altitude — can make A-Camp less like a thing you put your body through in order to find community and more like a positive, holistic, energizing experience. Who would’ve known???

Dr. Lizz Rubin

A-Camp was one of the most restorative experiences I’ve had in years. So many campers came up to me and asked me questions or even just thanked me for being a queer gynecologist. It was such a great reminder for me of why I became a doctor in the first place – to strive to improve healthcare for my fellow queers.

It was such a blast to run the Bloody Hell Workshop with Laneia again this year (“Once more with bleeding”). This year we finally went all out rage and, after discussing how cis white men ruin everything and the nitty gritty of the menstrual cycle, we went outside and literally smashed the patriarchy. What I mean is that we taped our feelings about bleeding to a Pepa Pig pinata and beat the shit out of it.

This camp I ran two totally new activities: Maybe Gaybie and Taboo Taboo. Both of these were a blast, mostly because the campers were so into it and willing to participate. In Maybe Gaybie we talked about our feelings about not being able to reproduce or parent in the ways we might want to or maybe would have imagined. I was so impressed with everyone’s willingness to be open and share. Then we talked through the options and logistics for different ways to create a family. At Taboo Taboo we talked about what makes something taboo in mainstream or even queer culture and how to safely do some of these taboo acts. Then we played the game of Taboo using taboo Taboo cards. It was all very taboo.

This year at Sex Trivia Carolyn and I gave out sooo many condoms and sooo much lube. Just so much. Oh. And five Cordless Hitachi Magic Wands.

I was obsessed with my cabin Pink Flamingos — though for sure not as obsessed as they were with each other. Probably because Vanessa is such an amazing cabin staffer. She really fostered a sense of family in the cabin. But not a family where anyone had to be anyone else’s mother. Vanessa was willing to be be a dad though, which made me like a cool laid back step-dad. Being a laid back step-dad has been my dream for quite some time.

I modeled for life art for the first time this camp, too! It was so empowering! I got to take home the most amazing pictures of myself! Would do again.

At the Sex Collaging workshop with Riese and Sarah, we empowered campers to make collages all about sex and sexy times. I even passed out copies of Dr. Lizz’s Tiny Guide to Awesome Safer Queer Sex for people to re-purpose into bigger, better, full color guides! Most importantly, I got to learn all about the inner workings of Sarah via her middle school Catherine Zeta Jones erotic fan fic. I can only hope some of the campers utilized all the things they learned (from both Sarah’s fanfic and my Tiny Guide for Safer Sex) at Klub Deer and the final dance!

Vanessa Friedman

A-Camp X was extremely magical. It felt personally and collectively healing and restorative, and as a person who tries to live her whole life as an interactive love letter to queer community, this was basically my ideal event. The vibe was sweet, relaxed, and very fun, and it felt as though both the campers and the staff were coming to camp determined to live our best lives. As a result people were kind and compassionate, silly and authentic, and essentially the best versions of ourselves and of queer community as a whole.

I really felt as though every moment of camp was my favorite moment, but I will try to narrow it down to a few tangible chunks of time, because no one needs to read a play by play journal entry of my A-Camp X experience, otherwise known as My Favorite Five Days of 2018.

The Body Posi Party! Reneice, Mary Lambert, and I got together with ModCloth to host a party slash feelings atrium for fat babes, and it was arguably my favorite thing I’ve ever hosted in my whole life. We’ll have a separate post detailing the event published soon enough, so I don’t want to spoil things too much, but suffice it to say ModCloth donated 40 plus-size outfits and we gathered about 60 campers in a room to try on clothes, talk (and cry and laugh) about living in a fatphobic world as fat humans, and support one another. It was incredibly fucking powerful, and maybe the best I’ve ever felt about my body in my whole life. I am not being hyperbolic. You haven’t lived until Mary Lambert has gathered a group of queer fat babes in a circle and encouraged everyone to step into the center to show off a brand new ModCloth outfit to cheers, hoots, and hollers of support and appreciation. I cried so much. I wish I could feel so good in my body every day.

Shabbat Shalomosexual! Did you know that I’m Jewish, and that Riese is Jewish, and that Vapid Fluff Editor Stef Schwartz and Former Fashion Editor Current Doctor Lizz Rubin and All Around Heartthrob Mal Blum and Bisexual Writer Mara Wilson and Bisexual Millennial Gaby Dunn are all also Jewish?! It’s true, we are! And so many A-Campers are Jewish too! So it just made sense to host a Shabbat dinner at camp, and this year we finally did! And I’m sorry, I know you can already sense from my writing that I’m an extremely enthusiastic person, but I swear I am not exaggerating when I say QUEER SHABBAT CHANGED MY LIFE. We had no idea how many campers to expect, seeing as it was our first time hosting the event, but we completely filled the space we’d set up for the occasion with about 50 campers, most Jewish and a few simply curious, and proceeded to bless the fucking universe with our prayers, our songs, our fresh baked challah, and our love for one another. Some campers told me it was their first time meeting other queer Jews (!!!). Some campers are way more professionally Jewish than I am and stepped up and helped lead. Some campers humored me extremely kindly when I begged everyone to sing an acapella version of One Tin Soldier, a vaguely depressing song with a great moral if you can make it to the end, that I used to sing at my Jewish summer camp! Everyone was so open and so filled with respect and awe and gratitude and I swear I have never had a more heartwarming Shabbat dinner in my whole life (sorry, mom).

The campers. I’m sorry, you knew this was coming, right? I’m the community editor, what do you want from me?! I just. Y’all. Y’all are fucking magic. I came to this camp feeling nervous about jumping back into this wild event Autostraddle hosts every year (I hadn’t attended camp for a few years due to weird personal reasons!), and kind of sad (also because of weird personal reasons!), and just generally apprehensive and burnt out and like, not a great version of myself. And then I met all of you. And I was revived. I don’t care about sounding hyperbolic anymore because I don’t know how else to talk about A-Camp X. You. Are. All. Such. Magical. Beings. Thank you. THANK YOU. A-Campers are notoriously incredible souls, and this camp just confirmed and highlighted that truth. You’re smart and funny and fun and interesting and curious and so goddamn hot, Jesus fucking Christ! To my cabin, the Pink Flamingos: I love you. Thank you for helping me feel like myself again. Your love and care for one another, your generosity, your camp spirit and your fucking perfect dance moves and decorations blew my mind. You reminded me what we can all look like at our best. And to every single camper who attended camp: I LOVE YOU. Truly madly deeply. If you’re reading this and wondering if you should attend, if you should become one of these campers I’m speaking about, if camp is the place for you, I am here to tell you: YES. Please join us. I love you already. I can’t wait to see you at A-Camp next year.

8 Times A-Campers Made Cheese Plates and We Were Like, “Wow, Yes”

They say you haven’t truly lived until you’ve made cheese plates with 35+ other queers in the out-of-doors in beautiful Ojai, California, and while I think that’s a bold statement to make, it’s also a little true.

Riese and I hosted a Boxed Rosé and Cheese Plate workshop at A-Camp X a couple of weeks ago and I’m still not over how TRULY ALIVE it made me feel! (Read 5 Boxed Rosés, Ranked by Bang-for-Your-Buck by a Bunch of Inebriated Queers for the full experience.) I’m really quite serious about cheese plates, in that I don’t take them seriously at all and I think we should be living off of them about four times a week if possible. Perhaps you will recall my memoir, Let’s Make Cheese Boards and Never Leave the House Again. I’ll let that work speak for itself.

We provided all the cheese, fruits, spreads, crackers, and other accoutrement needed for cheese plating, and let the campers do with it what they would, to great results!

Here’s what they had to choose from!

Cheeses

Chèvre
Extra Sharp Cheddar
Smoked Gruyère
Fresh Mozzarella
Brie

Fresh Fruits Etc

Strawberries
Apples
Cherry Tomatoes
Basil

Spreads

Deli Mustard
Raspberry Jam
Apricot Jam
Honey

Crackers and Salty Bits

Seeded Wheat Crackers
Flatbread Crackers
Gluten-Free Seeded Rice Crackers
Castelvetrano Olives
Roasted Almonds
Smoked Salmon

Bonus

Dark Chocolate

I gave some pairing suggestions, but campers were encouraged to follow their hearts and to never let anyone tell them how to make a cheese plate, as that is my mantra (that and “I can’t reach this, please help me.”).  Plates and utensils were compostable bamboo, by the way, which maybe means nothing to you but what if it did? You’d be pretty impressed right now.

#rieseheresacheeseplate #autostraddlecamp

A post shared by Audrey Musselman-Brown (@audreymb1) on May 18, 2018 at 5:01pm PDT

Here Audrey has combined the raspberry jam with the chèvre, indicating that this isn’t their first time at the cheese plate rodeo.

Super exclusive boxed wine tasting and cheese plate workshop at #autostraddlecamp #rieseheresacheeseplate #blushycrap

A post shared by Victoria McGee (@torremcgee) on May 21, 2018 at 3:12pm PDT

Torre’s placement of almonds on the basil leaves shows an artistic flair that I respect.

Boxed Rose and cheese tasting. I don’t know what’s up with the white balance in these pics. #rieseheresacheeseplate #autostraddlecamp

A post shared by Rebecca (@rebeccasbee) on May 18, 2018 at 8:51pm PDT

The smoked gruyère is pointing to the chèvre, while the brie points to the chocolate. A beautiful puzzle.

Boxed rose and cheese plates at A-Camp! #rieseheresacheeseplate

A post shared by Megan Brown (@mwbrown0114) on May 18, 2018 at 6:18pm PDT

Absolutely no punches were pulled here: mustard directly on the cheddar, raspberry jam atop brie, tomatoes skewered with authority alongside basil and mozzarella. Who needs crackers when you have this kind of vision?

So I’m in California with a bunch of queers and went to a workshop involving boxed wine and a cheese plate and it was beautiful. Then a group of us talked about genetics and Caesarian Sections and gut booms because #nerds and #rosecoloredglasses. . #autostraddle #rieseheresacheeseplate

A post shared by Erica Lockwell (@ourbackpockets) on May 18, 2018 at 7:36pm PDT

Aca-scuse me. This perfect line of olives satisfies a part of my soul I wasn’t aware even existed until this very moment.

Rosé and Cheese Plates! #autostraddle #acamp #rieseheresacheeseplate

A post shared by Bee ♡ (@bumblebeebreezy) on May 18, 2018 at 5:02pm PDT

The pile of crackers in the center lets you know this means business, and the business is Eat More Cheese Plates.

Rachel, whose Instagram is private and therefore you’ll just have to take my word for it that her name is Rachel, has done some beautiful work with reds here, not to mention this expert fanning of the apple slices.

Nate, also with a private account, has kept this plate minimalistic but you can still feel the passion.

Tell me, what are your favorite cheese plate rules or feelings? Do you roll your own chèvre? Can I get your thoughts on pitted vs unpitted olives? Room temp brie vs warmed brie? Let me know.

A-Camp X Was a Huge Success and We’d Like to Have Some Feelings About It Together

feature image by Taylor Hatmaker

Laneia, Riese, and Sarah registered campers on the first day of A-Camp // by Taylor Hatmaker

Last week Autostraddle hosted A-Camp X, the tenth iteration of our wildly successful, extremely ambitious, and incredibly affirming annual adult summer camp event. We had a feeling it was going to be a good one – we’ve had nine times to perfect the weirdo art of this endeavor, after all – but this A-Camp not only met our high expectations, it blew them right out of the atmosphere. We have some feelings about it that we’d like to share; perhaps you do too!

(Also, if you’re more of a visual person or you just want to feast your eyes upon a bajillion incredibly attractive and wonderful queerdos, check out the #autostraddlecamp tag on Instagram, because it is TRULY INSPIRING IN A VARIETY OF WAYS.)

First of all, as the community editor of Autostraddle dot com, I would like to personally thank every single camper who attended A-Camp X. Without our campers, we would be nothing. The folks who attend A-Camp are some of the bravest, smartest, coolest, hottest, most incredible humans I have ever met. So many campers show up at camp not knowing a single other soul, and by the end of the session it feels like we’ve all been friends forever. That’s not a random accident – it’s because A-Campers are kind, inclusive, and generous. I witnessed so many acts of compassion and openness at A-Camp X. We were gentle with each other, and I could feel that we were all grateful for it.

by Taylor Hatmaker

Our campers are kind, and they are also so, so, so weird! In the best possible way. They are inventive and creative and hilarious. We had a camper who acts as a full-time mail person, delivering love notes and urgent messages all across camp in a full-on uniform that we certainly did not provide! (Thank you, Mailperson Maggie!) We had a board filled with missed connections that ranged from notes about who was single, offers for rides to LAX post-camp, and a casting call for a project called the Butchelorette. That’s just how camp goes, and it is one of my favorite parts: outside of the programming that the A-Camp staff works so hard to create, we have an incredibly robust set of activities that the campers simply take upon themselves to organize. Camp is truly a place where you can create your own reality and make your dreams come true.

by Taylor Hatmaker

Speaking of the A-Camp staff, my second order of business is to shout out the incredible staff team and the exceptional talent we had join us this year at A-Camp. Did you know Mary Lambert came to A-Camp, y’all? Sit down for a second and breath with that information. Mary Lambert came to A-Camp and she loved it! She told me getting interviewed by me for Autostraddle back in 2013 was as good a feeling as going to the Grammy Awards! I don’t really believe her but it was SO NICE OF HER TO SAY! We were also blessed with the presence of the following talented humans: Kim Katrin Milan, Mara Wilson, Gaby Dunn, Brittani Nichols, Mal Blum, Be Steadwell, Jen Richards, and Ava Benjamin Schorr. I could write full-on essays about how talented and inspiring each one of them is, but I’ll let the campers do that in the comments. Alongside the talent we had our tireless staff members, almost all of whom give up a week of paid work to volunteer their time to make A-Camp run. If the campers are the weirdo heart of the operation, our staff and talent are the backbone and the lungs. Are you following this metaphor? I didn’t sleep a lot last week. What I’m saying is, THANK YOU to the entire A-Camp staff and talent team, who set up an incredibly intricate structure and breathed life into the space so that a ginormous group of queer babes could prance and pounce through and infuse the whole goddamn event with more love and affirmation than most of us feel in a lifetime, let alone in five days.

Mary Lambert and Be Steadwell performing together at A-Camp X // by Taylor Hatmaker

We are so lucky. We are so grateful. We can’t wait to keep putting this event on forever and ever, and we hope every single human being reading this who wants to attend A-Camp is able to one day. It will change your life.

Kim Katrin Milan delivered a powerful presentation called From Theory Into Action: Moving From Allyship to Accomplices // by Taylor Hatmaker

Did you attend A-Camp X? Tell us all your feelings in the comments! What was your favorite program? Did you like all four different kinds of berries equally? Was your bunk the cutest place ever? What about your new friends and your new skills and your new confidence and your new (old) irritation with straight people? Show us your cutest photos! Direct us to your Instagram feeds! I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING!

by Taylor Hatmaker

A note to our readers who did not attend A-Camp, aka Most Of You, and our Autostraddle staff who were also unable to attend: Thank you for holding down the site while we were away! Thank you for being supportive and for those of you telling us you’re saving up to come to camp next year and for being so great, really truly madly deeply. You’re lovely. We see you and we appreciate you. And to the campers who did attend A-Camp – you probably missed some really rad articles we published on Autostraddle dot com last week while you were busy crafting and dancing and sportsballing and making out – so be sure to go back to the previous week’s articles and see if you missed anything relevant to your interests!

by Taylor Hatmaker

IN CONCLUSION: Go browse the #autostraddlecamp hashtag for a very nice experience on Instagram, and I’ll see you in the comment section to gush unapologetically about how wonderful and healing and restorative the A-Camp X experience turned out to be. Is it A-Camp 2019 yet?!

5 Very Low Key Meet-Ups You Could Host Immediately!

As Autostraddle’s community editor, I have a very personal interest in Autostraddle IRL Meet-Ups. I like to see our community grow and thrive both on the internet and in real life, and meet-ups have long been a huge part of Autostraddle’s community success. We’re not just a content creating website – we’re a family. Meet-ups allow us to see our family in person once in a while! At its best, an Autostraddle meet-up is relaxed, relaxing, and Very Fun.

Sometimes the idea of hosting a meet up can be overwhelming, though. I totally get it. Adult obligations are super annoying and often very draining, some of us are shy and some of us are introverts and some of us just dislike responsibility, and also, it just seems like a lot of work! And I totally get that, I do, all of it, and I will never ever force you to host a meet-up.

But! Just hear me out. (I’m very persistent.) A meet-up does not always have to be a whole scenario! There are a lot of very fun very chill ways to meet up with your fellow Straddlers that are just like, the easiest things in the world to plan. You barely even have to plan – you could practically host the meet-up the very next day! For example, at A-Camp this week I’m hosting a newbie campfire meet up for all our new campers, and here’s the premise: I’m going to invite all the new campers to this event, I’m going to make a campfire, I’m going to show up with s’more supplies, and I’m going to gently suggest everyone talk to each other and make s’mores and eat them. IT’S GOING TO BE GREAT! And it was so, so easy to plan, it will be so, so easy to execute, and it will feel so, so amazing afterwards.

So if you are the kind of human who would love to host a meet up but just feels too overwhelmed to get the ball rolling – or even if you’re just the kind of person who would consider hosting a meet up, maybe, you’re not committing to anything but you’ll think about it OKAY – this post is for you. Below, please feast your eyes on five extremely low key, easy to plan, Very Fun meet-up suggestions. Get excited to meet your fellow Straddlers in person with these sweet events, bbs. You’re welcome!

Host A Bonfire / S’more Party

So, like I said, campfires / bonfires are Very Easy. Here’s what you do: Invite queers to a bonfire. Make a fire. Queers show up. BOOM YOU ARE DONE! No but seriously, who doesn’t love hanging around a fire, talking and laughing and roasting s’mores and drinking sparkling water or booze if that’s your thing? You’re all cozy and happy, then someone whips out a guitar and soon everyone is singing along to an acoustic cover of a Taylor Swift song but you’re changing the lyrics to make it hella gay, everyone takes turns feeding the fire and the warmth it emits reminds you of the warmth that comes from queer community, oh my goddess you’re starting to feel kind of weepy, but it’s dark so it’s fine, you can totally be sentimental for a minute… Doesn’t that sound nice?! It is, it is very nice, and it takes essentially zero planning and hardly any work to pull off.

Meet Up As A Group At A Public Event

This is arguably The Easiest Option on the whole list! A great way to “host a meet up” without taking any responsibility is to suggest y’all meet up as a group at a public event you’re planning on attending. This can be a sporting event, a concert, a university lecture, a reading…literally anything that is happening in a public space that multiple queer people are planning on attending works. This is especially great for folks who are shy or folks who are worried about not having anything to talk about, because the event sort of removes that pressure. Sometimes you literally cannot speak during the event because it’s rude, and sometimes you just don’t have to. If things seem to be going well you can all go for food or drinks or ice cream after the event and more talking may or may not happen then, but again, anyone who isn’t comfortable with that can just go home and still feel like they spent some enjoyable time in a group of queers in a low key fun way. Another thing that’s fun about this option is sometimes your general activity just turns into a meet up, absolutely zero effort needed! If you live in a town or city with a sizable queer population, going to certain events all but guarantees you’ll be hanging with other queers. For example, I’m going to see Janelle Monae with every other queer in Portland in June and you know what, as of right now I’m calling it a meet up. We’re all meeting up there, Portland! See ya then.

Have A Potluck Picnic

This is a pretty chill option. Not the most chill, but not too much effort either. As the picnic host, your main jobs include: choosing a nice park and bringing a big blanket and a frisbee or two. A potluck is awesome because it spreads out the labor of food-making, is almost always less expensive than going out to eat at a restaurant (unless you make a supremely lavish potluck contribution in which case, please join me at my next potluck asap), and it’s pretty simple in its execution. Also, if you’re a big group of friendly looking queers having a nice fun time eating food on a blanket in a park, it is very likely you will attract other queers you don’t even know just from looking so fun. This has happened to me on multiple occasions in different cities, and it’s always a really nice feeling knowing that your new friend woke up that day with no idea they were going to attend a meet up and then ended their day with like 7 to 42 new friends.

Current Events Club

I think sometimes book clubs can be overwhelming for people because there’s an expectation that you need to do a lot of work beforehand: you need to read a whole book! And that is true, that is exactly what you are expected to do before attending a book club meet up. But what if…what if you could discuss a thing with a group of smart queer humans, without committing to reading 150-300 pages beforehand? What then? Well good news, you totally can! Here’s the deal: pick a day for your meet up. On that day, every human attending will bring their favorite / most horrifying / funniest / weirdest / etc article from the past week. Then y’all will sit in a circle, and one by one each person will present their article! After they’ve summarized it and given some of their thoughts, you can all chat about it…kind of like a book club! Or a report club. But minus the prep.

Journal Alone But Together

(Via Diary of a Little Flower)

But, you’re saying to me by now, Vanessa, you’re being really annoying. I literally do not want to meet up with other people. I want to drink tea and write in my journal by myself. Sure, being surrounded by other queers would be cool, but that’s not a meet up! That’s journaling alone but together! To which I say…I’m sorry I’m so annoying but like, WHAT A GREAT IDEA! Host a meet up at a tea shop. Tell everyone to bring their journal. Do brief introductions, or don’t. Then…journal! Alone! With no talking! But…together. That’s beautiful. And, might I add: very low key. As promised.

Okay there you go! Five wonderful low key easy to plan meet up ideas! Hopefully this is very inspiring for next month, when we start planning Autostraddle Pride Meet-Ups, and for the rest of your life! And in all seriousness: thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to every single human reading this website who has ever hosted an Autostraddle Meet Up. I know it’s not easy, I am grateful for you, your fellow Straddlers are grateful for you, and I love you. If you’re ever in Portland, come find me and I’ll build you a bonfire and make you a s’more – pinky swear.

21 Kickass Brands Who Love A-Camp + Autostraddle

A-Camp X is just around the corner, which means that we’ve been talking with tons of amazing companies, brands and humans who want to support Autostraddle and the continued success of A-Camp! Many of these companies are small, queer and independently-owned themselves, which makes their donations even more amazing. Because of their generosity A-Camp continues to thrive, which means we can continue to keep our ticket prices as low as possible. It also means we get to stuff your A-Camp swag bags with tons of great gifts — this year you’ll be getting stuff from Planned Parenthood, LELO, Tomboy Toes, Smitten Kitten, Hurraw!, Early to Bed, Temper Tantrum, Oni Press, Bitch Mag, Feminist Press and Wild Fancy.

Without further ado, here are the luminous, lovely and rad babes who have showered us with their generosity! Please shower them with your wallet!

♡

All the Printing

Hello Merch

Hello Merch is our one-stop shop for all things Autostraddle merch! If you’ve shopped in our store you may have one of their creations in your closet right now! Hello Merch are wonderful at helping us produce quality screen-printing for every weird request we throw at them — like gold foil and neon gradients! They also run the Buffering and Jenny Owen Youngs stores — Autostraddle reader faves! Check out this cute lil shop they put together with some things you might like!

Club Card Printing

We have major LOVE for this generous print shop in San Francisco. These talented humans have been sponsoring A-Camp for YEARS by printing all our Activity Programs — you can thank them for getting you to Shibari Rope Bondage on time­. They do it all: business cards, postcards, stickers, booklets, banners, posters, letterpress and graphic design services. Check them out!

Mammoth Printshop

Mammoth PrintShop is a full-service screen-printing facility specializing in handcrafted products and designs in Alabama. They are also the maker of many Autostraddle merch favorites, including the Gender Traitor tees. These rad humans have actually been supporting A-Camp for many years by providing heavily-discounted screen printing services for our A-Camp tees! We love working with them and we know you will too — hit them up for a personal project or something bigger!

All the Adorning

Hurraw! Balm

To say Hurraw! Balms are an A-Camp obsession is an understatement. As a long-time chapstick lover, I’ve officially converted my lip care routine over to the divine spirit of Hurraw. Every tube is full of premium raw, organic and fair-trade ingredients and get this — they’re VEGAN. Hurraw! Balms are smooth, never sticky, and come in a bajillion fun flavors. I’m particularly obsessed with their Kapha balm (eucalyptus, grapefruit & ginger).

I ∆M NO L∆BEL

I ∆M NO L∆BEL is a Portland-based lifestyle brand that makes hand-crafted leather wares, from harnesses to chokers. They generously gifted hand-stamped leather cuffs to all our campers. It’s headed up by two queer artists, Frankie and Che Che, who are more than leather craftspeople — they’re also an indie pop duo! They aren’t currently crafting on their Etsy shop, so you should check out their music!

Outplay Swimwear

WE LOVE OUTPLAY! This rad brand makes swimsuits for all sorts of genders and bodies, and specifically they’re best known for their compression swimsuit tops. It’s a binder and a swimsuit all in one! They’ve donated TWO camperships over the years. SWOON! Check out their stylish, fun, brightly colored mix and match suits.

All the Sexing

LELO

LELO has historically been one of my favorite sex toy brands — when I first started looking for higher-end toys, their colorful, smooth and sleek designs immediately caught my eye. Since then, many sex toy brands have caught up with them, which I think has caused LELO to push themselves even further in inventing magical objects like the Ora 2. Anyway! Wow, they are cool. They’re even sending someone to A-Camp this year! Get 20% Off on their website from now until 6/20/18 with the code STRADDLE20 (excludes the SONA and SONA Cruise).

Smitten Kitten

Smitten Kitten is a rad, sex-positive sex toy company that’s been supporting A-Camp for years with cute, thoughtful swag bag gifts! This year, we’re so excited to feature their generous donations in our “Acsexability: Demystifying Disability and Sex” A-Camp workshop! Acesexability highlights just how crucial it is to make sure our conversations around sex and intimacy include the entire ability spectrum. We’ll be featuring the Fascinator Throw and the Super Sex Sling in this year’s workshop — perfect candidates for a conversation around more accessible sex. Thank you, Smitten Kitten!

Unbound

Unbound is a women-owned sex toy company based out of New York that’s revolutionized the way we discover new sex toys. Every quarter they come out with a kick-ass sex toy box full of new, fun goodies to try, and if you subscribe, you’ll get them for a fraction of the cost it’d be to buy them full price! We’ve even collaborated with them on our own sex toy box, full of queer-friendly toys to keep things interesting! They donated the best things ever — Harry Potter and Bjork themed drawstring bags (which I now keep all my toys in thank you!).

All the O M G Y E S ‘ing

GladRags

Have y’all heard about GladRags? This small Portland-based brand is making big changes in the blood-catching items industry by creating well-crafted, colorful reusable pads and menstrual cups that actually fit and feel good! They’re also making sure that they’re not creating any extra waste — and recycling the waste they do make. This year GladRags donated a campership, and are providing some treats for our Bloody Hell workshop.

Planned Parenthood

It makes perfect sense Planned Parenthood would be stepping up to sponsor A-Camp X; they’re all about LGBT people living their best (and healthiest!) lives. They believe that LGBTQ rights are reproductive rights and reproductive rights are LGBTQ rights; at the end of the day, politicians shouldn’t get to decide what you do with your body or what your family looks like, and your rights shouldn’t depend on the state you live in. Because of them, one lucky camper is coming to A-Camp with airfare included! They are also donating water bottles because they wanna keep you hydrated!

Best Day Project

Best Day Project is an amazing organization headed up by one of our favorite humans Grace Kim! The organization is dedicated to giving best days to LGBTQIA youth who have “overcome depression and typically lack a voice in mainstream media, but have stories that need to be told.” Best Day Project aims to bring as many dreams to fruition as possible, and through their efforts spread hope and positive change within our community — and we salute them! If you know someone who may need a Best Day you can nominate them here, or you can submit your own dream here.

All the Consuming

Disobedience The Movie

That’s right, Disobedience, the orthodyke film featuring not one but two Rachels, is sponsoring A-Camp X! If you don’t know about this film, let Heather fill you in: it’s “an adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s book of the same name, and it tells the story of Ronit, a 32-year-old woman whose father’s death forces her to return to the Orthodox Jewish community she grew up in, and also to Esti, her first love, who still lives there and practices the faith of their youth.” Also, there’s a scene where one of the Rachel’s spits into the other Rachel’s mouth, so we are counting down the days, friends. Catch Disobedience in theaters on May 11th!

Bitch Media

Bitch Media is a nonprofit, independent, feminist media organization dedicated to providing and encouraging an engaged, thoughtful feminist response to mainstream media and popular culture. Bitch is also literally one of the best pubs out there, and these lovely humans have donated their kickass print publication to our campers year after year! You should get it, it’s really good — subscribe!

The Square Donut

Author Lauren Crane takes us on the self-discovery journey of 17-year-old Toby, who’s almost accepted her tediously dull life of slinging donuts – until a cool, intense blue-eyed nomad passes through town. Lauren donated the cutest sugar canister enamel pins to our campers last year! We hope you get the chance to read her breathtaking book.

Thank you to all the amazing sponsors that have contributed to A-Camp over the years!

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58 Ways You Beautiful Lunatics Described Yourselves When Signing Up for A-Camp X

Another year, another giant stack of humans to place into smaller stacks correlated to cabin assignments for A-Camp X, which is AAAAHHHHHHH merely three weeks away! The highlight of this entire magical process that I do every year (this year I had a MAGICAL HELPER for the first time ever and boi y’all — help helps!) is, of course, reading the personality descriptions y’all wrote for yourselves. I feel very privileged to know your Hogwarts house, Enneagram type, and Scorpio Venus Moonsun Twilight Eclipse Rising or whatever. Also — one very helpful witchy camper, in their personality description box, took a moment to inform me that Ojai is “an incredibly powerful and haunted place.” So that’s something to look forward to, ghost-hunters!

So here, pulled mercilessly out of context, with punctuation/point-of-view adjusted for impact or consistency (I consider my listlings to be tiny poems, I truly do), I present excerpts from the personality descriptions of over 350 (!!!) campers, all of whom I cannot wait to meet or see again on May 16th!

1. In Portland, I am rarely the only blue-haired person riding the bus

2. Basically an 80 year old in a 26 year old’s body

3. Basically the perfect combo of toddler, millennial, and grandma

4. I am basically a 40 year old father at heart

5. I am the QWOC Pippi Longstocking who grew up to realize that loving all of my peculiarities is the true source of my superhuman strength. You can find me up in a hot air balloon as I enjoy an Orphan Black marathon while listening to the saddest Julien Baker song imaginable with books on queers & women in music history scattered around as I indulge in the joy of eating so many Hello Panda cookies.

6. My favorite Day of Carol is #19 for the screenshot of Therese’s jeans circa 2009.

7. I once slept with my brother’s ex-girlfriend, she lives in Germany now

8. I’ve been in a long term relationship with my Masters Degree, we are experiencing lesbian bed death, and my eyes are wandering

9. A Slytherin in the streets AND the sheets

10. Gryffindor Head Girl!

11. Early life Ravenclaw, current life Hufflepuff

12. My purse is always full of sewing supplies and cheese snacks

13. I’ve been told that my celebrity doppelganger is Prince George

14. I would like everything in Dean Winchester’s wardrobe, but in my size.

15. I’ve got an old printer with a little screen that says “processing” when it has a print job in the queue, but recently it froze on the “processing” screen even though it’s got nothing to print and I can’t throw it out because that printer is me.

16. Nature is beautiful and so are women!?

17. I would describe myself as a geek. But I’m like a cool geek who drinks kombucha, listens to rock music, and has several tattoos.

18. I’m a tight-skirts, no-bra, how-do-you-makeup femme/militant bisexual who likes dragons and the circus and burlesque and talking about my feelings.

19. I swing wildly between DIY punk and high femme goth

20. Aesthetic goals this year are to look more like a twink and to pat more cats.

21. My next cats will be named Ruth and Gloria after Bader Ginsburg and Stienem.

22. My cat is named Spencer Hastings.

23. My interests include overly specific pop culture trivia, listening to music, and femme tops.

24. I like yoga, reading, puzzles, live comedy, podcasts, storytelling, rambling conversations, being outside, memes, shitty beer, Campari, my dog, lists, making fun of myself, and anytime a group of people all start loudly singing along to a song together.

25. I’m obsessed with all things pop culture, specially if it includes badass women who might murder me in my sleep. I would let them.

26. Born Canadian / raised in the South / now a Midwesterner / always a librarian => very polite, pretty introverted, SO HAPPY to support everyone else’s hopes and dreams.

27. I did parkour in an elevator once and it broke

28. I’ve eaten the Obamas’ leftovers

29. I hate the 20 minutes of anger/miscommunication in a rom-com before it all works out in the end

30. Smol, bi, and ready to cry

31. Bi problems, who’s got ’em? I’ve got ’em too. Bi trouble, we’ve got double, don’t know what to do.

32. I want to make a difference in the medical field for queer people because when you google ‘lesbian doctor’ porn should not be the first thing that shows up.

33. I’ve been described as having the patience of a saint and the determination and drive of a bulldog

34. I’m a floral femme who loves gettin’ dancey and challenging people to pizza eating contests that I definitely will not win.

35. Queer Vietnamese femme who’s eternally internally screaming.

36. ~former baby, future corpse~

37. former feral child, current genderqueer badass.

38. I love Alison Bechdel so much I may cry.

39. When I grow up, I want to be Keladry of Mindelan, but in a courtroom.

40. I have a lot of feelings about Tonya Harding.

41. My sexual orientation is Faith Lehane.

42. When asked in elementary who my favorite N’Sync-er was, I proudly said it was Lance.

43. I’m evangelical about Carly Rae Jepsen

44. I will happily tell anyone in proximity all about Celine Dion’s infinite charm.

45. I’m struggling to get through season 2 of The L Word but omg Dana is me

46. “What a good lesbian!” – An acquaintance who saw me dancing drunk in a raglan and snapback

47. I’m a bouncy, giggly boi who loves mornings and has loads of hugs and energy. Did I mention I love mornings? Don’t worry, I’m super respectful of other people’s morning hatred.

48. I’m currently living in a remote Mayan village on a lake surrounded by volcanoes

49. I’m an androgynous toasted marshmallow: brown and kind of hard on the outside, soft on the inside.

50. Maybe like a mango…nice and sweet once you get in there?

51. Much like a grapefruit: beautiful and polarizing.

52. I’m late to stuff if there’s a lot of cute dogs on the way there

53. I haven’t worn a dress since I was 18, but I would be delighted to wear a kilt!

54. I’m the boi you could bring home to your parents

55. My favorite activity is doing very detailed research and/or math to answer very unimportant questions; the more ridiculous the ratio of the importance of the question to the effort required to answer it the better.

56. I have a jumpsuit that fits perfectly; that’s an achievement, right?

57. I eat tomatoes whole

58. I will fill this out later and when that day comes everyone will be astonished by how well I described myself here. I will definitely come back and edit this and not eat my words later

CAMPERSHIP ALERT! Planned Parenthood Is Sponsoring A-Camp X!

You already know A-Camp X, five life-changing days surrounded by other queer and trans people in beautiful Ojai, California, is a little more than a month away. You already know it’s a transformative and indescribable experience of new friends, workshops, shared space, and personal and community growth. We are delighted to also inform you of the news that Planned Parenthood is sponsoring A-Camp, and one lucky human will be covered to go — with airfare included!

Planned Parenthood is already synonymous with affordable, quality non-judgemental healthcare for many of us — they’re a reliable and accessible provider for general reproductive health, offering STI tests, pelvic exams, and general healthcare like cancer screenings as well as birth control and abortion access. They serve patients regardless of gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, insurance, or disability status, and provides services addressing the unique needs of LGBTQ patients. More than just accepting LGBT people as patients, they know we have specific health needs and concerns as a community and prioritizes getting them met — exactly what we deserve!

Planned Parenthood does more than just general healthcare and wellness for the LGBT community — they provide digital resources for LGBTQ youth, and LGBT-inclusive and consent-aware sex ed that aims to be actually relevant to the kind of sex you’re having or want to have. PP health centers in 20 states provide hormone therapy for trans patients, and they’re actively working on expanding that number. They understand how important it is for all people to have access to high-quality, nonjudgmental health care that affirms their identity, their family, and their sexuality — as well as the ability and resources to make their own health care decisions with dignity.

It makes perfect sense Planned Parenthood would be stepping up to sponsor A-Camp X; they’re all about LGBT people living their best (and healthiest!) lives. They believe that LGBTQ rights are reproductive rights and reproductive rights are LGBTQ rights; at the end of the day, politicians shouldn’t get to decide what you do with your body or what your family looks like, and your rights shouldn’t depend on the state you live in. Planned Parenthood knows we deserve to feel good in our bodies, our communities and our lives — and one winner of this contest will get to do so at A-Camp thanks to PP!

Enter the Campership Giveaway Now!

• Write a tweet answering the question “Why is queer and trans health important to you?”
  
• Make sure Autostraddle (@autostraddle) and Planned Parenthood (@PPFA) are tagged in your response and that you’ve used the hashtag #ACampPP!
• Make sure you get your entry in by Friday, April 20th at 11:59 PM PST. Every individual can enter once; more tweets do not mean more entries.

This campership competition will open today, Monday April 16th, and end on Friday, April 20th at 11:59 PM PST; the winner will be contacted via Twitter DM on Monday of the following week. That human will be sponsored to attend A-Camp, where they’ll have the choice of a hotel-style room (shared with one roommate) or a bunk bed in a cabin, and have their travel to and from Ojai covered. Enter now!

Campership Alert: Go to A-Camp X for Free Thanks to LELO!

Excited to go to A-Camp X in Ojai this May but not sure how to afford it? LELO, premium sex toy company, is here to help! Win your ticket to A-Camp X and the fees for the shuttle! You just need to get yourself to LAX by plane/train/automobile and LELO will take care of the rest.

LELO is a beloved premium and luxury sex toy company that makes absolutely beautiful sex toys and accessories. They use minimal shapes, smooth designs, and colors that go beyond sex toy pink (but also a pretty solid shade of sex toy pink if you’re into that) to wrap up some of the sleekest sex toys on the market. Best of all, their vibrators are light and rumbly in just the right ways.

LELO‘s mission is simple:

“We are a brand of many subtle shades, and what we actually do goes far beyond what we physically create. LELO is driven by an insatiable curiosity, a desire to explore and refine the space where digital technology and human sensation intersect. That’s what makes us unique, different, and uniquely different.

Our uniqueness is rooted in our design-led approach to our products. We have an intrinsic and instantly recognizable design DNA; principles which inform all of our creations from start to finish and which evolve over time to stay ahead of the tide. This means that we, like no other brand, can offer our customers new sensations before they even know they want them. How do we do that? By always looking beyond ourselves, beyond our products and beyond our industry.”

What you’ll win:

• One full tuition to A-Camp X, including five days and nights of food, lodging, linens, programming and entertainment;
• The shuttle to and from LAX;
• The experience of a lifetime!
• And a Nea 2!

You are responsible for your own travel costs to and from LAX, whether by plane or train or automobile.

How to enter to win LELO’s campership:

If you want to go to A-Camp X, LELO is here to help. Here’s how to enter to win LELO’s campership:

1. Be available to attend this A-Camp X in Ojai from May 16 to May 21, 2018.
2. Between today, March 23, and March 27 at 11:59 pm PST, follow @Lelo_Official and @Autostraddle on Instagram if you aren’t already!
3. Like the LELO campership contest post on @autostraddle.
4. Tag a friend in the Instagram comments. Each tag is an entry, so tag as many friends as you want for more chances to win!

The deadline is Tuesday, March 27, at 11:59 pm PST.

This contest is open from today, Friday March 23, and runs until Tuesday March 27 at 11:59 pm PST. All entries must be received by March 27 at 11:59 pm to be eligible. The winner will be notified on April 2nd by Instagram DM!

Please only enter the contest if you can commit to attending A-Camp X, including having the means to transport yourself to and from LAX to catch the shuttle to camp.

And whether you’re applying for LELO’s campership or not, make sure to check out reviews of their products and find LELO on Facebook, on Twitter, on Instagram, or in your (in)box! #LELO

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Campership Alert: GladRags Wants to Send You to A-Camp and Change Your Life

A-Camp X is right around the corner, and GladRags, a rad feminist company that has been making comfortable, reusable menstrual products since 1993, wants to send one lucky human to camp for free! Plus, they’ll hook you up with the reusable menstrual product of your choice! Could this human be you?!

GladRags is a small business based in Portland, OR with a big mission: changing lives. The company ships comfortable, thoughtfully-designed reusable menstrual products to customers all over the world. They make super comfy cloth pads to suit every flow, and those pads also work well for postpartum bleeding and light stress incontinence. GladRags also has its own thoughtfully-designed menstrual cup, XO Flo, created after years and years of customer feedback and research. GladRags’ products provide menstruators of all types with body-friendly, versatile options that they can rely on for years.

The GladRags office currently consists of three awesome menstruators (not synced up, though! MYTH BUSTED!) and three sweet pups. When they’re not hard at work changing the world one pantyliner at a time, they’re making lots of dad jokes and trying to persuade each other to go on snack runs. A small but mighty extended support team helps with marketing and for special projects like their recent (gorgeous) packaging upgrade. Also part of their team is their non-profit partner, PERIOD, Inc., a youth-led activist organization working to break down taboos while providing homeless menstruators with free period supplies.

GladRags has been in the reusable menstrual product game since the 90s – “before it was considered cool,” owner Tracy Puhl said. She went on to emphasize that she’s happy that the “reusables revolution” is catching on, and that she thinks the fact that folks now have options when choosing a reusable menstrual brand product is awesome. The period taboos are being talked about and the demand for better products with less waste is increasing, and that’s a great thing. “If we’re gonna toot our own horn, we think we’re pretty exceptional when it comes to putting education, inclusivity, and period positivity at the forefront of our brand,” Tracy said. “And, as a certified B Corporation, we are committed to doing all we can to use business as a force for good. Toot toot.”

Today, the force for good GladRags is championing is sending an individual to A-Camp, Autostraddle’s unique and dynamic queer adult camp. What made them decide to fund a campership for A-Camp X?

We’re in the business of changing lives. We hear it time and time again from customers – and it’s happened to us! – that using GladRags products leads to body positivity, and a happier, healthier period. There’s a shift in how you view your body when you move past the “ick factor” of menstrual blood and embrace it as normal, and your relationship with your period improves. Sending someone to A-Camp (and hooking them up with the right reusable menstrual care products) is like a double-whammy of positive life change! We’re proud to make inclusive products for all menstruators, and to stand up as allies for the marginalized among us.

How To Apply

An important FYI: you are eligible for this contest even if you don’t menstruate!

• • Sign up for GladRags email list below!
  • Follow @GladRagsPads on Instagram!
  • Find the A-Camp X Campership post on the GladRags Instagram.
  • Comment on the post and answer one of the two questions:
    • How will A-Camp change your life OR
    • How will GladRags change your life?
  • That’s all! You’re done!

Deadline is Wednesday, March 21

This contest begins today, on Friday March 16, and runs through Wednesday, March 21. All comments must be posted to the GladRags Instagram account by 11:59pm PST on Wednesday, March 21 to be considered eligible. The GladRags team will read over all the comments and choose a winner. The winner will be notified on March 26th and will receive a full campership and the reusable menstrual product of their choice!

Please do not enter the contest if you cannot commit to attending A-Camp X – this includes having the means to transport yourself to and from the magical place that is camp.

And whether you’re applying for the Campership or not, be sure to check out GladRags and the variety of reusable menstrual products they create! It just might change your life.

Want to learn more about GladRags? Check out the GladRags website, subscribe to the GladRags newsletter, follow GladRags on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest, and like GladRags on Facebook!

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A-Camp Spring 2018: It’s Time To Donate and/or Apply for Camperships!

Sometimes you wanna go to A-Camp but you just can’t afford it, and sometimes you don’t really want to go to A-Camp but totally could afford it, and if we mash both of those types of people together, we create a symbiotic relationship known as “the campership.” Although we have lots of good ideas around here, this particular idea just-so-happens to be yours.

Our campership program has sent around 60 people to camp on full or partial camperships. This session is gonna be particularly kickass: we’re at a brand-new location in Ojai, California, and our talent line-up includes Mary Lambert, Mara Wilson, Liza Dye, Jen Richards, Gaby Dunn, Be Steadwell, Brittani Nichols and Kim Milan! We’re gonna have some great guest instructors and TWO SWIMMING POOLS.

This year we have two options for donating and applying to the campership fund:

1. The typical way — contributing to the A-Camp Campership fund via Paypal and applying via our website. Applications are open to anybody, although full camperships are only available to first-time campers.
2. The A-Camp Arts & Resistance Fund, a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. If you go this route, your donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law, and you will be supporting camperships specifically for QTPOC. You can read more about that here and you can donate here.

Now, let’s hear from some of the wonderful human beings who were able to attend A-Camp 8.0 (which was officially our 9th camp, because we called our eighth camp “7.5”) in Wisconsin BECAUSE OF YOU. If you’d like to read further testimonials that’d tug at your heartstrings, you can do so here: Fall 2016, Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014, Fall 2013, Spring 2013 and Fall 2012.

There will also be some special camperships and sponsored camperships announced in the coming weeks!

Mika, 25 – Minneapolis, MN

I fucking love camp. I know I’m gonna sound corny as hell but camp really changed my life in a way I wasn’t expecting.

When I applied to go to camp I did so knowing that it could compromise a lot of things in my life. I’ve been an Autostraddle reader since like 2010, it’s been with me forever in a way, it’s guided me through so many things. This was a dream I’d had for a long time. At the time of my application I was struggling with stuff I couldn’t quite grasp or wasn’t ready to yet, and just from a gut feeling I decided it was the time to apply, kinda like phone-a-friend in, not really knowing much more.

I know camp can have a lot of ups and downs, I know we are all kind of homosexuals having a panic attack any given day, but what camp did for me was remind me of who I am, who I’ve always been, and that much in hogwarts fashion: if you ask for help, help will be given.

“What camp did for me was remind me of who I am, who I’ve always been, and that, much in Hogwarts fashion; if you ask for help, help will be given.”

Again, I know it’s corny but I was able to breathe at a time I had forgotten how. There was one specific workshop that by the time I left I had to run to the woods to just cry, because for a minute or so I felt held and like, I held others. It was honestly magic and cathartic and it changed everything.

I’ll always keep that with me, I’m glad I fought like hell to go, because without it I wouldn’t have been reminded how much my life is worth. I’ll forever be grateful to camp for reminding me that, like an old friend.

Anna, 36 – Green Bay, WI

My intentions for A-Camp 2017 were simple enough: I wanted to meet interesting people, share in-person space with other queer and trans folks, and have some fun during an otherwise difficult year. Camp vastly exceeded these expectations, and I was surprised by how much it also helped me gain confidence in being my queer, trans, nerdy self.

I’m somewhat introverted and anxiety-prone, and navigating new spaces can feel pretty daunting – especially if I’m by myself and meeting lots of new people. I’m usually a homebody who doesn’t push too far out of my comfort zone, so venturing out to my first A-Camp was both exhilarating and a little scary.

“This was the kind of community I longed for, and I surprised myself by how quickly I let my guard down and opened up to new friends and experiences.”

To my delight, everyone I met at camp made me feel so welcome and excited for the days to come. My cabinmates, the staff, and other campers all made A-Camp feel like coming home. This was the kind of community I longed for, and I surprised myself by how quickly I let my guard down and opened up to new friends and experiences.

Over the next few days of camp I attended superb workshops, laughed (and cried) at the terrific evening entertainment events, and shared some profoundly beautiful moments with my friends. I even danced late into the night for the first time in 15 years, and being me — truly me — never felt so good.

I feel such an incredible amount of gratitude for these experiences and for the people who make camp everything it is. I’m especially thankful for everyone who contributed to the campership fund and helped make such a dream come true for me.

Diana, 27 – Rosemead, CA

After years of experiencing what is now referred to as FOMO, I took a risk and submitted my campership essay. I didn’t think I’d get it because like, who do I think I am? I never win anything! But to my surprise, when I found that golden email from Riese within my inbox, I cannot tell you how meaningful it felt to be seen. While growing up gay in a strict Catholic household, the concept of obtaining an adequate sense of self-worth seemed too far in the distance for me to fully grasp. But once I eventually stopped genuflecting around my queerness and stepped out of the closet, it took some time to reverse the mentality that led me to believe that I didn’t deserve anything. Plus it’s very hard to connect with anyone while sitting high upon a mountain’s worth of disappointment.

Even at my most inaccessible, Autostraddle always seemed to inch its way into my heart. Most readers would agree that the sense of community found here is something we had longed for in our wildest dreams. And camp is essentially the IRL version of our digital refuge. A-Camp was to be my chance to connect with community because even at 27, it was something I’d never fully experienced yet. Plus this was my chance to hit the reset button on my childhood camp experiences. Those kids were so cruel and now the queers will help make it all feel better! The weeks leading up to camp were a blur but when it happened, it became very apparent that this place was everything!

“My cabin-mates and cabin-counselors proved that unconditional love can be healing and reciprocated without question.”

When you arrive, the collective feeling of excitement wraps you up into the warmest embrace. I felt that feeling the most when spending time with my cabin-mates and cabin-counselors, who serve as proof that unconditional love can be healing and reciprocated without question. Those moments we shared on the floor of our cabin, on the wet grass within flashes of Midwestern silence or way too deep within a dance circle at klub deer; all of these things — though warm and fuzzy and seeped in liquor — they are the best kind of memories that you carry for the rest of your life. And let’s be honest here pals, where else can you attend a rope bondage workshop, sing an acapella version of a song that was penned by the originator of a universal baby queer anthem, take in Heather Hogan’s brilliant rundown of bad asses who brewed beer, gleefully geek out with fellow Buffering fans, process several unsuccessful tinder matches through the healing powers of art & crafts, make a pin hole camera out of a beer can, trade smiles and stories with your long lost chosen family, feel so validated within the incomparable safe space that is the QTPOC Speakeasy, hear the most beautiful sounds and see the most wonderful movements that a bunch of really talented queers easily accomplish (on and off stage) without breaking a sweat, feel all the feels at the staff reading, witness a beautifully touching quince celebration, get great tips on writing out your thoughts, learn how to speak up without fear, incessantly blush over a crush, indulge in some cheese and feel like a lush overcome by wine while someone is slapping the bag as you are trying to craft the most perfectly apt boxed wine review? There’s so much more to share as this place cannot be contained!

Post-Camp, you’ll go home to realize that you achieved what seemed to be the impossible. Not only does everything suddenly feel so attainable, not only is it possible to accept the affections of others, not only is it easier to love yourself but best of all, you will leave camp exponentially gayer than you arrived! But seriously, I am so grateful for my campership and I encourage everyone to apply because it changes your life! One thing’s for sure, you will always be able to find yourself in the woods as it is a good place to be. It’s where queers realize we are forever free.

Bailey, 29 – London, UK

A-Camp 8.0 was my second camp! Two words come to mind with 8.0: flogging and friendships. But to really thrash out the impact of A-Camp, let’s rewind to my first…

A little before A-Camp 7.5, I got sober. I was miserable and isolated, keeping my decision a secret. Coming to A-Camp was scary for a medley of reasons, the main one was my want — my need — to remain sober as I worked through my shit. In the end, I found so many new folks who just-so-happened to have shit to deal with too. A-Camp was the first queer event / party / experience I’d gone to expecting to feel uncomfortable without alcohol but once there, realized there was nothing to be uncomfortable about.

“A-Camp is a place I can be queer as fuck, brown as fuck, not give any fucks and that’s OKAY!”

I remembered everything that happened — my cabin’s own documentarian — and I kept those experiences with me. I applied for a partial campership for A-Camp 8.0 and received confirmation a few days after my birthday. I replied right away: “I am crying with joy inside. Happy birthday to meeee.”

When A-Camp 8.0 came around, I was down for anything thrown my way. On the first day our cabin flogged a pizza piñata, screaming at it before we shifted to a mini dance party (disclaimer: not all cabins are this wild.) I guess you could say from then on we were family. Wildfires huddled together outside the hall one night telling secrets consisting of everything from camp crushes to most recent bowel movements.

A-Camp is a place I can be queer as fuck, brown as fuck, not give any fucks and that’s OKAY! It’s a place where I can feel influenced and inspired by other creative and successful queers. I can share meals with people I wouldn’t normally organize a potluck with. I can attend workshops from songwriting to queer parenting, masculine of center dancing to collage. I can take part in game shows and escape rooms. I can hear all the debauchery my cabin mates got up to and be there when they need that second opinion on whether or not to hook up with so and so in the cabin over there even though so and so hooked up with so and so in the bunk next to them the night before.

A-Camp really is that queer and simple. A place to be you! Not only do I hope you enjoy your experience at A-Camp, but I hope you’re able to take something away from it. What I’ve taken away from A-Camp are all of the connections that have allowed me to enjoy lunch in Chicago with Ines, stay with Tahirah in Washington D.C., buy creepy cat hologram postcards in Los Angeles with Reneice and continue conversations with Dera about where in the world our paths would cross best. If things don’t work out, we’ll always have A-Camp.

Steph, 22 – Austin, TX

It was comforting to see folks I knew present in the planning component or photos from past camps. A-Camp seems like one of those things that’s hard to believe is real, so having that context made it much more accessible and tangible.

I was so grateful to win a campership. I’d never been to camp before. As a young child, my summers were spent in Mexico, and as a teenager, I was playing bad noise rock with my friends. I had no idea what to expect other than crafts and queers. Don’t get me wrong, A-Camp had a lot of that.

I anticipated arriving to camp for weeks leading up to it, sharing with anyone that would listen. It wasn’t difficult to find the group of campers gathered near baggage check at O’Hare. Old friends reunited and all shared traveling stories.

“The QTPOC-specific spaces were very necessary and appreciated. Through these workshops we could connect through food, media, kink, and anti-racism all in the same day.”

At Opening Ceremonies, it was the quietest it had been after a long day of travel and getting settled at camp, to have Riese share why A-Camp was created and how powerful it was to have us all together.

My cabin was filled with majority first-time A-Camp attendees. It was comforting to share that when it felt as though everyone at camp already knew each other very well. s/o to Hot Springs for feeling like I had something to come home to every night of camp. It’s been incredible to see my bunkmates grow after sharing this experience.

It’s easy to get comfortable in your own queer community and circles. A-Camp brought so many different people together for this weekend in the mountains to support, affirm, and challenge one another. I loved seeing the workshops offered and executed by those that were passionate about presenting them to this group. The QTPOC-specific spaces were very necessary and appreciated. Through these workshops we could connect through food, media, kink, and anti-racism all in the same day. The intention to create these spaces in the tr*mp era is absolutely vital to keep reminding us that were are family working to survive every day.

Also, have I mentioned that camp is really fun?? I loved all the stand-up sets, the bouncy house, and just enjoyed being somewhere where queer joy was all around me.

If you feel conflicted about supporting this project financially, know that you’re contributing to folks feeling safe and empowered. Through all the frills and the perfectly executed summer camp vibe, this is an an opportunity for folks to be their authentic selves.

Anonymous, 20 – Baton Rouge, LA

The first time I read about A-Camp, it immediately struck me as an unbelievable experience and one that I knew I wanted. I think I read every page on the website… and I distinctly remember seeing the price and feeling my stomach drop. True to my nature, I bookmarked the site and tried to put it out of my mind.

Flash forward to spring of 2017. I was on Autostraddle.com, probably procrastinating studying for some upcoming exams, and I stumbled across a call to apply for “camperships.” On somewhat of a whim, I decided that I might as well try, and if nothing came out of it I would just wait until I graduated college and had enough money. So I wrote my heart out and submitted my campership application. A few months later I got an email that a campership had opened up and Riese was offering the spot to me. Y’all. I started crying as I read it.

I am also an anxious bug, so once I replied with confirmation and booked my plane tickets, I was especially grateful for the moral obligation to attend (you can’t transfer camperships!!!!)

In retrospect, attending is one of the best things I’ve done for myself so far. A-Camp is AN EXPERIENCE. I teared up periodically throughout camp, sometimes just overwhelmed with thankfulness to be in a room full of queer folks. For us, by us.

“Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more seen or affirmed than during the QTPOC speakeasy.”

You are in for amazing workshops! Your heart will be cracked open and also mended, stronger than ever, and you will dance (if that’s your thing), and meet the most incredible people and have the privilege to see/hear ridiculously wonderful performances by incredible queer women and non-binary folks. Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more seen or affirmed than during the QTPOC speakeasy. The whole camp experience was out of my comfort zone (somewhat-strangers!) but I was also somehow, simultaneously, very much at peace and connected with so many people.

I left with more strength and hope and joy, and I am so thankful for the friendships I made and the community being fostered here (during camp and after). I want to thank everyone who made it possible for me to attend. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. And to anyone reading this, if you’re thinking about A-Camp and $$$ is holding you back, please apply for a campership!

Sasha, 31 – Sunnyvale, CA

All my life, I’ve been the sassy black friend in the movie. You know, that one who is cute, funny, and seems awesome, but has no storyline of her own besides being late to things, or somehow getting ketchup on her shirt. The story has never been about me.

EXCEPT AT A-CAMP.

You guys, it was like being the protagonist of a homofriendly teen movie! I was in a cabin full of other fun, interesting, queerdos. There were friendly beautiful, silly, amazingly hot queer folks everywhere. I cannot stress enough how attractive everyone there was. It was quite overwhelming! I got to take part in amazingly fun and creative activities. I did things that scared me, that embarrassed me greatly; I was goofy and felt deeply. I was a part of it.

“A-Camp was like being the protagonist of a homofriendly teen movie!”

I met this really cute girl. We did crafts together, we talked, we danced. I gave her a flower. We held hands and went to the big dance together. It was beautiful and pure, safe and free. Other campers looked at us and smiled. We kissed. It was kinda cheesy how adorable it all was. There was an openness in my heart that night like I’ve never felt before. I was present and fully part of this magical world that A-Camp had built around me.

The activities, programming, and performances at A-Camp were all lovely, special, and felt like they were made for my little lesbian self. But the real gift of this experience is the joy and acceptance that is being with your people.

Mahdia, 29 – Chicago, IL

I needed a gaycation.

That was the opening line of my A-Camp application: “I need a gaycation.” As a community organizer in a post-Cheeto Prez world, I was the busiest I’ve ever been and running on fumes. I’ve always been “organizer” first, a “” next, and “authentically myself without fear” right around “Never.” For me, A-Camp was a space where I could catch my breath and prioritize myself for once.

In all, it was a pretty great gaycation. I woke up early to explore the beautiful campgrounds, had great conversations with amazing people, made a mini-succulent garden (which has GROWN btw and is thriving still), and one of my bunkmates was a T-Rex (who was surprisingly good at trivia).

A-Camp was the first time I’ve been to a queer social space where I felt like I could be present and uncompromisingly myself 100% of the time I was there. As a disabled person, accessibility can be a nightmare on camp-style spaces, but the planning team made a commitment to prioritize accessibility every step of the way and for once, I felt like I could fully participate in the entire Camp experience. Not only that — I was able to join in on workshops on disabled sexuality and connecting with other disabled queers was truly transformative.

Kira, 24 – Salt Lake City, UT

I was nervous when I submitted the campership application, and when I got accepted I was thrilled and honestly very nervous! I didn’t know what to expect. I’d finally come to terms with myself, but I was afraid to be myself. I was lost. I was living in a conservative, mostly-Mormon state, and didn’t know if I could be myself, much less be myself with other people like me.

I’m grateful I got the campership that also came with partial travel help because at the time, I was homeless, and that extra help made it possible to go to A-Camp. But, as someone who’s only left Utah twice in her life, flying was nerve-wracking. I didn’t know what to expect. I was nervous, terrified, and had anxiety up the roof. I’m a trans woman of color who was still taking the steps to understand herself.

“Reliving it is like reliving a dream, something I wish I could go through over and over again.”

When I got to the airport in Milwaukee, I saw the group, but walked by them, not sure how to approach. When I did approach, it was nice — people didn’t ask questions or second-guess my appearance. They accepted me right away. When I got to my cabin I was accepted almost immediately. No one gave me weird looks or asked me about “being born a guy.” It was such a relief, and one of the most heartwarming feelings of my life.

Reliving it is like reliving a dream, something I wish I could go through over and over again. My first official day, I was still nervous about interacting with my cabinmates, but that first breakfast was nice. I made fast friends with some of my cabinmates, and went through the first set of workshops with them. I got to know them and was able to plan for the rest of the week. The gap before dinner is when we all really talked and I started to feel at home and accepted.

What really made this experience the best by far is the people. There were many activities and all of them where great and wonderful but the people in those activities is what made things fun. I never felt left out and never felt the need to wear a mask or over-compensate. There was never an issue with bathrooms, which was a huge concern for me. People accepted me. People egged me on, listened to me and made this by far the best experience I have ever had in 2017.

Leaving tore me up. I wasn’t ready to go back to real life but it wasn’t really the end. I still talk with a lot of the friends I made from A-Camp, and they’ve helped me out more then once with my real life struggles. It’s wonderful. The friendships and memories from that camp will last forever. I still dream of moments where I’m at camp, in the Yurt with my cabin-mates, or in our cabin with the Sarah Paulson cut-out.

If you wanna make somebody’s dream come true, you can donate to the campership fund right this minute! A full campership (which includes shuttles & linens) is $800, or you can donate any small amount you wish because it all adds up. If you’d like to make a tax-deductable donation, you can do so through the Arts & Resistance Fund.

Introducing Camp Autostraddle X

I am here today because I am gay, and also to announce that registration is officially open for our tenth anniversary A-Camp event, taking place this May in beautiful Ojai, California!

That’s right — after four years and seven A-Camps at Alpine Meadows in the San Bernardino Mountains and two A-Camps in Wisconsin, we’re heading back to the Southern California coast, setting up shop at a gorgeous new site that we truly believe will enable our collective dreams to come true at last. We deserve a bigger, brighter tomorrow, free of rained-out pool parties (Wisconsin), dusty rocky ankle-twisting pathways (Alpine), frigid nights (Wisconsin) and stomach-churning altitude (Alpine). We deserve an accessible site, a roomy dining hall, and SO MANY FRUIT TREES.

What Is A-Camp?

A-Camp, an idea I had in the middle of the night about seven years ago, is a manifestation of this website in three entire dimensions, mixed with a dash of old-fashioned summer camp goodness and an infusion of conference-style programming. A-Camp is workshops, panels, classes, meet-ups, discussion groups, crafts, activities and performances designed to inspire, educate, entertain, build community, and make you laugh. It’s a chance to support Autostraddle, be kids again, and make new friends forever — and it’s been wildly successful, with the waitlists to prove it. We’ve held spectacular A-Camps in April 2012, September 2012, May 2013, October 2013, May 2014, June 2015, June 2016, October 2016 and May 2017.

A-Camp has created much-needed community and safe space for LGBTQ women, non-binary and other trans folks from all over the world. It is a queermonormative refuge from the burning hellfire of our current political climate. It’s a space to let go and have fun, while also strengthening our commitment to resistance and community care.

When

7:00 PM May 16th – 11:00 AM May 21st

On May 16th, we’ll be running shuttles from LAX to the campsite from 12:00 to 2:30 PM. Registration will open at 4pm on the 16th, dinner will run from 7-8 and opening ceremonies commence at 9pm. On May 21st, shuttles will leave camp for LAX at 10:30 AM, and we ask all campers to hit the road by 11 AM.

Where

Just 90 minutes from Los Angeles and right outside of Ventura, Ojai is a “charmingly hip wine mom of a town” and a popular weekend escape located at the foot of the Topatopa Mountains. Our campsite is a secluded retreat nestled into the Ojai hills, offering fresh mountain air, a peaceful wooded setting, and so much more: we’ve got two swimming pools with waterslides, basketball and tennis courts, softball fields, a gorgeous chapel, two libraries, two teaching kitchens, three arts & crafts rooms, a secluded treehouse and meditation platform, an adventure course, climbing wall, outdoor amphitheaters, an orange grove, a rec lounge with pool and ping-pong, and multiple lodging options to ensure everybody is comfortable, happy, and ready to have SO MUCH FUN.

Who?

You weirdos! At past A-Camps, half our campers have been over 25 and half under 25, and they’ve come from all over the world. Usually 50% of our campers are new and 50% are returning. Although initially created as a space specifically for lesbian, bisexual and queer women (cis and trans, of course!), A-Camp now also welcomes non-binary people and trans men.

Also: Us! We are headed up by A-Camp Directors Marni Kellison & Robin Roemer, and in order to give you the broadest range of programming possible, we’ve got a staff-to-camper ratio of about 1:6, with staff members mostly drawn from Autostraddle the website. Kristin Russo, who co-directed our past three A-Camps, has to take the year off, so Robin, who co-directed our first six A-Camps, has returned for a victory lap!

In order to best serve the needs of our diverse community, we also have four leadership positions addressing specific camper populations: two QTPOC Speakeasy Leaders, one C.U.T.I.E. (Consultant/Coordinator Undertaking Trans Inclusion & Experiences), and one Accessibility Maven. The QTPOC Speakeasy, headed up by Mackenzie McDade and Yvonne Marquez and built up by all our QTPOC staff, celebrates the diversity of our group with frequent activities and community spaces specifically for QTPOC campers. We’ll also have designated go-to staffers for Sober campers and Newbies.

How Much?

For a Limited Time: Only $695 Total* or $139/night!

• 3 meals/day and snacks (with options for vegans, vegetarians, gluten-frees, and so forth)
• 5 nights accommodation in cabins sleeping 12-18 people
• 100+ programming options: crafts, panels, workshops & adventures
• A dedicated staff with a staff to camper ratio of 1:6
• 5 Nights of Stellar Entertainment
• Kickass swag bag with your A-Camp tee and other cool goodies from indie and queer businesses.

* Early Bird Pricing — tuition goes up to $735 after February 14th.

This site is significantly more expensive than our previous sites —if we adjusted the cost proportionately, this camp would cost $1,404 per person. But we’re not doing that, ’cause we want to make this accessible to as many campers as possible (NOW MORE THAN EVER!), even if it cuts into the profit we need so desperately to keep this website afloat. So we have a different plan to try to make up what we’re losing on basic tuition, and if you’d like to read more about that, then you can do so here. (Part of the plan is our premium housing, which we’re about to discuss!)

If you’re able to pay a little more, then please donate to our campership fund.

Accommodations

We have two options for accommodations at our new site:

The standard camp experience! Cabins sleep 12-20 people each, with 2-4 private bathrooms and showers inside each cabin, and are all within walking distance of a freshly renovated bathhouse with extra showers should you require them. There’s lots of storage and all cabins are located near each other and the main camp area.

The Dolphin Inn or The Hotel California: The Dolphin Inn has 14 hotel-style rooms on two floors, and The Hotel California has 16 hotel-style rooms on two floors. Each furnished room sleeps one or two people each and has a large private bathroom with tub/shower. Hotel/Inn guests can also enjoy a shared common area with couches and tables, as well as refrigerators for the exclusive use of guests. We’re still sorting out if it’s possible to also provide microwaves and toasters. Also, some special amenities/goodies TBD.

Your “cabin group” will be the residents of your inn/hotel, and you’ll have assigned counselors just like they’ve got in the bunks!

A shared room (with one roommate) is $850 + $75 registration fee per person, and a private room is $950 + $75 registration fee per person. Rooms with twin beds can be combined into a queen by request.

Daytime Programming

You’ll have full access to a variety of activities, workshops, panels, sports, discussion groups, classes and arts & crafts, offering a variety of tones to set for your week.

Activities offered at previous A-Camps include…

Arts & Crafts: Itty-Bitty Avocado Jewelry * Leather Fobs * Dapper Collar Pins * Kinky Cross-Stitch * Coptic Bookbinding * DIY Oracle Decks * Chingona Chats and Crafts: Sacred Queer Heart Shrines * Look After Yourself: Self-Portraits * Nerdcraft * Make A Thing: Merit Badges * Finger Knittin’ Good * Pit Stop: DIY Deodorant

Workshops:  Learn to Magish  Shibari Rope Bondage * Erotica Writing * We’ve Got Your Back: Community Care * YO! A-Camp Raps! * Slam Poetry * Queer Astrology 101 * Lez Talk About Sex(ual Health) * Swagger 101 * String Cheese & Boxed Wine Tasting * Casual Sext * Feminist Improv Troupe  Gay Your Makeup * Great Grilled Cheese Bake-Off

Sports, Games, Etc: Masculine-of-Center Stage * A-Campella * Basketball Wives * Chair-Dancing * Self Defense 101 * Queerleading * Rock Yoga * Beyonce’s Dance Grooves * Canoeing * Pop Science Trivia * Mindfulness & Meditation * Haus of Vogue * Hogwarts Trivia

Discussion Groups, Panels & Presentations: Gender Panel * Ally Ally Oxen Free: Making Queer Spaces Better for Trans Women * Changing the Narrative: The Importance of QTPOC Fiction * Gaming, Identity and Community * Queer People of Color Politicking & Zine-Making * Mixed-Race/Biracial/Multi-racial Discussion Group * Profesh Pantsuit Power Hour * Mommy Queerest: Queer Parenting Panel * Tardy for the Party: A Coming Out Later In Life Discussion Group * Mountaintop Bisexual Discussion Group and Hummus Appreciation Society * Real Talk: Your Relationship Doesn’t Have To Suck

Nighttime Entertainment

Autostraddle After Dark is where our Special Guests shine most brightly, and where you get a chance to dance your ass of in a ridiculous costume. Past A-Camp After Dark activities have included stand-up comedy from Cameron Esposito, Deanne Smith, Brittani Nichols, Gaby Dunn, El Sanchez and Rhea Butcher; sexy game shows hosted by Julie Goldman and Brandy Howard; the legendary Staff Reading; Talent Shows; Variety Nights hosted by Hannah Hart and Jasika Nicole and concerts featuring musicians including Julia Nunes, Jenny Owen Youngs, Be Steadwell, Mal Blum, Bell’s Roar, Haviland Stillwell and Somer Bingham.

The last night always brings a kickass themed dance party and a performance from the legendary A-Camp Family Band, with lots of special guests (last camp, we had Mara Wilson doing “Dancing On My Own” and it was EPIC.)

Special Guests 

Mary Lambert, Musician

As a singer/songwriter and spoken word artist, Mary Lambert is most known for her heart-wrenching vocals in the 2012 global anthem, “Same Love”. Writing and singing the hook led to two Grammy nominations for “Song Of The Year” and “Album Of The Year”, as well as the iconic performance alongside pop legend Madonna at the 2014 Grammys. Mary Lambert isn’t your typical pop artist. Inspired by confessional folk singers as well as spoken-word performers, she is a brutally candid writer who deals directly in her art with her past traumas and lived experience. Lambert was raised in an abusive home, attempted suicide at 17, turned to drugs and alcohol before being diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and survived multiple sexual assaults throughout her childhood. With a list of horrors, you wouldn’t expect Mary to be disarmingly joyful, but she charms effortlessly, and the effect on her audience is bewitching. She describes her performances as “safe spaces where crying is encouraged; My entire prerogative is about connection, about being present, and facilitating true and genuine catharsis. Also, fart jokes.

Jen Richards, Writer / Actresss

Jen Richards is a writer & actress, as well as a consultant & advocate. She is the Co-Writer/Star/Producer of the series Her Story, which was nominated for an Emmy and won Gotham and Peabody awards; Co-Producer of the documentary More Than T (Showtime) and Writer of its accompanying Trans 102 series (Refinery 29); a 2016 Outfest Screenwriting Fellow for her feature script Any Given Week; and can be seen in CBS’s Doubt, CMT’s Nashville, FX’s Better Things, Seeso’s Take My Wife, the film Easy Living, and Two Sentence Horror Stories (Stage 13). Jen was a series regular on E!’s I Am Cait, featured in Logo’s Beautiful As I Want To Be and AOL’s True Trans with Laura Jane Grace, covered live events for Logo, has appeared in several videos for BuzzFeed, OWN, and After Ellen, and countless podcasts and YouTube shows. She is a columnist for NewNowNext, has published essays on multiple platforms, and wrote the 2015 Sep/Oct cover story “What Trans Movement?” for The Advocate. She was previously the Co-Founder and Director of The Trans 100, creator of We Happy Trans, a website dedicated to celebrating positive transgender experiences.

Be Steadwell, Musician

Be Steadwell is a singer songwriter from Washington DC.  Be believes that all people deserve cheesy pop songs-so she writes supergay music and calls it queerpop.  In her live performances, she utilizes looping, vocal layering and beat boxing to compose her songs on stage.

In 2017, Be sang in The Women’s March behind Maxwell and Janelle Monae.  The Astraea Global Arts Fund awarded Be a grant to produce her new album, Queer Love Songs.  In September, Be had the opportunity to open for Big Freedia at DC’s Honeygroove Festival.    The DC Commission in the Arts awarded Be with the 2018 Artist Fellowship.  Be is currently touring her music and screening her film Vow of Silence internationally.

Gaby Dunn, Writer / Actress / Comedian 

Gaby Dunn is a bisexual writer, actress, YouTuber, and podcaster based in Los Angeles. Her book I Hate Everyone But You was a NYT Best Seller in 2017 and her new book Bad With Money comes out from Simon and Schuster this year.

Liza Dye, Comedian 

Liza Dye is a standup comedian, writer, actress and occasional disc jokey based in Los Angeles, California. You may have heard her on Call Chelsea Peretti Podcast or seen her do standup at Ilana Glazer’s Snowbird Series or you may follow her on Twitter where she is very active in the Celesbian Gossip™ world. Previously living in NYC, Liza is mostly known for her insane subway accident story from 2014, which garnered a lot of attention from the elite comedy community. Liza attempts to use the pain from her traumatic injury and transform it into humor for her standup sets, which you can catch around Los Angeles.

Mara Wilson, Author/Actress

Mara Wilson is a recovering child actor perhaps best known for playing the title role in the movie Matilda. She now works as a writer, voice-over actor, and storyteller. Her voice can be heard on BoJack Horseman and Welcome to Night Vale, and her writing has been featured in The New York Times, The Guardian, McSweeney’s, The Toast, and many other places. She is the creator and host of the storytelling show What Are You Afraid Of?, and in 2016, her first book, Where Am I Now? was published by Penguin Books.

Brittani Nichols, Actress / Comedian

Brittani Nichols is a writer, comedian, and actor living in Los Angeles. Prior to her career in television and film, Brittani’s writing could be found in various places on the internet including Autostraddle, Jezebel, Huffington Post, and Buzzfeed. Words With Girls, a comedy pilot (based on the webseries of the same name) which she created and starred, was produced as part of Issa Rae’s Color Creative TV and premiered at HBO/BET’s Urbanworld Film Festival in 2014. Brittani was a recurring character on Season 2 of Transparent and guest starred on the IFC series, Boxed In. She currently co-hosts Brand New Podcast with her neighbor and friend, Ariana Lenarsky.

Suicide Kale, the feature she produced, wrote, and starred is currently available SVOD after winning the Audience Award at both Outfest and Newfest amongst other festival awards. Some of Brittani’s most recent television writing credits include Take My Wife and Drop the Mic. She just finished writing for the second season of Strangers which will be available on Facebook later this year.

Camperships & Tuition Discounts

• Your generosity has sent over 50 deserving humans to A-Camp over the past five years and you’ll have the chance to make dreams come true again this year by donating to the campership fund! We take donations of all sizes, and to keep things simple, we’re pricing full camperships at $800 each. This covers tuition, shuttles, and linens. If the recipient doesn’t need tuition/shuttles/linens, they’ll get $80 in credit for fee-workshops or A-Camp canteen purchases. We’ll have a post up soon sharing the stories from some of last camp’s campership recipients.

• You can apply for camperships here. All campership applications must be in by February 20th, but we’ll be assessing applications on a rolling basis up until the 20th, so get yours in as soon as possible and you may hear back from us about an opportunity sooner!

• We also recognize that as A-Camp becomes more expensive it becomes harder to maintain the diversity we require for a truly successful A-Camp. We encourage campership applicants who are POC and/or trans women, and will have some offers for those groups specifically.

+ If you cannot attend camp without a full Campership, do not register for camp! We reserve spaces for Campershippers so you don’t need to snag one in case you become a Campershipper — that’s been taken care of. If you sign up and then end up getting a full campership, you will not be refunded the $75 registration fee.

+ If you have a business who’d like to sponsor a campership, get in touch with sarah [at] autostraddle.com. Previous sponsors have included Catalyst Wedding Co, Tomboy Toes, OUT Play, Sharpe Suiting, Kipper Clothiers, Scout’s Honor, Kreuzbach10, OK Cupid and Hannah Hart.

+ If you’re a person who’d like to sponsor a campership for a specific demographic, get in touch with cool [at] autostraddle [dot] com. In the past, we’ve had individuals donate camperships specifically for groups including trans women, queer people of color who need help with travel costs, Mexican/Mexican-Americans, people from small towns, and campers from overseas who need help with travel costs.

Okay, I’m in. What now?

If you wanna get on the saddle and trot on over to A-Camp with us this fall, just head over to the registration form where, for the low low price of a $75 non-refundable non-transferable deposit, you can snag your spot. Please read the instructions at the top of the interface page if anything seems complicated or confusing. Please read the instructions even if nothing seems confusing. Just read them for fun!

You’ll also have to add tuition to your cart during the registration process, but you’re not required to pay in full until April 1st. You can make partial payments up until that point. Tuition will go up on February 14th, so we highly advise putting tuition in your cart prior to that date.

For more information about airport shuttles, refund policies and other money-or-travel related questions, please read our FAQ here.

If you need to cancel, you can just log back in to the registration interface and cancel! QUESTIONS ABOUT REGISTRATION OR TRAVEL GO TO cool@autostraddle.com. (“COOL” stands for “Coordinator of Logistics”)

For More Information

On our A-Camp website, you’ll find our FAQ, the staff we’ve got on board so far and a link to register the hell out of your unit. For more information about what goes on at A-Camp, you can check out our recaps from past camps and testimonies from campers about the joy of the experience. (We had to stop doing Recamps in 2016 because of the time it took, but previous camps should still give you a good idea!) Ultimately, A-Camp is whatever you make of it: every camper writes their own story. Come with your heart wide open and do whatever you want.

What are you waiting for?

Register Now!

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Team Pick: “Nancy” Goes To A-Camp

feature image by Robin Roemer

I don’t mean the person (though I’m sure there were many Nancies there). I mean the podcast. Nancy is like gay This American Life. Kathy Tu and Tobin Low create a sound-venture of queerness from the perspective of two Asian-American homogays. I’ve been listening to Nancy since the first episode happened. I teared up; it’s everything I love about podcasts and radio shows with its slice-of-life sensibility, calm intonations, and also it’s 100% gaygaygay content. They have an episode about the “ring of keys” moment. They have an episode about the Pulse shooting. And now, they have an episode in which Kathy Tu, half of team Nancy, goes to A-Camp for the first time.

Now, as you may have gathered from my thousands upon thousands of complaints, I did not get to go to Camp this year; my wife was graduating from law school. This podcast audio, and Kathy herself, was super endearing and it really alleviated some of my sorrow at not being able to be there. I couldn’t stop smiling while listening to everyone being silly and laughing and making cool shit (and Jenny singing!). I loved hearing all my friends talk; the friends I haven’t met yet (I’ll be back at Camp next Spring, so I’ll meet you then!) I already loved Nancy — I’ve been listening since it started. But my love burst forth like a thousand suns.

Kathy Tu and Maggie the Mailperson!

You should listen to this episode if you, too, were sad about not being able to go. Or if you’ve never been and you don’t know what Camp is. Or if you were there and you want to have the cool, cool water of happy queer folks drip dropping upon your heart. Ugh. I’m tearing up a little, guys. I can’t. I’m listening to it right now as I type this and “Heaven is a Place On Earth” is playing and I’m crying LISTEN TO THE THING.

The Babadook was a Special Guest at A-Camp and These Are His Stories

It’s possible that if you’ve perused the internet lately, you may have come across mention of the Babadook‘s meteoric ascent as 2017’s most prolific queer icon. Although the meme allegedly started via Tumblr and Twitter last October, this reporter has been personally trolling the Autostraddle staff with Babadook-related imagery since at least then. In November, I created a Babadook emoji for the Autostraddle slack team which appeared whenever anyone mentioned the words “sleep,” “asleep,” “dream,” “dreaming,” “dreams” or his actual name. He was a real hit.

Erin & the Babadook: the beginning of a beautiful friendship

Later, as the Babadook grew more comfortable with his sexuality (and SOMEONE who works here kept deleting my Slack prompts), he ventured out into other corners of the internet, gradually developing a massively dedicated gay following. Obviously, when May rolled around and it was time for the team to venture out to Wisconsin for A-Camp, our lil buddy tagged along. Babadook loves adventure! He was kind enough to take some time off from his relentless schedule as Grand Marshall of every pride parade ever in order to shoot us a couple of photos from his time in Mukwonago.

All photos are actually taken by Robin Roemer and/or Molly Adams.

These three heartbreakers stormed the “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” dance, turning heads with their bold 80’s-inspired looks.

Babadook loved everything about camp – crafting, attending workshops, messing around in the teaching kitchen, bonding with his cabinmates – but he particularly relished receiving packages from our adorable unofficial mail carrier, Maggie. Did you receive an anonymous love note at camp? Maybe it was from the Babadook!

On the Music Hike, Jenny Owen Youngs and Mal Blum led a team of campers through the woods in search of adventure. Babadook forgot to bring bug spray, but he says it was worth it.

When he wasn’t manning the accessibility shuttle, Babadook took our Program Support guru Megan O’Grady on a scenic tour of the campgrounds. She looks positively delighted.

Who could forget the Babadook’s classic performance with the masculine of center dance team as they writhed around to “Pony” by Ginuwine? I’ll never be able to listen to that song without thinking of him ever again.

Special Programming Director Carly Usdin sent me this snap of the Babadook helping her set up production for Brittani Nichols and Gaby Dunn’s game show night. He ran lights for most of the evening activities.

Still, my dude found the time to participate in game show night, even slithering onstage for an amazing lip sync rendition of “And I Am Telling You” with resident Autostraddle artist Alyssa. These two set tongues wagging when they were later spotted leaving Klub Deer together in what my sources tell me was an “intimate embrace.”

At the all-camp photo, Babadook stood in the back so he wouldn’t block anyone else. Always super considerate, that guy.

Babadook turned out for Autopaddle, taking a kayak out for a peaceful, reflective solo spin around Lake Beulah.

“I’M RIGHT OVER HEEEERE, WHY CAN’T YOU SEE ME, OOOOHHHH…” On the last night, Babadook showed off his more hidden talents by singing backup for the A-Camp Family Band – here, he performs Robyn’s “Dancing On My Own” with fellow queer icons Alaina Monts and Mara Wilson. He really brought the house down!

If you have any other special memories with our pal the Babadook, please feel free to share in the comments.

Heaven is a Place at A-Camp: Femme Looks For The A-Camp May 2017 Dance

As you make your way past the big hair and bigger shoulder pads, you see her. You don’t know her name, but based on her Frankie Says Relax shirt, you guess it might be Frankie. You’ve always had a thing for girls with guy’s names, remember Molly Ringwald as Andie in Pretty in Pink? Wow. You make your way to Frankie, and you check your own hair. Obviously you’re no Annie Lennox, but you are looking great. Really, it’s the hair more than anything that makes 1987 your favorite year so far. Well, the hair, and now Frankie. Frankie looks totally rad.

“Hey Frankie, that’s a totally righteous haircut, love the bangs.”

She smiles and raises one eyebrow. Wow, this girl, is like, totally radical. Like, how did she get so cool? “So, like, is this your first time here?”

“At this bar? Yeah, I’m not much of a party animal, but I am into trying new things. So, Frankie, do you wanna dance? I’m a totally tubular date, I promise.”

She looks at you again with that smile, “You know my name’s not Frankie, right? It’s a song?”

You can feel the crimp in your hair go away. “Oh my gawd! What is my damage??? I’m so embarrassed! I’m a huge nerd!”

She puts a hand on your shoulder, “No, no! Calm down! Nerds are like, totally cool. I like nerds. I like you”

Suddenly, the room stops and you hear the boombox. “Ooh, baby, do you know what that’s worth? Ooh heaven is a place on earth!”

“Oh! This is my song,” Not-Frankie shouts! “Let’s dance! By the way, my name’s Joey, what’s yours?”

Your name is A-Camper and this is your dance.

Black Mirror

The A-Camp dance theme this May is “Heaven is Place On Earth,” so I want to see everyone in their best Billy Idol, Rhythm Nation, Whitney Houston, Jennifer Beals, Ronald Reagan, Paula Abdul, Bruce Springsteen and Jem & The Holograms drag. Obviously we’re gonna start with Yorkie and Kelly, though.

Yorkie is all about normcore meets nerdcore. She’s just herself, you know? Yorkie wears her khaki mom shorts, cute striped sweater and collared shirt; and as Kelly points out, her outfit wouldn’t be complete without her geeky glasses. She’s also disabled, and in our Autostraddle version, she’s proud of that and shows it by wearing this cute Disability Pride Pin.

Kelly on the other hand, is like, totally radical. She knows what fashion is and she knows how to rock it. She’s got those great harem pants and the absolutely cute corset top. To finish it off she has an amazing purple blazer with fringe and studs and a belt and all sorts of embellishments on the shoulders, and it’s impossible to find, but this purple blazer with shoulder studs is a good start.

Bodysuits

I’m hoping that I see so many of these at the dance, just put one of these one with some leggings and a great jacket and do your hair and you’ll knock everyone dead. This Short Sleeve Off Shoulder bodysuit is super cute. This V Front Body with Long Sleeves covers up a bit more but still looks amazing. Finally, this Daisy Street Plus Button Body Suit is absolutely adorable in it’s simplicity.

Dresses/Skirts

If you want to go a more traditional femme route and make a great statement, the Silver ’80s Ruffle Mini Dress or Structured ’80s Bow Cocktail Dress is perfect for you. To get that Robert Palmer backing band look, the Cold Shoulder Long Sleeve Mini Bodycon Dress in Crepe is the way to go. Or you could pair the Leather Look Mini Skirt with ’80s Waist with a cute top and go from there.

Jackets

All of these outfits so far, and most outfits that you could imagine wearing to this dance will only look better when worn with the perfect ’80s jacket. For the perfect leather jacket, I’d suggest the Bershka ’80s Sleeve Leather Look Jacket, but if denim is your thing, I’d go for the New Look Frill Detail Denim Jacket. When it comes to jackets though, the ’80s are most known for their blazers. This Mix and Match Blazer with Rouched Sleeve is cute and soft, while the Mansy Clean Blazer has a much more aggressive look. If you want the clean white look of a Miami Vice character, you could go for the River Island Plus Tailored Blazer.

Accessories

The ’80s are also totally about the accessorizing. You could go for the ’80s nerd look with these ASOS Suspenders. Or go for more of a pop princess look with the Large Ruffle Hair Fascinator, Occasion Bow Fascinator or Oversize Soft Bow Headband. I’m also gonna suggest Kate Leth’s San Junipero Pin because it’s actually extremely perfect. But again, the ’80s was largely about the hair, and the hair was large. No matter what everyone’s wearing, I better see some super amazing hairstyles at the dance.

A second “Heaven is a Place on Earth” A-Camp dance fashion guide focusing on more masculine-of-center presentations will be published tomorrow. 

Campership Alert: Pool Party at A-Camp In Style Courtesy of Outplay

Y’all, I can’t go to Camp this year and it is KILLING ME. And you know what’s killing me the most? I’m not gonna get to meet the rad human who wins this Outplay Campership (last year it was Fiona and she totally attended our whiskey tasting and it was really rad).

Left: Rip-Current Sweatpants with Pampatar Tank // Right: Tux Pants with Tux Crest Sports Bra

Outplay makes swimsuits for all sorts of genders and bodies, and specifically they’re best known for their compression swimsuit tops. It’s a binder and a swimsuit all in one! My mom got me one for Christmas a while back. Red bottoms, grey Flatsea top! They’ve got ones that show your midriff if you’re one o’ them butch-crop-top-wearing folks, and they’ve got swimsuits for me, whose beach style veers more toward Butch Nun. They’ve even got tops with sleeves, bless them! And they’re all stylish, with fun bright colors and the ability to mix and match to get your desired look. Ugh, I love Outplay. I love that I don’t have to worry about my giant boobs in the water. I love that there’s a place I can go where I don’t have to try on a million things to find one thing that sort of works — instead, I can get anything I want and it makes me look and feel awesome. And if I flub it on the size? Ship that sucker back and exchange, it’s super easy.

Turns out, Outplay loves A-Camp as much as I love them. They’re sending one Camper to Wisconsin, suit in hand. Or suit in suitcase. Anyone can win! Here’s whatcha gotta do to enter:

1. Follow Outplay on Instagram.
2. Find the Instagram photo all about this A-Camp Campership
3. Like the photo, AND
4. Comment on the photo telling them what your fave Outplay product is
5. When you comment on the photo, use the hashtag #daretooutplay
6. That is it! That is all. Maybe you come to Camp for zero dollars and take hella hot Instagram photos in your Outplay swimsuit while you’re there.

Deadline is Friday, April 21st.

This contest begins today on Monday, April 17th and runs through Friday, April 21st. All entries must be received by 11:59pm PST on Friday, April 21st to be considered eligible. The winner will be notified on Monday, April 24th!

Please be advised that you’ve gotta be able to get there yourself, by plane, train or automobile; transport to and from camp is on you. And also, when you get there, SEND ME A PHOTO OF EVERYONE’S POOL FASHIONS PLEASE UGH I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M MISSING CAMP. But my wife is graduating law school, so. I guess that’s fine. I guess.

Oh, and about that swimsuit. In case you need some inspiration for what your favorite Outplay sitch is, they’re specifically giving away the Campership winner’s choice of Flatsea or Swimmee top (low or high compression!) and then to cover your bum, a choice of Tombois, Bois or Todasana shorts. You can mix and match colors!

So get in there and get this Campership! When you’re chilling round the pool being the babeliest of babes at the gayest of places, you’ll be glad you did.