By Katie Fedosenko
Arts student contributes to camp for queer, trans, and allied youth
The first annual CampOUT, a four-day summer camp committed to creating an inspiring and welcoming space for queer, trans, and allied youth between the ages of 14 and 21, was a transformational experience for both participants and volunteers, according to fourth-Year Women Studies and honours History student Lau Mehes.
“CampOUT was just a beyond amazing experience,” said Lau. “I was so inspired by the amazing things these youths were doing in their communities, and how brave so many of them were to even come to camp in the first place.”
Staff member of Access and Diversity, Lau ran two workshops, Consensus Organizing in Diverse Queer Communities, and an Intro to Power, Privilege, and Anti-Oppression, which she developed with many of her previous coursework in mind. “Women’s Studies as a degree kind of just teaches you how to live your life and look at the world,” said Lau. “It gave me a lot of the general content of my workshops, such as what do equity and diversity mean? What do we mean when we say sexism, homophobia, classism, ableism, racism? How can we truly organize in anti-oppressive ways?” Previously involved in UBC V-Day and Vagina Monologues, Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Women’s Studies Undergraduate Society (to name a few), Lau’s activism also played a large role in her workshop development.
With the mission of creating an empowering camping experience by providing practical social, educational, spiritual, health, and leadership tools for BC’s queer and trans youth and their friends, CampOUT was created in response to a study by the School of Population and Health in 2009. “What makes this camp remarkable is the freedom to use resources at UBC,” said Anna White, director of CampOUT!
“Seeing the change that took place in so many youth during the camp, it was inspiring. They left with so much more self-confidence and self-love and the sense, knowing that there is a community, resources, and support for them,” said Lau. “I think everyone at camp was able to build support networks with the other leaders and camper and volunteers. The impact of this camp was huge on these youth even over the course of the two days that I gave workshops.”
