Some Ontario 2SLGBTQ+ summer camps at risk of closing down as corporate donors withdraw funding

CBC

4 days ago

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On the shores of Lake Huron, Harry Stewart and his husband Chris Southin sway back and forth in their rocking chairs on a wooden deck, watching dozens of youth play and laugh around them at Rainbow Camp.
"People say that we're the two old guys from the balcony of the Muppet Show, and that is what it feels like," Stewart said. "It's so rewarding to see everything that you've worked so hard to make happen."
Since 2012, the couple have been running a sleepaway summer camp in Thessalon, Ont., about 200 kilometres west of Sudbury, aimed at creating a safe space for 2SLGBTQ+ youth across Canada and the United States.
But this year, they are grappling with a critical drop in funding while struggling to meet a surge in demand from youth hoping to attend the camp.
Stewart said the camp has lost about 25 per cent of its funding this year. Many corporate donors with ties to the U.S. have withdrawn amid concerns that supporting a 2SLGBTQ+ organization would spark repercussions from President Donald Trump's administration, which has been targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Those corporate donors previously sponsored camp fundraisers or youth for whom registration and transportation costs posed a barrier to attending camp, said Stewart.
Even some Canadian companies, such as law firms with American clients, are now "very wary" of sponsoring the summer camp, he said.
"They've stopped because they're being monitored on the whole DEI issue in the States," he said. "They realize they are being watched and screened."
Rainbow Camp aiming to fundraise $100K this summer
Demand for Rainbow Camp's 50 spots a week has never been higher, Stewart said, but the camp is at risk of closing if it does not reach its $100,000 fundraising goal this summer.
Many campers looking to attend the summer refuge have faced extreme bullying and live in rural communities where they feel isolated or unsupported in embracing their identities, he said.
"Especially around campfires, when you really start to hear some of the stories," Stewart said. "You get out the tissue paper because you're crying. It's just so sad to see how lonely these kids are."
Camp Ten Oaks, a 2SLGBTQ+ summer camp run by the Ottawa-based organization Ten Oaks Project, said some donors have also pulled their support this year amid increased political tensions south of the border.
"We've definitely seen some of our third-party fundraisers who have historically supported us in the past ... choose a different organization to support that maybe doesn't have specifically as queer of a mandate as our organization," said Kymani Montgomery, executive director of Ten Oaks Project.
While the funding drop hasn't yet affected finances at Camp Ten Oaks, Montgomery said a surge in interest has forced them to put at least 100 kids on the wait list each year for the past three summers.
If Rainbow Camp is forced to shut its doors, Montgomery said Camp Ten Oaks will likely see even more interest as families move from one camp to the other. With 2SLGBTQ+ camps being relatively scarce in Ontario, organizers said campers frequently travel from all over the province — and sometimes from across the country — to attend the camps.
"That means there is going to be even more youth who aren't going to be able to experience the magic of a camp that is affirming for them," Montgomery said.
Funding cuts are 'dispiriting,' advocate says
While corporate funding withdrawals aren't affecting all 2SLGBTQ+ groups, advocates say the effects on summer camps are rippling across the community.
Curran Stikuts, director of advocacy and strategic communications at Toronto-based community organization The 519, said it's "dispiriting" to see other 2SLGBTQ+ groups struggling to receive the funding they need to run youth programs.
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"We see the deep need for responses that are specifically tailored to the lived realities of 2SLGBTQ folks ... and anything that makes meeting that need more challenging is pretty unfortunate," he said.
Alberta Sen. Kristopher Wells, a longtime advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ rights, said summer camps for 2SLGBTQ+ youth are "critical long-term investments" and consequences would be "devastating" if such spaces could no longer exist.
"It's really short-sighted to see people wanting to cut funding, because we're going to be paying for it through the health-care system and downstream in our communities, as these young people grow up and have to overcome discrimination, prejudice and trauma," he said.
Wells, who is also a co-founder of Camp fYrefly, a 2SLGBTQ+ sleepaway camp in Alberta that has been operating for over 20 years, said he's witnessed the "life changing" impacts of these summer camps first-hand.
He said the 2SLGBTQ+ community tends to find its strength by looking inward for support, rather than relying on funding from outward groups such as corporate donors.
"Twenty years ago, we weren't getting large amounts of corporate funding for our organizations," he said.