Camp fYrefly provides leadership training and support for LGBTQ youth

Camp fYrefly is Canada’s only national leadership retreat for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans-identified, two-spirited, intersexed, queer, questioning, and allied youth.

The camp was started in 2004 to help youth develop leadership skills and personal resilience to become agents for positive change in their communities. It’s open to youth aged 14-24, from all across Alberta. Camp fYrefly originally ran for two and a half days, but has been extended to four days.

Camp fYrefly co-founder, Dr. Kris Wells, says the camp was a long time in the making.

“When I was growing up, something like Camp fYrefly not only didn’t exist, it wasn’t even possible to dream about,” he says.
“Today this is a reality, a much needed reality, in the lives of these youth.

Eight years ago, when the camp started, 20 people signed up. This year, 100 people expressed interest in attending and 60 were accepted. The camp is hosting three times the number of young people as it did last year.

Soon after the camp started, Wells was struck by its impact and importance.

“At that time, we knew we had something really important. What was so important was the community that was formed and the power of that community that we saw with these young campers,” says Wells.

Camp fYrefly’s operates under a by-youth-for-youth approach. The programming is guided by input from the youth, but facilitated by trained educators and youth workers. Campers experience four days of activities including empowerment, reflection, and personal growth.

For some, the camp may be one of the few places they can truly find acceptance, ask questions openly, and explore personal and societal growth. Elise Hessel, a 15-year-old Calgary native, has support from her family and friends, so for her, Camp fYrefly was an opportunity to make some new friends.

“It was nice to have my community grow. I had so many new friends and I just wanted to meet more,” says Hessel.

She attended the camp last year, and found that sense of community. This summer, she returned to Camp fYrefly for a second year.

“I think it needs to continue because not everyone is as lucky as me. A lot of people do need the community, they need the resources…they just need to be able to get away for a few days, so that’s why this is important for kids to have.”

Wells says he has had inquires from parents and young people as young as 10-years-old who are interested in coming to Camp fYrefly. He points out that the average age of attendants when the camp opened was between 20 and 21 years-old. This year, the average age is 17.

“That’s how quickly our world is changing. Our coming-out age is now, on average, 15 years old,” says Wells.

“They can be themselves, they can be happy, they can be proud of who they are. And hopefully, they can get support in their families and their schools, because those are the two most critical places.”

Wells says discrimination against sexual minorities has decreased but points out it is still prevalent in daily life.

Last week, University of Alberta student Chevi Rabbit says he was called a faggot and was assaulted. Just a few months ago, a blog post by Wild Rose candidate Allan Hunsberger surfaced; claiming homosexuals were doomed to an eternity in a “lake of fire” if they didn’t change.

The post stated, “if gay people die the way they’re born they will suffer the rest of eternity in the lake of fire.”

Wells says it’s because of that discrimination that Camp fYrefly needs to exist.

“There will always be a need for Camp fYrefly as long as people are victims of hate crimes. Gay bashing, political rhetoric, that’s discrimination or unjust. Those aren’t the kinds of messages we want our young people exposed to,” says Wells.

“We want these young people to know that their sexuality or their gender identity doesn’t have to be their biggest barrier in life, it can be their biggest asset to achieve.”
The camp aims to bring in the idea of inter-generational mentorship. Dr. Karen Hofmann, a radiologist with the Canadian Medical Labs, has run sessions at the camp before and came back again this year. She had a tough time coming out in the 50s and 60s and is trying to make it easier for today’s youth.

“It’s basically mothering children who are questioning and going through stress and need encouragement that life –there’s hope-a future – and things get better with time,” she says.

“My wife and I both try to give them some advice and some guidance and we answer questions. We try to provide some sort of role modeling for them so that they can anticipate that they are youth now, but that they also realize that people do get older and they do survive and they thrive and they carry on and there is a life for them.”

The camp also invited queer professionals to speak about their life experiences, and how they’ve become successful in their careers while being true to themselves. The speakers included people from the medical field, local media, law enforcement and the oil industry.

Wells and Hofmann both agree that the experience is about finding yourself and learning to be proud of who you are.

“It’s about paying it forward and talking about some of the challenges. The rewards of what it means to lead an authentic life where you can feel supported for who you are; not for whom society tells you you should be,” says Wells.

“It’s a matter of promoting diversity. It’s a matter of: yes we’re different, we’re odd, everyone else is odd too, so what’s the problem,” says Hofmann.

Camp fYerfly runs July 26th to 29th.