EDMONTON—Edmonton’s LGBTQ youth could have a summer camp after all.

On Tuesday, weeks after University of Alberta officials announced they would move Camp fYrefly to Kananaskis, Alta., former members of fYrefly’s Youth Action Committee launched an alternative camp they’re calling Queer Scouts YEG.

Organizers plan to run the Queer Scouts overnight camp from July 23 to 29 – three days longer than fYrefly – on the Pigeon Lake site where fYrefly was located for the last two years.

“Summer camp, for any kid, is where you are away from your parents for the first time, and where you — in a lot of ways — get to form an identity,” said Queer Scouts organizer Claire Edwards.

“You get to go and use the name that you actually want to use, or be called by pronouns that actually feel good, or wear clothes that feel good, or wear makeup and not have to worry about the outside world yet and just be surrounded by community.”

The new camp hints at tension brewing between the University of Alberta and some former fYrefly campers.

Camp fYrefly was launched in 2004 by university employees Kris Wells and Andre Grace, and operated for over a decade with the goal of teaching resiliency and leadership skills to LGBTQ youth aged 14 to 24.

But when the U of A cancelled fYrefly in late March to consolidate with the Calgary camp of the same name, Edwards claimed the university was trying to avoid accountability for allegations of racism and misogyny on the part of management.

University officials disagreed, saying the move was made as part of a restructuring of the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services (iSMSS), which included moving Wells and Grace from management into research roles.

U of A Faculty of Education Dean Jennifer Tupper said in a statement posted to the U of A website that allegations of racism and misogyny are taken seriously but they “have not received any formal complaints of this nature.”

U of A issues management specialist Sarah Doyle said the university “cannot speak to the existence or nature of allegations or name individual employees, because it would be a breach of their privacy.”

Complicating things further, on April 19 university officials warned former camp members that a former employee had downloaded some of their personal information, but said they do not believe the information was shared with the public and it has since been deleted.

Edwards said Queer Scouts will take elements of fYrefly but focus on moving past resiliency. The new camp was founded explicitly with anti-oppression ideas in mind, she said, and will be rooted in queer history and skill development.

“I think what was lacking really at Camp fYrefly was really critically engaging about why things are the way they are and how we can change them, rather than just teaching kids how to navigate systems,” she said.

Still, Edwards said that fYrefly, as one of the first Alberta camps to serve LGBTQ youth, had a big impact on her when she first volunteered at age 19.

“I volunteered when I was still in the closet, so fYrefly was really important to me in meeting people and kind of getting an understanding of what being out could mean for me,” she said.

Edwards later became a leader with the camp’s Youth Action Committee, but was laid off when the university dissolved the committee in late March as part of the move.

Queer Scouts organizer Damien McAndrews also remembers his first year at Camp fYrefly at age 16.

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His family had moved from Grande Prairie to Edmonton, and he was forced out of his “transphobic” home environment and living in a youth shelter at the time.

McAndrews said fYrefly was the first opportunity he had to make friends in the city and find a community to hang out with.

“It’s really sad that they’re moving the camp to this location that’s not going to be accessible for Northern Albertans,” he said.

Queer Scouts intends to be “leaderless,” with decisions made by committee.

McAndrews hopes to teach skills he learned in Girl Guides as a kid, like wilderness survival and pitching tents.

“There are not a lot of opportunities for youth to do stuff that isn’t just headed by an adult who will just say, ‘No you can’t do that, no that’s not something that we do here,’ ” he said.

Without backing from a major institution, money is the biggest challenge facing Queer Scouts.

The group says it will need to raise roughly $60,000 to cover liability insurance, site booking and supplies so campers can attend for free. They have approached donors and hope to raise money partly through bottle drives, merchandise sales and a GoFundMe campaign.

Edwards said Queer Scouts will also need adult camp counsellors and volunteers to fill various other roles, and the team is collecting items like clothing and makeup.

Edwards said she expects the “vast majority” of volunteers to be long-time, experienced volunteers from fYrefly.

Queer Scouts YEG is basing its training on the Alberta Camping Association standards manual and applying for ACA accreditation, which is expected to take up to three years. The group is also in the process of being incorporated as a society.

Organizers will accept up to 40 youth for this year’s camp, and applications are now open online.

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