Hi, I'm Kai. I know many people who have gone to camp at Eagle Lake. I have been going there since  I was 7 years old and am never, ever going back after what happened to me and many others last summer. I am a young trans kid who went to Eagle Lake camp last August 2024 and I think it is finally time to tell everyone about what happened, and how to stop this in the future.

    Eagle Lake Camp is a Christian camp and I am an LGBTQ Christian. The last few years I have gone I have met a lot of other queer campers. I've met plenty of nonbinary and trans campers with a mix of bisexuals, lesbians, and gays. Most were not fully out at camp, but when I went last summer I decided to take a big risk and be myself. That risk did not pay off. I was brutally harassed and subject to hate crimes.  I am trans-FTM so I was in the girl's cabin, but I was not weird or anything. I was respectful, I went outside when the girls changed, and the only thing I said about me being trans was my preferred name and pronouns (He/Him). While at camp I was asked many questions about my body and things that were entirely inappropriate. There were these girls outside my cabin who I barely knew and who beat me up when I tried to use the bathroom and attempted to touch me in places that were not okay. 

     When I tried to report what happened to me I got pulled aside and told that I could not be and I quote, "You can't be trans and we can not use your pronouns here." I was just sitting on a log sobbing as this woman told me that (I think she was the activity director or something) she didn't respect me. I know the overnight camp director Faren (I hope that is how you spell it) and she was nice about it. We have not talked since this all happened and I am fine with that. There were so many people there who told me that God would never love me for who I am. Even though there were people who deeply hurt me and that will take a ton of therapy to work through, there were also people who stuck by my side. 

     There was another girl in my cabin who I will not name that got a lot of comments for her weight. She also got comments from guys that implied very inappropriate things and that she was absolutely not comfortable with any of this.

     So, I guess all this rambling comes to this, please sign this petition to stop this from happening to others, not just at Eagle Lake but at all summer camps. Every kid deserves the experience of making lifelong friends at camp. If this petition makes a difference then I feel like more kids who are outside the stereotypical roles society has then we will all feel more, safe, comfortable, and confident being ourselves. Especially at a place that is supposed to be safe anyway.