kin•dom campfire chats

Season 3 of kin•dom campfire chats features campers from our partner camp at Zephyr Point on Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Our host, DJ, interviews campers about their experience at camp. Special thanks to our Season 3 producer, Josh Clapp, for putting each episode together. Find out more about us by visiting our website, kindomcommunity.org . There you can find information about kin•dom camp and consider...

music  0:00   [Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "Oh let's build, let's build a place we can go”]  Josh  0:08   Thank you for tuning into kin•dom campfire chats, a podcast of kin•dom community. This podcast features the voices of LGBTQIA+ youth who attended kin•dom camp at Zephyr Point in the summer of 2025. We asked the campers about their experience at camp...

Season 3 of kin•dom campfire chats features campers from our partner camp at Zephyr Point on Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Our host, DJ, interviews campers about their experience at camp. Special thanks to our Season 3 producer, Josh Clapp, for putting each episode together. Find out more about us by visiting our website, kindomcommunity.org . There you can find information about kin•dom camp and consider...

Season 3 of kin•dom campfire chats features campers from our partner camp at Zephyr Point on Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Our host, DJ, interviews campers about their experience at camp. Special thanks to our Season 3 producer, Josh Clapp, for putting each episode together. Find out more about us by visiting our website, kindomcommunity.org . There you can find information about kin•dom camp and consider...

Season 3 of kin•dom campfire chats features campers from our partner camp at Zephyr Point on Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Our host, DJ, interviews campers about their experience at camp. Special thanks to our Season 3 producer, Josh Clapp, for putting each episode together. Find out more about us by visiting our website, kindomcommunity.org . There you can find information about kin•dom camp and consider...

Season 3 of kin•dom campfire chats features campers from our partner camp at Zephyr Point on Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Our host, DJ, interviews campers about their experience at camp. Special thanks to our Season 3 producer, Josh Clapp, for putting each episode together.  Find out more about us by visiting our website, kindomcommunity.org . There you can find information about kin•dom camp and conside...

In the personal journey of discovering his name, Ontario was inspired by a song and holds significant meaning in the trans community. He talks about the importance of names in one's identity and a supportive community, like kin•dom, where one can experiment with names without judgment. Find out more about us by visiting our website, kindomcommunity.org . There you can find information about k...

A shared experience of family support and the importance of kindness and acceptance in the queer community. She expressed gratitude towards her supportive family members, including her mother, father, and sister, who have been instrumental in her transition. She highlights the significance of a supportive environment for queer individuals to feel valued and accepted. Find out more about us by visi...

In sharing their personal experience as a nonbinary trans individual with autism, they emphasized the distinction between gender identity and biological sex. They discussed the freedom to choose one's transition path and highlighted the beauty of transcending one's body, noting the commonality among all trans individuals. They encouraged a flexible view of gender and sex, promoting the i...

Ideally, parents show queer kids (and any children) unconditional love and create and respect boundaries… even if they come out via text! Navigating adolescence as a queer kid, with its crushes and other challenges, can be handled with support and treating their child as normal. A big piece of advice from their own experience… embrace the awkwardness! That gawkiness is seen as a sign that a parent...

Being trans doesn't solely define a person, and they wish for others to understand that being trans doesn't restrict as much as one might think. When there are restrictions, there is a struggle with body image and comfort, particularly in relation to clothing and swimming. They talk about how they have found ways to cope with dysphoria and thanked the people who have helped. This episode...

A conversation between friends, the two of them touch on the little or no support in their families, both having the “blessing” of being given holy water to heal them from their queerness. One camper explains that even after being diagnosed with orthostatic hypotension, she can’t get a doctor to believe the severity of her symptoms beyond a simple prescription, blaming that severity on depression....

As a straight ally and an older brother to a trans sister, he keeps coming back to camp because he wants to keep being supportive of the LGBTQIA+ community.  Joining his supportive family, he didn’t believe he would ever really be active in the queer community until his sibling needed his support. Now, he participants and learns whenever and wherever he can, learning more how to be a good big brot...

Going from a familiar community of friends and family to a conservative college is nerve racking. Finding those queer relationships at college, rather than self-isolating, is going to be important. Seeing open questions on the college application is giving a sense of hope that the new community will be okay. Find out more about us by visiting our website, kindomcommunity.org . There you can find i...

As a queer person in a dissociative identity disorder (DID) system, they highlight the challenges of navigating the diverse identities within their collective psyche. Mentioning that people in these systems are gender-neutral due to the presence of multiple identities, they emphasized the importance of understanding and accepting the diverse identities within a DID system. This episode was made po...

After her mother watched her queer child move from an unsupportive school to a very supportive queer theatre community, coming out as trans (even in an unplanned setting) was much less awkward for parent and child than could have been expected. Having grown up in a very conservative town, it was difficult for her to even learn about the idea of being trans, as opposed to being just a “gay person.&...

From an early age, she knew her little sister was feminine. In their suburban Texas community, she and her family knew of resources for families of gay and lesbian children, but not resources for families of trans children.   From the age of 10, she felt a little hurt and grieved that she was losing her little brother. In reality, she was losing a brother she never had. Allyship is not an immediat...

CW: sexual abuse, dehumanization Struggling at an early age in the classroom because of ADHD and Autism and the labels that come with it, he always had a love/hate relationship with school. Because he excels at learning, he began homeschooling, which was a turning point that led to graduating at 16 years old. Those experiences helped him to appreciate the teachers who were helpful to him and has l...

This religious queer person shares their unique experience of being queer without religious trauma. Despite facing challenges related to their identity, they found acceptance within the Episcopal Church, where they can express themselves and build meaningful connections. However, they acknowledged the pain and trauma many queer individuals face within religious institutions and expressed their des...

At first being diagnosed with ADHD, he quickly became frustrated by the medical community who wouldn’t truly listen to their additional physical and emotional issues because they’re a minor, being given advice that didn’t fit and leading to not feeling heard. This led to a spiraling down where relationships and physical health suffered, and having honest conversations about being trans were imposs...

Knowing that being trans was much harder for previous generations, and while not being the first queer person at their school, there were still a lot of societal gender roles to navigate. Even though their school knew how to incorporate a trans person, individual teachers and student can still be difficult. Find out more about us by visiting our website, kindomcommunity.org . There you can find in...

During her week of PMDD, she shares what it’s like to have the mood swings and sensory sensitivities of PMDD with the inability to focus of ADHD. Living within the struggles of not wanting to “clean her room but wanting to come back to a clean room,” her PMDD contradicts everything her ADHD tells her not to do. It’s much harder for her to have conversations about her queerness because she has so m...

In kin•dom campfire chats, we asked camp participants to think of a question that they wish someone would ask them about their life journey. With a friend and in their own words, the campers tell their stories of struggle, love, support, and a community found.  Episode 19: Camper 1 - 13 yo - She/They Camper 2 - 14 yo - He/Him Camper 3 - 14yo - He/Him Camper 4 - 15yo - He/Him Short conversations fr...

In kin•dom campfire chats, we asked camp participants to think of a question that they wish someone would ask them about their life journey. With a friend and in their own words, the campers tell their stories of struggle, love, support, and a community found.  Episode 18: Camper 1 - Adult - They/Them (Camp Staff) Camper 2 - Adult - He/Him (Podcast Producer) "Tone it down or we're gonna...

In kin•dom campfire chats, we asked camp participants to think of a question that they wish someone would ask them about their life journey. With a friend and in their own words, the campers tell their stories of struggle, love, support, and a community found.  Episode 17: Camper 1 - 16yo - She/They Camper 2 - 13yo - He/She/They Warning: This episode references an alcohol company. "Hello Dad,...