#CampPride15 Day Four: Progress and Change

Campus Pride welcomes 120+ students, faculty and staff for the 9th annual Camp Pride & 45h annual Advisor Bootcamp on July 14, 2015. Throughout this week, Campus Pride will be sharing the camp experience through blogs and social media with the hashtags #CampPride15 and #AdvisorBootcamp.

J Mase III, Grace Nichols, Vanna Garcia and Megan Fowler lead a morning workshop on intersectional justice, asking campers to deeply examine their own privileges and how they connect to the social justice work they do on their campuses and within their communities.

Deep session on intersectionality with four amazing camp leaders! #CampPride15 pic.twitter.com/HUUpUSNM1L

— Jay A. Irwin, PhD (@jaybird82) July 17, 2015

Campers were then explored various topics on queer identities during educational breakout sessions. Topics included religion, exploring identity, health, feminism, hollywood history, employee resource groups, radical politics, the #Day1 Campaign, SafeZone Training, poetry, media advocacy, trans rights, coalition building, stereotyping, middle sexualities and safety within queer movements. The many options were lead by Camp Pride Leaders, Educators in Residence, speakers, Camp Pride Staff and Faculty.

The keynote of the evening was Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, who spoke on intersectional activism, highlighting the need to engage in immigrant rights and anti-disability work. She also highlighted the 2015 U.S. Trans Survey, largest survey ever devoted to the lives and experiences of trans people. It’s the follow-up to the groundbreaking National Transgender Discrimination Survey, which was released in the 2011 report: Injustice At Every Turn.

THE @MaraKeisling starts her keynote at #CampPride15 – this is her 8th time at Camp #MarasMinions pic.twitter.com/2mQOQzgc6p

— Campus Pride (@campuspride) July 17, 2015

The evening ended with a open mic night, where campers performed original poems, garnering multiple standing ovations from the crowd throughout the night. The open night was hosted by J Mase III, poet and founder of awQward Talent, and Vita Cleveland, poet and percussionist. For a Periscope life stream of the event (available through July 18, 2015), click here.

Watching some of the most talented people ever share their craft & selves at #CampPride15! Thank you @campuspride 4 organizing!

— ashland johnson (@ashlandj11) July 18, 2015

Allison Marie Turner is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied journalism and mass communication and women’s and gender studies. She is a 2015 Summer Fellow for Campus Pride. Follow her on Twitter@amturner1993.