Camp Tawonga set to introduce mixed gender cabins for children
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A children’s camp called Camp Tawonga that caters to the Jewish community in the US is set to introduce optional new mixed gender cabins for non-binary children.
Camp Tawonga, which is located outside Yosemite National Park and in the San Francisco Bay Area, will be piloting mixed gender cabins for fifth and sixth grade and for seventh and eighth grade campers.
The cabins will be open to anybody who wants to opt in during registration, according to the group’s website.
“Providing more choices for housing allows us to accommodate more campers’ gender identities and housing preferences.”
– Camp Tawonga
The website says: “The all-gender cabins are a good option for children who prefer to bunk with children of other genders, for children who identify as non-binary, who want to bunk with a friend who is non-binary or for campers who feel this is the best fit for any reason.
All-gender cabins will help to accommodate campers’ gender identities
“Providing more choices for housing allows us to accommodate more campers’ gender identities and housing preferences. This is aligned with Tawonga’s mission of encouraging all campers to be their authentic selves.
“Our goal is to ensure that every child who attends camp is welcomed, included and celebrated.”
Parents who want their children to reside in mixed gender cabins can put in the request with the camp, however the group has said that they will prioritise non-binary children.
“Our goal is to ensure that every child who attends camp is welcomed, included and celebrated.”
– Camp Tawonga
The all-gender cabins will also provide children with access to mixed gender bathrooms and showers as well as single gender bathroom and shower facilities.
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The camp also said that they believe “there is not one right way to be a girl or be a boy” and say they encourage “all campers to be themselves regardless of what cabin they live in.”
Camp Tawonga aims to foster ‘positive self-image’ in children
Camp Tawonga has a four-part mission which they say has remained “fundamentally unchanged” since the camp was founded in 1925.
Part of the camp’s aim is to foster positive self-image and healthy self-esteem among the children and teenagers who attend.
They also seek to foster a love of nature within children and to give them the chance to explore their Jewish identity.
While the camp is primarily for Jewish families, they say: “Tawonga is a community where diversity is not merely tolerated but celebrated, so every camper feels welcomed regardless of where they are in the spectrum of Jewish identity, affiliation or knowledge, even if they are not Jewish.”
The camp also runs an annual camp called Keshet LGBTQ Family Camp, which will run this summer from August 22-25. “Keshet” means rainbow in Hebrew
