Episode 17 - How to Be an Ally

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, I'm Queer... Hello Queer, I'm Dad!"

Find out more about us by visiting our website, kindomcommunity.org. There you can find information about kin•dom camp and consider supporting our work with a one-time or recurring donation. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram @kindomcommunity to keep up with all the important information.

Transcript

music  0:00  
[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "Oh let's build, let's build a place we can go”]  

speaker 2  0:09  
Thank you for tuning in to kin•dom campfire chats, a podcast of kin•dom community. This podcast features the voices of LGBTQIA+ persons, both youth participants and adult staff, who attended kin•dom camp in Texas in the summer of 2023. We asked the 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. We invite you to listen with an open mind and an open heart. 

music  0:50  
[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "This is the place”] 

Tom  0:55  
Whenever you're ready. 

speaker 1  0:58  
Sorry [laughter] What has been a good ally? And what does it mean to be a good ally?

speaker 2  1:05  
Someone who's been a good ally in my life are exactly three people. Actually, I've had a lot of good allies. But the main three are my mom, my dad, and my brother. I just– they have supported me through my journey and me trying to find out who I am. Because honestly, that's– it's not done yet. I'm, I'm very young to be kind of awakening to all of this, but I love how they all have not said anything, and they've just, they've backed away and been, you know, 'okay, like you, do you,' you know. And, honestly, if you're looking to be a better ally, I think that's what a lot of people should do. I don't think you need to be really excessive with with anything. You know, like sometimes, sometimes that can come off as like really cringy. Or it can come off as, like mocking or making fun of. Which you know, we don't want. 

speaker 1  2:19  
So this is something I've talked about a lot. And I know we have an ally in the room. So take this with a grain of salt. There are different types of allies. So first off, we have the overly enthusiastic ally, which I was at one point, and I think a reason that this comes out of is maybe you might have been, like, you might have had like, homophobic or transphobic thoughts in the past, so now you have to compensate for that by being the most outwardly supportive ally. But sometimes when we see that as, as, at least in the eyes of a queer person, it feels, I don't know, insincere. It feels like, you know, like, you don't have to be like 'yass squeen slay,' 24/7 all the time. Like, I think the best type of ally ship is if I say, 'I'm gay' to you, I want two reactions. Either 'Okay. And?' or, 'hi, gay, I'm dad.' [laughter] Um, I don't– I think we make being queer such a big deal. Like, I know, being out of– coming out of the closet is a big deal for a lot of people. But to be a great ally is to put that down and like say, 'That's good. It's normal.' Like there's nothing like, advertently like amazing or terrible about being gay. It's just the same as if I had ginger hair or the fact that I have weird hazel eyes. Like there's nothing inherently bad or good about it. So– and then another part of it, obviously, which I'd love to talk about forever, is corporate like ally ship, which is company saying, 'hey, gay people, your real! Buy our merch.' And I see this– there is companies like for example, Absolut Vodka, during the HIV pandemic where, and I'm saying pandemic because a lot of– it was around worldwide and many international like health organizations refuse to acknowledge the fact that this was a severe and deadly disease. That was a minute still around today. But back in the 80s, it was rampant. And during this time, companies were definitely backing up from the Gay Agenda. But Absolut Vodka actually was advertising more towards the queer community and we're saying, 'Hey, look at us,' and I think that was amazing. But now as when gay marriage was legalized, and we've kind of come forward to normalize it, companies are now coming in with 'look at us by our merch, we like gay people,' but what actually happens is they don't actually support gay people. I think a really good example of this, and probably most infamous one, is Target. If you've been to the Target pride section, you know, they have really good stuff. You're like, 'Hey, I love that live laugh lesbian shirt, I want to buy it.' The problem was, there was a queer person who did make a shirt for them, I think had like an image of a devil on it, or some negative conotation towards religion. So obviously, Target pulled it off, because, you know, it's not good PR. But what happened was word got out to that. And, you know, people would found this artist who made the shirt and started sending hate mail, death threats, and a bunch of terrible stuff to this queer artist, and Target did nothing. They didn't support them. They didn't outwardly give them like apologies. They just stepped away. And I think it's really important to acknowledge the fact that like companies– what corporate pride is, essentially, is they're just trying to make a profit off of queer people, not actually support us. And I know it's different for different companies. But in the end, we– people have to really step aside and say, 'Hey, is this company trying to sell me my rainbow binder that says 'Yass Queen' for good reasons? Like they're really trying to support me as a queer person? Are they just doing this to make a couple bucks? 

speaker 2  6:41  
Yeah, 

music  6:42  
[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "Oh let's build, let's build a place we can go”]  

Narrator  6:52  
Thank you for listening to kin•dom campfire chats. This podcast is a production of kin•dom community. You can find out more about kin•dom community by going to kindomcommunity.org or by searching kin•dom community on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Baylee  7:17  
Hi y'all, it's Baylee. I'm the Creative Director of kin•dom community.

Andy  7:22  
And I'm Andy, the Program Director of kin•dom community.

John  7:26  
I'm John, the executive director of kin•dom community.

Baylee  7:30  
We wanted to talk a little bit more about kin•dom camp and how you can get involved.

Andy  7:34  
kin•dom camp is an opportunity for LGBTQIA+ youth ages 12 to 17 to feel safe and free to show up as their full selves. Campers will have the chance to experience all the fun that camp has to offer in a week filled with affirmation, community, and celebration. This camp is intentionally created to be affirming space. It affirms all genders, sexualities, identities, and varieties of belief. The only thing we expect is a commitment to welcoming and celebrating everyone where they are as they are. 

Baylee  8:03  
And this isn't just me summer camp - we're talking rainbows and glitter everywhere. kin•dom camp will include funding of traditional camp activities and recreation, plus some specialized programming to incorporate activities and conversations around mental health, yoga, embodiment, and LGBTQIA+ history and culture. Now more than ever, LGBTQ youth are in need of unconditional love and acceptance. kin•dom camp is a space for just that.

John  8:33  
We're always looking for fully affirming, welcoming, and loving adults to help us make kin•dom camp a success. This will be a wonderful opportunity to connect with, mentor, and learn from our youth. But most importantly, we ask that you are ready to celebrate everyone where they are as they are. 

Andy  8:52  
Both registration for campers and applications to be on camp staff are now open. You can find these links on our website, kindomcommunity.org/camp If you have any questions you can't find the answers to you can email me at andy@kindomcommunity.org.

Baylee  9:07  
Also, be sure to check us out on socials @kindomcommunity on Instagram and Facebook. We post all of our important announcements and fun camp moments so you'll want to follow along.

John  9:18  
Thanks for listening to kin•dom campfire chats. We are proud to be a safe space for these campers, and we are even more proud of them for sharing their stories. We hope you'll keep gathering around the campfire with us as we celebrate all of the stories that make us this kin•dom community.

music  9:36  
[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "Oh let's build..."] 

Transcribed by https://otter.ai