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 impossible to navigate.
This episode was made possible thanks to our partnership with the Missing Voices Project. Based out of Flagler College, the Missing Voices Project believes that amplifying the voices of young people and their adult allies who live and serve in ministry at the intersections of disability, foster care & trauma, gender & sexuality, and racial reconciliation is necessary and holy work. We are grateful to Missing Voices Project for their support and for the bravery of these campers as they share about life at the intersection of queerness and disability. For more information about the Missing Voices Project, please visit www.missingvoices.org
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.
music 0:00
[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "Oh let's build, let's build a place we can go”]
Narrator 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 2024. 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”]
Narrator 0:56
This episode was made possible thanks to our partnership with the Missing Voices Project who believes that amplifying the voices of young people and their adult allies who live and serve in ministry at the intersections of disability, foster care and trauma, gender and sexuality, and racial reconciliation is necessary and holy work. We are grateful for the bravery of these campers as they share about life at the intersection of queerness and disability.
Speaker 1 1:27
What's it like to be a part of the neurodivergent, disabled, and LGBTQ+ community, and how does it affect you?
music 1:37
So first off, I am diagnosed with ADHD, and there's a lot of other things that aren't diagnosed or doctors haven't diagnosed me with because of how young I am and how I identify, which is really hard, because when you're disabled or neurodivergent and you don't know why, and you're told that, you know, what you're going through is normal and that you just need to, like, drink more water or do more exercise or eat salt or something like that. It's just really hard as a person to go through all of that. And being a child, a minor, you know, you can't really speak up for yourself as much as some people think you can. And it's a lot of doctors put me down and say, you know, "no, you're fine, like there's nothing wrong with you," like that- that's a shared experience. And it's affected me and my life so much. I gained a lot of weight because at one point in my life, I couldn't get out of bed. And I would get so irritated with people, I wouldn't talk at all. I would shut everyone off. And I lose so many relationships with people because of how I was acting. And I didn't apologize because I thought it was something that was normal. And, you know, I didn't know that I had more things mentally wrong with me and physically, so I wouldn't share like, "hey," you know, "watch out for this" stuff like that. So relationships just kind of crumbled.
[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "Oh let's build”]
Baylee 4:06
Hi y'all, it's Baylee. I'm the Creative Director of kin•dom community. I'd like to talk a little bit more about kin•dom camp and how you can get involved. 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 traditional camp activities and recreation, plus some specialized programming to incorporate LGBTQ+ history and culture. More information can be found on our website, kindomcommunity.org/camp. If you have any questions you can't find the answers to, you can email us at kindomcamp@gmail.com. Special thanks again to the Missing Voices Project for their support of this episode. You can learn more about their important work at missingvoices.org. And thanks again to you 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.
