kin•dom campfire chats
kin•dom community is a queer-led organization that creates space for queer belonging and celebration. We host kin•dom camp, a summer camp for LGBTQ+ youth ages 12-17. This podcast tells the stories of our campers in their own words.
kin•dom campfire chats
Other People Like Me
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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 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”]
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 and as a queer youth navigating the world around them. In these short interviews, the campers tell their stories of the highs and lows of everyday life as an LGBTQIA+ youth. We invite you to listen with an open mind and an open heart.
music 0:51
[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "This is the place”]
DJ 0:52
Okay, everyone. DJ Torres back again with fireside chats for Kin•dom Camp overlooking Lake Tahoe. This beautiful Lake Tahoe. I'm going to say it every time. Right now, we get to stare over a beautiful lake with lots of overcast today. It's a really nice day, and I have yet again another camper. Camper, introduce yourself.
speaker 2 1:13
Hi, I'm Coraline.
DJ 1:14
Thanks, Coraline. So, tell us about why you chose to come to Kin•dom Camp this year.
speaker 2 1:20
Um, I, so the school that I've gone to, and in my district there hasn't been a lot of people who, like, I've like resonated with, and it's been hard to find people who I can be friends with, and I went to Sac Pride this summer, and I met a lot of like really cool people, and I was like, "Oh!" like, these are my people. And there was a booth for the camp, and I was like, "Okay! This is like amazing!," and I talked to my parents, and they were like, "Yeah, we think it's a great opportunity for you to meet people", and I decided to come, because I was just happy.
DJ 1:57
I love that. So it sounds also like your parents are pretty encouraging of your time here at this week. That's great. Tell us about that. Like, did you.. are you.. so I assume you're out in some form with your family?
speaker 2 2:08
Um, I came out when I was eight or nine?
DJ 2:11
Oh, wow!
speaker 2 2:11
Long time ago. But my parents have always been very, like, welcoming, and they have, like, since I was, like, really little, they've been always been like, "No matter what you are, we'll love you. No matter what you choose to do, we'll love you", and that's like really important to me, because growing up in that space where I'm just like, I know I'm loved, and basically everyone in my family is very, very accepting, and it's just nice.
DJ 2:39
Yeah, I also think, too, especially for our queer siblings who maybe don't get that kind of love and acceptance at home. I-I have a similar family, so I can resonate with what you're saying about the importance of being able to have that at home, is really, really great. Good, that's great. So, at home, tell us a little bit about what home life is like. Do you have, are you involved at school? Do you go to a school? A lot of kiddos here also homeschooled, so do you go to a traditional school, like a public school or anything?
speaker 2 3:08
I go to a public school, and it's very like I'm very involved with school stuff. I love going to after school clubs, and I'm on my student site council.
DJ 3:19
Oh, great!
speaker 2 3:19
So I get to help manage funds and stuff, and help figure out support for other students. At home, I have two siblings, I have a younger brother and a younger sister.
DJ 3:33
Oh so you're the, you're the big sister.
speaker 2 3:35
Yes.
DJ 3:35
Okay. Great.
speaker 2 3:36
It's always been like very, I'm very influential to my younger siblings.
DJ 3:41
Yes, I have an older sister. I get it.
speaker 2 3:43
Yeah my sister, she like loves to copy everything I do. It's like it's annoying, but I love her. But I'm very.. I love being involved with other things. I convinced my family to go to the No Kings protest at the Capitol.
DJ 4:01
How was that?
speaker 2 4:02
It was amazing. Everybody there was so sweet. And then right after we went to Pride, so it was like a very- I love getting involved with things to help like the communities that I'm in and that other people are in, just because I want things to be better. But yeah.
DJ 4:17
Thats beautiful. What other kind of clubs are you involved with on campus?
speaker 2 4:21
Um, I was in at the beginning of the year, I was at Pride, I was in Pride Club. I've been, I love musical theater, so I've been in the theater club. I was in the community service club.
DJ 4:35
Wow!
speaker 2 4:36
Yeah, I like, I just love being involved, that type of stuff. And next year, I think I'm going to be trying out for the basketball team, because I've been getting into basketball.
DJ 4:44
Great!
speaker 2 4:45
Beginning of the year I tried out for volleyball, I didn't make it, but it was a really fun experience. Everyone was so welcoming.
DJ 4:51
My gosh,
speaker 2 4:51
Yeah.
DJ 4:52
That's like an ideal situation. You're really taking advantage of all the fun opportunities that your school has it sounds like.
speaker 2 4:58
I'm also in like honors classes, and I plan to in high school get like dual enrollment stuff, because I want to be done with college as soon as possible. I don't like school, but I love like learning.
DJ 5:12
You might not like it, but sounds like you're good at it.
speaker 2 5:14
Yeah.
DJ 5:16
So you've talked about Pride Club at school. What's that like?
speaker 2 5:20
Usually we're talking about like history and stuff, and it's just nice to be there with other people who understand like me. And it's like we get to make friends. Some days we do like bracelet making, and it's.. it's just like we listen to music, and we're just all there together and having a fun time.
DJ 5:41
That sounds great.
speaker 2 5:42
Yeah.
DJ 5:42
Is it a pretty accepted club at your school?
speaker 2 5:44
Yeah, I think there's some kids who are like, "Oh, that's weird", but it's like, you know. There weren't a lot of people at the beginning of school year, I think. It only happened for like the first half of the year, and I think by the end we had like 20-ish people, which was a decent amount.
DJ 6:01
That's a pretty good size club.
speaker 2 6:03
Yeah. For like my school. Yeah, yeah, it's really good.
DJ 6:06
That's great. So, let's switch gears a little bit and talk about kin•dom. How have your first few days been here?
speaker 2 6:12
Oh my gosh, it's like I found the most fun I've ever had in my life.
DJ 6:16
Oh my gosh!
speaker 2 6:17
Like I came in like really nervous, um, because I have like really bad anxiety, and coming in I was really worried that I wasn't going to make friends, um, but that was like, now it's like the least of my worries. There's like so many things to do, and everyone here is so nice, including the counselors, um, they're so sweet, and it's like it's just such like a welcoming place, and there's things that I love, like there's D&D, and I usually play that at home, but-
DJ 6:47
Describe what D&D is, for someone who may not know.
speaker 2 6:49
Oh! So it's like a role-playing game, but like somebody's like directing you to do like missions and stuff, and you like fight monsters, and it's. I love it.
DJ 6:59
That's Dungeons and Dragons, right?
speaker 2 7:01
Right. I haven't gotten the chance to do it yet, but I'm doing it the next two days, so really excited.
DJ 7:07
Great.
speaker 2 7:08
Yeah.
DJ 7:08
Yeah. Who would have thought you got to have one of your fun video-I guess, is it a video game?
speaker 2 7:12
It's a like tabletop game.
DJ 7:15
Okay?
speaker 2 7:15
And you like make your own boards and stuff.
DJ 7:17
Oh, yes,
speaker 2 7:19
But like-
DJ 7:19
I feel like I just lost a lot of cred with the D&D crowd for not knowing what it was.
speaker 2 7:24
A lot of people do, but yeah, it's really fun. I love it.
DJ 7:28
What else? Like, what other fun activities? I guess let me ask this, like, is there an activity that's sort of like pushed you out of your comfort zone a little bit?
speaker 2 7:36
Um, here,?
DJ 7:37
Yeah. How about this? How was rock climbing? I know that you just went rock climbing. Tell us about that.
speaker 2 7:43
I was very, very nervous at first. I would say I didn't think I was gonna be able to do it, and going into it, like, I just.. my heart started beating really fast, and I was about to throw up, and I was like, once I started going up, it was like it was nerve-wracking that I was able to like pull myself up, and I was surprised with how far I go.
DJ 8:03
Heck yeah, I love that.
speaker 2 8:05
Um, my shoe ended up getting untied halfway through it, so like one of the counselors helped me like get down to a rock I could sit on, but not like too far down, like halfway still like where I was. Um, and I tied my shoe, and then I went back up, and on my way back down, I-like my foot slipped, and I like spun around and my belly, no, and I got a tiny like cuts that nothing too bad. It was really fun.
DJ 8:28
We'll call it a memory more than an injury.
speaker 2 8:30
Yeah, it was. It was lovely. I had such a fun time.
DJ 8:33
That's good.
speaker 2 8:34
Yeah.
DJ 8:34
Did you notice other campers challenging themselves in the same way?
speaker 2 8:37
Yes, there was. So, there was two levels. There was like the easy one, where there are a lot of rocks you can hold onto. And there was some kids who wanted to do like the one that's kind of just like a flat wall.
DJ 8:47
Is that the harder ones?
speaker 2 8:48
Yeah. Little cracks. There were a lot of campers, like, I think probably like eight or nine, trying to do it, and some of them got pretty high up. And I was like surprised, and even though like some people like couldn't do it, they were still trying, and it was really cool to see them like trying their best.
DJ 9:07
Love that.
speaker 2 9:08
Because I feel like I would have been too nervous to do it, because I like don't want to get hurt, but like also it seems like so cool to do, and it's like cool to watch them do it.
DJ 9:16
I love that. Thank you for sharing that. As we think about the theme nights here, are any of the theme nights ones that you're particularly interested in? We have, we have the rodeo-gay rodeo tonight, we have drag night, I think we have murder mystery still ahead of us. Any of those sound cool to you?
speaker 2 9:36
I am so excited for tomorrow night, which is the Clue one. I like grew up around Clue.
DJ 9:41
How fun.
speaker 2 9:42
I used to watch the movie over and over again. I played the board game so many times with my family. I love Clue. And the second me and my Mom, like, saw that was one of the nights we were like, "Oh my god, it's Clue!"
DJ 9:53
It's meant to be!
speaker 2 9:54
I didn't know it was a murder mystery. I just.. we're dressing up Clue now.I was like I was so happy, but I'm also really excited for the drag night to learn how to do like drag makeup.
DJ 10:07
Have you ever dressed in drag before?
speaker 2 10:08
No, but I've always wanted to, because I'm not good at doing that, but I'll try. So that's gonna be really exciting. And I love my outfit that I picked out. It's like-
DJ 10:17
Yeah, describe it. Yeah, tell us,
speaker 2 10:19
Like a sleeveless button up with like black, it's like black with black flares, and then I have like a rainbow neck, like neck scarf, and it's like I love it.
DJ 10:20
Love that. It's so exciting. And what about your Clue night? Are you dressing up for that?
speaker 2 10:34
Yes, I got it's like a, it's like another sleeveless thing, but it's like a sweater, kind of like low cut turtleneck with like golden buttons.
DJ 10:44
Are you? Is it? Is it reminiscent of any of the Clue characters?
speaker 2 10:46
No.
DJ 10:47
You're your own thing.
speaker 2 10:48
No, it was Clue when I bought the outfit. I was just like I'll just throw something together. And then it's like a dark blue jean skirt, and I don't know what shoes I'm gonna wear, but,
DJ 10:59
Sounds like you have options.
speaker 2 11:00
Yeah, I definitely do my hair nice and stuff, but yeah.
DJ 11:03
That's so fun. A few of the campers have talked about dressing up and sort of like this is your time to try on new looks.
speaker 2 11:09
Yes, I'm super excited.
DJ 11:11
That's great. Okay, so I've asked everybody these two questions, so you know, take them however you want. What's something that brings you joy?
speaker 2 11:19
Um, I have always really loved being around kids. I want to be a teacher when I grow up.
DJ 11:26
Oh, great!
speaker 2 11:27
And I love doing musical theater, so when I'm at college. I want to major in liberal studies and musical theater, so two majors. But also something that really brings me joy is like having like the validation that people like me as a person. And I know some people like sometimes won't like me, but it's just like when I was younger it was really hard for me to keep friends because I didn't feel like I was likable, but now that I've gotten older and found the right people, it's made me a lot happier.
DJ 12:00
Yeah.
speaker 2 12:00
Yeah, so especially being here, it's just been like so fun.
DJ 12:04
It reminds me of this thing I see on social media where it just talks about you just don't have your right audience, like you are a great person who just hasn't found their right audience yet. So it sounds like you're finding your right audience.
speaker 2 12:14
Yeah, and it's made me extremely happy, because like in first grade I like was, I remember coming home one day, and I was just like, so upset from my first day of school, and because I didn't make any friends, and it was just like I didn't know how to, and even if I did, because there were times where I would, it would be really hard for me to keep them, which in some cases I still do find that hard, but I have found like people who have really stuck with me, and it's been like amazing.
DJ 12:45
I love that. Yeah, do you think you'll make some lasting friendships here?
speaker 2 12:48
Yeah, I already have. I've met this one girl who I had done a show with previously.
DJ 12:54
No way!
speaker 2 12:54
She's my roommate.
DJ 12:55
No way, that's what a small world.
speaker 2 12:58
We didn't even realize until like we were talking about how we were in the same theater.
DJ 13:01
What?
speaker 2 13:01
Yeah.
DJ 13:02
That's wild. What show is it? Do you remember?
speaker 2 13:04
Elf?
DJ 13:04
Yeah.
speaker 2 13:06
And then I've met this other girl who is right next to us, and it's like she's really sweet. And so we've all been hanging out together, and there's everybody here is just like so nice.
DJ 13:15
That's great. You'll have to exchange phone numbers or social medias or something.
DJ 13:20
Okay. Second question. And thank you for that beautiful answer. Second question, when you're wrapping up your time, even though we'll be very sad and it'll be hard to go, what do you hope you will have taken away from your week here at camp?
speaker 2 13:35
Um, I think that I hope that I take away like the feeling that there are other people like me, and that even if it might take some time to find those people, I will, because they're here, and so they have to be like somewhere I live.
DJ 13:52
That's right.
speaker 2 13:53
And it's just.. it's.. I just hope that I like know that I can make friends, and yeah, and it's just, yeah.
DJ 14:04
You're a special person. I just want to say thank you. Your spirit really shines through, and you, I feel very sure that you're going to leave here with some really solid friendships and all those things you hope for. Thank you for your time.
speaker 2 14:16
Thank you, of course.
music 14:30
[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "I know a place”]
Baylee 14:30
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 LGBTQIA+ 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. 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 14:29
[Andy strumming guitar & Baylee's voice singing: "This is the place”]
