32 February 7 • 2019
jn
California Jewish Camp
To Try Out All-Gender
Cabins This Summer
A
fter attending a few LGBTQ
family weekends at Camp
Tawonga, Jonathan Brunn
felt ready to attend sleepaway camp
there. But Jonathan’
s mom, Nancy,
was nervous.
Jonathan, 10, has identified as
nonbinary — a gender identity that
falls somewhere outside the catego-
ry of male or female — since age 3.
Because of that, the San Francisco
child has been subjected to bullying
at school.
But it didn’
t happen at Camp
Tawonga, which has been ahead of
the curve in welcoming nonbinary
and LGBTQ campers and staff.
It turns out that Jonathan isn’
t the
first nonbinary camper to attend
the Jewish camp near Yosemite
National Park and certainly won’
t
be the last. To accommodate the
increasing number of kids like
Jonathan among its campers, for
the first time Tawonga will have
two all-gender cabins this summer.
While the move is pioneering, it
isn’
t precedent setting: According
to the Foundation for Jewish Camp,
Habonim Dror’
s Camp Moshava
in Maryland has offered all-gender
cabins since 2017, and the foun-
dation itself offered the option
to camp counselors attending its
Cornerstone Seminar last year.
Jonathan first attended A Taste
of Camp, a five-night session for
younger campers going to sleep-
away camp for the first time, in the
summer of 2016. While Jonathan’
s
mom and camp staff had decided
beforehand to place Jonathan in a
girls’
bunkhouse, the cabin-mates
took it upon themselves to call the
bunkhouse “all-gender” to make it
more inclusive.
The decision to officially create
two such cabins came about organ-
ically, according to camp director
Becca Meyer. In the previous sev-
eral years, Tawonga had added
all-gender restrooms and started
a “beyond the binary” campfire in
addition to separate girls’
and boys’
COURTESY OF CAMP TAWONGA
ALIX WALL JTA.ORG
Camp Tawonga, a Jewish
overnight camp in Northern
California, has been ahead
of the curve in welcoming
nonbinary and LGBTQ
campers and staffers.
continued on page 34
A-Days, Optionals and Punch & Cookies? The smell of
fried chicken wafting over the tether-ball court?
then it's time to go back to camp!
We're celebrating our 60TH SUMMER with
an all- inclusive and all- included
Alumni Reunion
Friday, August 30 - Monday September 2 (LABOR DAY WKND)
on the gorgeous grounds of Camp Walden, Cheboygan, MI.
Join us over three Walden Days and Walden Nights,
for an extraordinary gathering of campers and counselors
from the '60s to the '00s.
Early registration discount through April 1
Visit www.campwaldenmi.com/alumni to register.
Questions? reunion60@campwaldenmi.com
Do you have a camper who might be a Walden Alum some day?
Visit our Website or contact us directly for details about this
summer’s 2-week to 7-week sessions,
beginning June 23. 248-225-1256
There's Nothing to do Back in the City!
Hey, WaLden AlumnI!
DO YOU still MISs...
YEARS OF SUMMER
60
60
C