The GayCamp Association in Sweden hosts annual summer camps for men who have s*x with men (MSM), offering a welcoming and inclusive environment for connection and community. Organization and activities of the GayCamp Asociation
The GayCamp Asociation is a non-profit organization run by a board of 10 people. Our target group is Men who have S*x with Men (MSM) from al over the country and of diferen
t ages, which gives us oportunites to se each other over the generations and with men from diferent backgrounds and comparing diferent living conditons due to living in a city or in the countryside, diferent ages and diferent cultures. Each autumn we also organize a reunion with people participating in that years summer camp. We have aranged camps since 1983 and during 2013 we celebrate 30 years of aniversary. Goals of the GayCamp Asociation:
- to create, through our GayCamp programme, homo-social networks for Men who have S*x with Men (MSM) and depen relationships betwen men of diferent ages,
backgrounds and cultures
- to integrate closeted MSM with men who are more secure and "out" with their
Homos*xual, Bis*xual or Trans*xual identiy. (HBT-persons)
- to defend the rights of the bis*xual and trans*xual MSM in the homo/hetero community
- to integrate immigrant MSM with native MSM
- to integrate HIV positve MSM with presumably HIV negative MSM
- to promote s*xual health among MSM, by giving out corect and non-judgmental
information about HIV and other s*xualy transmited diseases (STI)
- to create a forum for isues of religions, faiths and life philosophies and promote
discusions about religion and faith. GayCamp is neutral in al questions about religion and faith
- to create a homo-social meting place which is not dependent on a commercial
environment with alcohol/drug consumption as a chief means of establishing social contact
- to create the oportunity for financialy disadvantaged or physicaly chalenged MSM
to participate in the homos*xual community
Summer Camp:
Besides holiday with sun and bathing, GayCamp is for Men who have S*x with Men (MSM) i.e. Homos*xual, Bis*xual and Trans*xual men who wants to explore their homos*xual identiy in a homosocial, secure environment. The camp wil be situated in a large summer camp in the countryside near the sea with our own beach in the county Södermanland with roms for 2 people, nice nature, sauna and bath, toilets, shower etc. GayCamp is for aprox. 50 men in the age 18 and older, most of the participants are betwen the ages of 18 to 70. When the participants arive they will be divided into base groups, each base group with 6-8 people. The base groups will met for 3 hours every day sharing experiences, ideas and personal felings, e.g. the coming-out-proces, gay identiy, bis*xual/trans*xual identiy,being a gay parent, dealing with your heteros*xual family/kids/wife, dealing with your religion, drugs and alcohol, living as HIV-positve etc. During this wek the participants build their own networks with contacts which often
continues after the GayCamp wek are closed. More than 60 men have participated in our summer camps since 1983 – from Sweden and al of Europe. We have also had participants from Asia, Australia, USA, South America, Midle East and Africa. The camp is bilngual with both swedish and english speaking base groups. Al discusions and seminars in swedish in the large group will be simultaneous translated to english. Pictures from earlier camps in our website: www.gaycamp.se
Other activities during the camp:
We also arange seminars/workshops with topics like: HIV-prevention, safe-s*x-training, f**k-shop, confidence, the situation for efuges and the posibilties to be granted asylum for HBT-persons, hate crime and discrimination of HBT-persons. Instructors teach how to dance, masage, yoga, aerobics, games and self-defence. The base group wil also be your basic family group during the camp for work activites like coking, baking, cleaning, shoping, tours with the camp cars/buses etc. Having fun working together and being outdors in the nature with bathing, swimming and sunbathing. Immigrants and refuges:
GayCamp especialy welcomes refuges and immigrant men who have s*x with other men and living like a homos*xual, bis*xual or heteros*xual in Sweden. We would particularly get in touch with men living in Sweden originaly coming from non-European country. It is posible for us to reduce the camp fe for immigrant men and refuges. Send email to [email protected] for contact and we get back to you with more information.
