By Willow Bosworth | Friday, July 8
In seventh grade, I was forced out of the closet.
I was by no means the only “out LGBT adolescent” at my middle school, even in my home state of North Carolina, but I didn’t find myself connected to others.
Sci-Tech was the first place where I didn’t feel so alone. I’ve been glued to this community ever since 2016. I’ve met some of my best friends here, people that feel as close as family. At Sci-Tech, I could tell my own story, and that feeling was unparalleled.
It wasn’t until this past year that I fully realized how my queerness is inherently tied to my Judaism. This epiphany has been in formation ever since Summer 2018 when I had a fateful conversation with the one and only Lillian Feldman-Hill. As camper and staff member, we commiserated over the need for a day when queer members of the Sci-Tech community could feel able to fully share their stories. And so Pride-day Friday was born. From an event planned by two came one involving many, culminating in what is likely the gayest photoshoot taken in New England.
The first Pride Day Friday at 6 Points Sci-Tech, circa 2018
Jokes aside; we like to say here that camp isn’t a time in the year: it’s a feeling. And similarly, my queerness isn’t just another part of me but a sensation of utter peace and community. I find it replicated each time Friday rolls around with campers and staff alike decked out in flags and shirts, all proclaiming their uniqueness.
It’s a feeling of total euphoria and a knowledge that things will be okay in the end. It’s a feeling of community and knowing that those around you will stick with you throughout the ages. It’s a feeling of love.
There is nothing like that feeling in the world.