Abstract
Every year, hundreds of thousands of Jewish children and young adults spend parts of their summers in Jewish summer camps. They could spend anywhere from one to eight or more weeks of their summers at camp. Given the volume of people attending Jewish summer camps, it is inevitable that a significant proportion of these people will identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (LGBTQ+). Through an analysis of interviews, a review of current research and literature on this topic, and an assessment of artifacts, this project investigates exactly how Jewish summer camps in North America are striving to make camp environments more inclusive for people who identify under the LGBTQ+ umbrella. The research in this project identified that there are no universal standards in relation to LGBTQ+ inclusion in Jewish summer camps in North America. Rather, each camp approaches this topic in a way that is pertinent to the specific camp. It was also identified that while seasonal summer staff can act as a barrier to creating change, the relationship between camp leadership staff and the seasonal staff is paramount and requires investment to create any changes to inclusion.