The purest queer joy: 50+ pics from LGBTQ+ adult summer camp

For the past 27 years, LGBTQ+ adults nostalgic for the simple joys of summer camp have headed to scenic, rural Maine for a week of outdoor activities, evening socials, and bonding with bunkmates-turned-friends in the fresh, pine-scented air.

Every summer, 'Camp' Camp, which sits about 90 minutes north of Portland, plays host to about 200 like-minded adults looking to partake in some good clean fun in the great outdoors. This year's session — which marked almost three decades since the camp was founded with the intention of offering people an alternative to more boisterous gay-friendly vacation destinations — ran from August 14 to 21. And, as usual, it offered campers the usual lineup of activities like canoeing and kayaking, crafting, and team sports, as well as nightly events like a barn dance and talent show and programming specifically geared toward its unique clientele.

But as the team behind 'Camp' Camp explains, the largely Northeastern-based crowd who packs the campus' air-conditioned cabins and mess hall each year is looking for more than Broadway and ballroom dance classes and a rotating menu of elevated cafeteria fare. The real reason people make the trip, often for not the first time, is the sense of community they find while exploring the robust schedule of land- and water-based pursuits.

“It's a place where you can be yourself in every sense,” Kat Torres Radisic, the camp's outreach manager, said in a press release earlier this year. “From the moment you arrive, you're surrounded by people who celebrate you for who you are."

Here, we highlight more than 50 photos of joyful moments from the 27th summer of 'Camp' Camp. From snapshots of smiling campers showing off their athleticism and costuming skills to an array of candid and posed group portraits, these photos capture a group of queer adults who, as Radisic described it, went from strangers to family in just one short week.

Find out more about the camp and learn about next year's dates and pricing here.

(Photos for this piece were assembled by Nikki Aye.)