At Camp Newman the entering 11th graders are in a program called Avodah. They stay at camp the whole summer and their program is a mix of regular camp programming and service to the camp and the community. In addition to swimming and climbing and theme nights, the Avodah campers are building the camp kibbutz, preppig the dining hall before each meal, and sorting all the mail. One of their big projects for the summer is raising money for and participating in the AIDS Walk in San Francisco.
Last week I went with the Avodah campers to the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade. The campers prepared for the parade by talking about the things that make them proud to be themselves. Camp is a place where teenagers feel free to express themselves without fear of judgment, and I was moved by how much of themselves the campers were willing to share with each other. At the Gay Pride Parade our group carried banners that said “Proud To Be Me” and a rainbow chuppah. Whenever we stopped along the parade route, campers posing as same-sex couples exchanged rings under the chuppah and broke a plastic cup to shouts of “mazel tov!” The crowd greeted us with cheering, and the campers kept up their energy and enthusiasm despite the uncharacteristic heat in San Francisco.
It was an amazing day and I was proud to be walking with the Avodah campers. While waiting for our turn to walk in the parade I met several Christian clergy members, both gay and straight, who were also walking in support of gay pride. We talked about the need for people of faith to support gay rights and not to allow a narrow vision of God to be used to justify hatred. The Torah teaches us that each one of us is created b’tzelem elohim, in God’s image, and that every one of us has a spark of the divine within us; we are at our best when we remember that in our dealings with others.
