Anyone who’s been to summer camp knows it’s about a lot more than roasting marshmallows and potato-sack races. That’s especially true at Camp Ten Trees, which merges camp experiences with progressive programming for LGBTQ youth (the Q stands for “questioning”) and kids of LGBTQ parents.

“Sometimes people have a misperception that Camp Ten Trees is about ‘teaching kids to be gay.’ It’s not,” says Airen Lydick, the camp’s executive director since 2006. “We’re creating space in which—in the context of boating, arts and crafts, social justice workshops, and other activities—youth can talk about the things they need to talk about…[They’re] sharing skills and strategies for navigating a world that’s often hostile toward LGBTQ people and their allies, and we’re creating space for them to do that.”

During a session last year, Lydick recalls, kids had to build a raft out of stuff they found outdoors. One team linked swim noodles and interlaced twigs and branches to create a rainbow-colored float. A twist on a camp favorite, the exercise was intended to teach teamwork and innovation.

Camp Ten Trees was established in 2000. Only 20 teenagers assembled around the campfire the following year, but as one of the first spaces for queer and questioning adolescents (today, it’s still the only camp of its type in the Pacific Northwest), it grew significantly. Last year 159 campers attended the two sessions. This year’s first session, later this month, is filled to capacity with 100 kids. Lydick expects the second week to include anywhere from 75 to 85 campers.

At other camps, counselors may be instructed to shut down any conversation that heads into the realm of sex, drugs, or suicide. But not at Ten Trees. The 14-day program, held in eastern Washington, includes discussions about homophobia, identity, and sexual health. “Often, they have no other venues in which to get this information or discuss these topics,” says Lydick, “especially if they don’t live or go to school in a place that has a lot of LGBTQ youth or adult allies.” Lydick himself grew up on a farm in rural Nebraska as a she before moving to Seattle in 1999 and undergoing gender-reassignment surgery. He joined Camp Ten Trees in 2006, becoming a year-round staff member and director in 2009.

While a week of tuition is $450, Camp Ten Trees is a nonprofit and relies heavily on a volunteer staff of 85. Many staff members are former campers, and involved in LGBTQ development programs. Says Riley Pickering, who began volunteering after two years as a camper: “[Ten Trees] had a really big impact on the way I saw myself and the world.”