Healthy relationships were the first thing we built at QYU through several interactive presentations. The first was done by Jess Clark from Solace Crisis Center of Santa Fe. He presented on consent culture, which is building a culture based off of respect. Coinciding with Jess Clark's presentation was an interactive presentation by IMPACT of Santa Fe, a non-profit that teaches self-defense and healthy boundary building courses, both of which we learned about.
Another component we covered HIV Prevention. The first part of our HIV Prevention was a series of hilarious videos, one featuring a British lady doing a condom workshop. During the video, one of the attendees said, (I shit you not) : "That British lady's blue press on nails perfectly match the dildo she is using in this demonstration."In another video, a man, using ketchup, showed us the symptoms of STIs and STDs.
The second part of the HIV prevention activities was when we acted out skits. The couples we roleplayed included: Kirk and Spock, Jay-Z and Beyonce, and Superman and Batman. There's nothing like Spock saying he has HIV, Jay-Z having gonorrhea, and Superman forcing Batman into sex to bring about great group discussion!
After HIV prevention, we went into team building activities, which centered around a high event ropes course. Here, we climbed up a thirty foot pole, with our partner. Once we both go up there, our job was to go as far as we could across the metal wires suspended in the air. Everyone else was on "belay," which means they were holding us up and therefore keeping us safe. My partner was my friend of 8 years, Kathryn Valencia. I have to say, there's something about being three stories in the air that strengthens friendships between people.
Besides all of these wonderful activities, we also had a beach party. Or at least the New Mexico version of beach party, which is eating burgers and listening to guitar near a small stream. We had rainbow cake and Roman Raspberry sorbet too; perfect for "gay camp," as we affectionately call it. Afterwards, we had a group talent show; people sang songs ranging from Hallelujah to Born This Way to Single Ladies, dancing included. We had several awesome poets, and a guitarist too!
This wonderful camp culminated in what we call "the big gay lunch, with our big gay family." We went to Backroad Pizza, ordered three X-Large pizzas covered in a huge variety of toppings. Then, we shoveled it down AQAP (As Quickly As Possible), like your average teenagers, and talked about everything. During this socializing, I realized that is was going to be the last awesome thing I do in New Mexico this summer, since I'm going to be getting my wisdom teeth out the 14th, and I leave for college on the 30th. Also, it would be the last SFMC event I would do until next summer; even more sadness.
Anyways, have some pictures from my time at Gamp (the portmanteau for Gay Camp), even though Gamp sounds like an STD or something. Enjoy!
Our fabulous cake:
Some art near the Hall of Conscience:
The presentation done by Jess Clark:
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