LGBT Families Come Together in Rehoboth Beach
CAMP Rehoboth, the LGBTQ Community Center serving the greater Rehoboth Beach community, is excited about its upcoming “Family Pride CAMP” over the weekend of June 24-26. The event is packed with kid-friendly activities to celebrate the diversity of families living and vacationing in Rehoboth Beach.
Activities include two beach events (at the state park at Gordon’s Pond Pavilion and Poodle Beach in south Rehoboth Beach), a welcome party at CAMP Rehoboth, a bounce party at Shell We Bounce, and a Sunday barbeque just off the beach. This is the second year that CAMP Rehoboth has offered this event to support LGBTQ families, children, and friends.
Local CAMP Rehoboth volunteers are excited to welcome families back to the beach this year, and city officials are lending their support as well. Last year the kids visited the Rehoboth Beach firehouse, and this year the police chief has some treats in store. Steve Elkins, Executive Director of CAMP Rehoboth, noted that “the event is an important new contribution to the organization’s twenty-five-year mission to support the LGBT community, including the many LGBT families who live here or who are making Rehoboth Beach a fun summer destination.”
Mark Bromley and David Salie, two volunteers from Washington, DC who had the idea for the camp last year, said that they have enjoyed a similar, week-long summer event in Provincetown, MA: “We think it’s so important for our children to meet other children who are growing up in LGBT families,” noted Bromley, who tries to spend as much time as possible in Rehoboth Beach every summer with his husband and their two young children. Tara Sheldon, another volunteer who helped launch the family weekend last year, explained that the weekend “provides an affirming environment for my daughter, and for all of the children who sometimes still face questions and challenges during the regular school year.”