At Starfish, each individual is valued and celebrated. We do not tolerate disrespect of any individual, their choices, or their personal paths. As with many organizations and the wider world around us, Starfish is evolving over time and strives always, in all that we do, to be open and accepting of all. To that end, we share the following tenets of our Gender Statement: Starfish understands that in today’s ever-changing world, some participants in our program may not feel described fully by the binary depiction of gender as male or female. Every individual deserves to be treated with dignity, acceptance and welcoming into our camp community. We acknowledge that sex and gender identity exist along a spectrum, and our residential program and facility are fairly binary. With new development, we strive to make adjustments that minimize this reality, and where that is not possible, we will be open about any limitations. Activities by gender identity: we do not split up into gender/gender identifying groups for activities. Almost everything at camp, with the exception of housing and washrooms, encompasses all. Bathrooms: there are a few single-person bathrooms on site that can be designated gender-neutral. Each housing location has a bathroom and shower area designated for those residents. Housing: On Main Camp, campers sleep, change clothes, and live in cabins of 4-6 other youth and 4-6 staff. Cabins are, in general, designated between female-identifying and male-identifying campers. Our “Fish” Village hosts male-identifying and non-binary campers and staff of all genders. Our “Star” Village hosts female-identifying and non-binary campers and staff. Housing for Specialty Camp programs varies depending on the youth participants in attendance at any given time. Pronouns: Campers are welcome to share their preferred pronouns with staff and initially with other campers. Our staff will respect and use those pronouns. However, because so many of our campers are working on basic social skills including give-and-take conversations, any camper who attends Starfish and prefers alternate pronouns must be able to accept that other campers may or may not use those pronouns. In some cases, correcting another camper for using the wrong pronouns may discourage them from attempting to grow their social skills, in other cases, they may not have the executive functioning skills to make the change or be able to acknowledge your child’s journey at the same developmental level as your child. Respect and understanding must guide everyone in these interactions. Every child is unique and every child & family’s path is different. We work individually with each family. If you have other questions or would like to talk further about your camper and their safe, successful integration into the Starfish camp community, we welcome you to reach out to us anytime.