PNW/ Sarah Holliday Washington-
Democratic Vice Presidential nominee and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has decided to put some of the state’s Department of Natural Resources funds — roughly $10,500 — toward funding the “Queer Unity, Environmental Education, and Recreation for Youth” (QUEERY) program.
Facilitated by people who identify as transgender, host drag shows, and support LGBT activism among children, QUEERY takes kids ages 11 to 17 out to nature so they can “explore how queerness manifests in the natural world.”
According to the website, QUEERY “is a nature club for queer and questioning middle and high school youth.” This program is sponsored by Clean River Partners (CRP) and led by Heron Mahr who, according to The Daily Wire, describes herself as a “trans non-binary naturalist, youth educator, and community engagement professional” who uses “they/them” pronouns.
CRP wrote in an Instagram post that QUEERY is supposed “to offer a safe space for young individuals in Northfield and Faribault to connect, learn outdoor skills, and explore the intersection of queerness and nature.”
The children do, in fact, learn outdoor skills, such as “trail navigation, plant identification, and paddling skills.” But in alignment with content posted on the group’s website, this is “to remind us that our understandings of the natural world will never be separated from our understanding of ourselves” — a framework CRP uses to build their programs. “This goes both ways,” the article continued. “If we want to live in a society accepting of queer people, we should accept that nature is fundamentally queer, too.”
The camp, which shows children “how queerness manifests in the natural world,” is not open to parents. CRP’s executive director Jennifer Tonko stated that “parents aren’t banned from attending the program, but it is meant to be a space for youth and it’s designed as such.” Continue reading…
