Transgender boy, 9, is turned away from summer camp for foster children because they claimed it had ‘no specialized staff to look after him’
- Amber Checky, from Valley Foster, shared that her nine-year-old son was looking forward to attending the Tonto Creek Camp in Payson
- Arizona Friends and Foster Care and the family’s Court Appointed Special Advocate helped Checky secure a $400 scholarship for her son
- The camp was to start on July 19
- Checky shared that she took the young child in when he was seven
- Last month, the family received a letter that the young boy would not be allowed to attend camp as they didn’t have the staff training for transgender youth
- The camp tried to resolve the issue once media attention started coming but Checky said that she doesn’t feel comfortable sending the boy to camp
An Arizona foster mom shared her despair after learning that her transgender foster son would no longer be allowed to attend a local summer camp – just weeks after receiving a scholarship to attend.
Amber Checky, from Valley Foster, shared that her nine-year-old foster child was looking forward to attending the Tonto Creek Camp in Payson.
‘I think summer camp is really a place where foster kids can go to simply be kids,’ Checky said to ABC 15.
Amber Checky, from Valley Foster, (right) shared that her nine-year-old foster son was looking forward to attending the Tonto Creek Camp in Payson
She added: ‘My child was looking forward to doing archery and kayaking and hanging out with other kids.’
Arizona Friends and Foster Care and the family’s Court Appointed Special Advocate helped Checky secure a $400 scholarship for her foster son. The camp was to start on July 19.
Checky has been looking after the boy, who has not been named, since he was seven.
‘He was born female identified but feels in his brain and his heart that he is a boy,’ Checky said.
Arizona Friends and Foster Care and the family’s Court Appointed Special Advocate helped Checky secure a $400 scholarship for her son. The camp was to start on July 19
‘My child was looking forward to doing archery and kayaking and hanging out with other kids,’ Checky explained
She describes him as being an advocate for the LGBTQ who has thrived, educating his teachers and peers on what it means to be transgender. He has even started recycling drives at his charter school where he also excels as a student.
But his happiness waned when the family received a letter, last month, detailing how there would not be accommodations for the transgender boy.
Checky explained: ‘We get an email from the chief executive officer saying sorry he’s not able to attend anymore and that the camp staff that they had, that has a degree in this, is no longer able to attend, so they would be refunding us.’
The camp had originally offered that Checky’s foster son be housed in a separate tent, but she did not feel comfortable with that arrangement.
But his happiness waned when the family received a letter, last month, detailing how there would not be accommodations for the transgender boy.
She asked that he be allowed in the boy’s tent and be allowed access to a private bathroom or one with a curtain.
‘How do you tell a nine-year-old who’s accepted in every other aspect of their life; in their house and in their school that they can’t go to camp,’ she said.
Checky (pictured) said that the camp touted itself as being inclusive and against bullying, both sentiments she feels were shared just so the camp appeared more marketable
Checky said that the camp touted itself as being inclusive and against bullying, both sentiments she feels were shared just so the camp appeared more marketable.
She says that she received an email soon after ABC contacted the camp’s CEO, attempted to resolve the matter.
Checky said: ‘To me the motivation seems like they just want to stay out of the light, out of the press. We just don’t feel safe leaving him there now.’
Tom Fraker, the camp’s CEO, released a statement sharing that staff were not properly trained to handle transgender youth.
‘At Tonto Creek Camp we believe that every youth deserves to go to camp and have a great camp experience.. As a camp and community we are growing to accommodate every camper. We have participated in providing a camp experience to over 260 youth in the foster system in 2019.
‘This year we believed we were ready to accommodate transgender campers. We recently learned as we planned for our camps that in order to fully accommodate transgender youth, we would need additional staff training for all our camp counselors. The accommodations were what was requested. Therefore we felt that at this time, we would not be capable of accommodating transgender campers to the best of our ability for both the specific camper and the other campers in attendance. We have this training for all staff by next summer camp season.
‘We appreciate the concern of caregiver of this youth in the foster system and have reached out to her today to offer an alternative for the youth in the foster system to receive a summer camp experience. Thank you.’