Living Openly at PolyCamp

Written by Mandy Van Deven on Bitch's blog

I feel like everywhere I turn someone else is saying something about polyamory. Perhaps the recent upset over Proposition 8 in California provided somewhat of a platform for poly communities to openly speak about the legitimation of alternative family structures—not just beyond that of one man and one woman, but beyond gay and lesbian couples as well. Open relationships have emerged as a hot topic on television shows like Tyra, WEtv’s Secret Lives of Women, and of course, Big Love, and multiple feminist-oriented books have been published in the past year that explore open relationships. So it didn’t surprise me to stumble upon PolyCamp Ontario.

Pretty much as its name implies, PolyCamp Ontario is a weekend-long summer camp for poly families. It was founded in 2007 by science and technology journalist Danaeris to provide "an affordable event to serve the needs of members of the polyamorous communities." This year’s camp will be held August 14th–16th at the Mansfield Outdoor Centre in Toronto. Polyamory Weekly host Cunning Minx will be the Guest of Honour, and the weekend will be full of workshops and activities that will be both fun and educational. Though the program for 2009 isn’t available just yet, last year’s guests had the chance to learn "10 Rules for Happy Non-Monogamy" and "Jealousy 101" during the daytime workshops and then partake in a clothing-optional (but PG-13) hot tub or watch poly films at night. Fun times for the whole extended and multiplicitous fam!

Oh, and for those of you in the US Pacific Northwest, there’s a similar camp in Washington State.

** Spice! comic by Julie Jacob