Windy City Times Reporter Trudy Ring recently interviewed Julio Flores, PHIMC Program Director for The Alliance and co-director of Action Camp; Denver Gier, a college student who has been a camper and youth leader; and Lizzy Appleby, Youth Services‘ Pride/Share Director and co-director of Action Camp.
Here is an excerpt from the article published on April 22, 2026:
Denver Gier, a college student who has been a camper and youth leader, lauded his experience in both roles.
“I’ve been really lucky that I’ve always been able to be out to my friends and family and be accepted,” said Gier, who is queer and transmasculine. “But one of the best things I’ve gotten to see at camp is seeing people come into themselves and being in an environment where they feel comfortable trying out new names or different pronouns.”
Action Camp lets Gier be more comfortable being more feminine in expression, they said, adding, “It’s a space where there’s a greater understanding of how gender is different from gender expression; there’s an understanding of how queerness can look.”
…
Appleby and Flores, who are both queer, both said they wish there had been something like Action Camp when they were younger. But each feels that they have benefited from running it.
“My first Action Camp was in 2023, and I feel like I was having way too much fun,” Flores said. “I feel like my inner child went through a healing process of like, ‘Oh, you deserved this as a young person. And although you didn’t have access to it back then, now you have access to it in some ways.’”
“Action Camp is a building exercise,” said Appleby, who has been involved since 2016. “It’s working together to try to figure out how to be in community with one another in a way that’s not harmful and is supportive and loving and kind. And I wish I had had that experience as a young person.”
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Learn more here about Action Camp, co-hosted annually by PHIMC and Youth Services. Learn more here about how the Alliance collaborates with and supports LGBTQ+ youth, even beyond Action Camp.
