• Courtesy of Dana Kaplan
• Campers at Camp Outright

Campers on Sunrise Lake in Orwell could soon be donning rainbow patches instead of merit badges.

Outright Vermont, a statewide nonprofit that supports young LGBTQ+ people, announced earlier this week that it is pursuing the purchase of Camp Sunrise, a 146-acre lakefront property in Addison and Rutland counties currently owned by the Green Mountain Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

Outright has signed a purchase and sale agreement, and a closing date has been scheduled for the end of January. Outright is applying for grant funds that would make the purchase possible.

Outright has not been able to accommodate everyone who wants to attend its Camp Outright — a "summer camp with a queer twist” — and has had waiting lists in the hundreds for the past few years. Outright has been running the camp at a rented property in Starksboro, which has limited availability, hindering the organization's programming.

The overnight camp is one of only a handful in the country specifically serving LGBTQ+ youth. This past spring more than 100 families, many from out of state, were told the camp had no room for them.

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When Outright executive director Dana Kaplan learned the Boy Scout camp was for sale, he jumped at the opportunity to expand. Kaplan hopes to increase the number of weeks Camp Outright is open and offer sessions specifically for youths under 12 and their families.

“This is an opportunity for young people who have historically been excluded from or denied access or even just harmed by outdoor youth programming,” Kaplan said. “This gives us an opportunity to try and rewrite the narrative and allow them to see the outdoors as a place of safety and belonging.”

Across the country, local chapters of the Boy Scouts of America have been selling land to pay for $2.46 billion in settlements resulting from a lawsuit that involved the alleged sexual abuse of more than 80,000 former scouts.

Mark Saxon, scout executive and chief executive officer of the Green Mountain Council, said that while the council is contributing funds toward the settlements, the Camp Sunrise sale is unrelated.

Saxon told Seven Days that he was excited by Outright’s plan for the property.

“We’re hopeful that with a new steward, the essential purpose of the camp will continue,” Saxon said.

Many in the community are glad, too. Residents have long had access to Sunset Lake through the shoreline of Camp Sunrise, and some worried that a private sale would mean they could no longer enjoy their beloved beachfront. Earlier this year, community members organized a petition against the redevelopment of the land.

Soon after, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources explored whether the state could purchase the property. Ultimately, though, the agency announced that the maintenance costs proved too high to justify a purchase.

“The fact that Outright is stepping forward is a remarkable thing in terms of who they are and what they are going to provide,” said Andy Snyder, a board member for the Sunrise-Sunset Lakes, Perch Pond Association. “And it's a marvelous thing in terms of what it will prevent.”

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Kaplan is hopeful that the purchase will unlock opportunities for LGBTQ+ youths in Vermont.

“It's a monumental opportunity,” Kaplan said. “Not just for the organization and for the young people we serve but also to continue Vermont’s trend of being out in front of social progress.”