Apr 3
Gay Campground's Anti-Trans Policy Prompts Cancellations
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 3 MIN.
A clothing-optional campground for gay men in Texas refuses to allow trans men – and a Houston organization for bears has canceled its event there rather than deny participation to its trans members.
The Dallas Voice reported that Houston Bears "has cancelled its annual Bear Camp event, which had been set to take place in May at Grizzly Pines, a clothing-optional campground serving the gay community which has, as the website notes in all caps, a 'MEN ONLY' policy."
Indeed, Grizzly Pines, the campground's website explains, is "an independently owned, clothing-optional gay campground proudly serving the gay community, for MEN ONLY."
"Despite our name, we aren't just for bears," the site says.
But the campsite is just for cisgender men.
"The Houston Bears Board was not aware of such a policy being in effect," the Houston Bears explained in a statement, the Dallas Voice relayed.
The group "thought it might be an outdated policy from the previous owners," so they "decided to ask Grizzly Pines for clarification."
The response they got? "They have confirmed that it is their policy to only allow cisgender men to stay at their facilities."
The Houston Bears left no doubts as to their own stance on the issue. "The idea of having an event where we would be forced to tell some of our members 'not you' is incompatible with our values," the group declared.
Grizzly Pines responded on March 31, National Transgender Visibility Day, with a statement of its own, suggesting that the Houston Bears knew all along about the no-trans policy, which "has been in place for more than ten years and it has never been hidden or kept from public," the campground said.
That said, Grizzly Pines also wished "to apologize for any misunderstanding or confusion their new stronger support for the trans community has caused anyone. This was never an issue with their board in the past when they scheduled their events with us and quite honestly came as a last minute surprise."
The campground's statement declared, "We fully support and respect the broader LGBTQ community including our trans siblings and we believe there is room within the world for a wide variety of spaces that celebrate the richness and diversity of our identities." But the campground is also "a private niche retreat," the statement added, "and its purpose is not to serve as a one size fits all solution for the entire LGBTQ+ spectrum."
Grizzly Pines cast its policy as a matter of "focus, not exclusion," the Dallas Voice noted.
The controversy is having wider ripple effects in the gay community, with Gay Camping Friends founder John Anderson coming out against such policies.
"Anderson this week condemned Grizzly Pines' exclusion of trans men," the Dallas Voice documented, "saying in a Facebook post that he hopes 'this latest backlash will help all campgrounds re-evaluate their policies on trans inclusion.'"
"Gay Camping Friends is thinking about taking additional action in our group against all campgrounds that exclude trans people," Anderson posted on Facebook, before adding: "these are changing times, and if you can't let trans men into a male only campground. you don't share the values that Gay Camping Friends holds."
Meanwhile, "Houston Bears rescheduled the 2025 Bear Camp for May 16-18 at Rainbow Ranch Campground in Groesbeck," Dallas Voice detailed.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
