Out Philly director talks gay Bible camp documentary

By Larry Nichols
PGN Staff Writer
© 2008 Gary Kramer and Philadelphia Gay News

Two words:

Bible.

Camp.

For some, putting the two together isn’t necessarily the equivalent of getting chocolate in the peanut butter or the surf meeting the turf, but out filmmaker Kirk Marcolina assures that there are red-blooded gay American teens who are eager to voluntarily spend a decent chunk of their summer exercising their religious faith in the wilderness.

“To a certain extent, Bible camp may seem geeky or weird on the outside, but for these kids, it was their reality,” Marcolina said. “So being excited about going to this camp made a lot of sense to them and, after experiencing it, I can understand why.”

But you don’t have to take his word for it, as the resulting acclaimed documentary, “Camp Out,” is set for release on DVD after spending the last few years on the gay film-festival circuit and airing on the Logo Network.

The film, directed by Marcolina and Larry Grimaldi, follows 10 Midwestern teenagers as they attend the first overnight Bible camp for gay Christian youths.

It’s OK if you didn’t know there was such a thing.

“This year was the fourth year and it was more successful,” Marcolina said of Bay Lake Camp in Minnesota. “I think they had 15 kids this year.”

Marcolina, 37, said it was his own Catholic upbringing that made him want to do this film.

“I grew up in Philadelphia and I went to Catholic schools from the time that I was 2 until I graduated high school,” he said. “I was brought up in a very religious family. So for me, one of the struggles I had with knowing I was gay was with my religion, because I was told by the church for many years that being gay was wrong.

“But I loved being Catholic. I loved being Christian. So when I heard about the camp, I instantly knew it was something I wanted to explore more through a documentary, because they’re dealing with a struggle that I had dealt with my whole life.”

The six boys and four girls featured in the documentary struggle with both where they fit in the church — which can either be welcoming or condemning — and trying to fit in with their gay peers. Some of the more interesting campers include Scancy, a 17-year-old Goth girl who identifies as bisexual and on the brink of seeking out different religions; Christine, a 16-year-old Elvis-obsessed lesbian; Tim, a 15-year-old socially awkward recovering drug addict; and Thomas, an 18-year-old devout Christian with a serious air who wants to become a pastor.

“We got very lucky with the kids that went to camp because it’s not like some documentary where you have hundreds of people you can cast from,” Marcolina said. “In this case it was these 10 kids who happen to be going to this camp, and that’s whose story we got to tell, and luckily many of them were super-articulate and had interesting journeys they allowed us to come with them on.”

Marcolina said he also saw some of himself and his experiences in the subjects.

“To a certain extent I saw a little bit of myself in Thomas,” he said. “Thomas is so devout and so into spirituality. I wasn’t quite that intense about my spirituality, but I did study to become a Christian Brother for a time. I was seriously considering being a religious person with my life.

“One thing that was different about these kids was they were definitely more self-assured and comfortable with their sexual orientation than I was at 16 or 17. I was in the closet and had only come out to my campus minister at La Salle [University]. He was the only person I told in the world, and it was not a good coming-out story, at least in my case.”

The DVD version of “Camp Out” features footage that was not in the original print of the documentary, including director commentary and interviews with the teens’ parents.

As for the teens featured in the film, Marcolina said he has kept in touch with most of them and that some already have graduated from college.

“One thing that surprised me is that Thomas entered the military just as the film was about to air on Logo,” he said. “And guess what? They found out he was gay and he was discharged. It was interesting that he wanted to join the military. I think part of that was he wanted to provide protection for the chaplain. So he was still tied in with religion but yet he was in the military. It didn’t last that long. Scancy is studying elementary education and I think is still researching Wicca.”

“Camp Out” hits shelves Aug. 5. For more information, visit www.campoutmovie.com.

Larry Nichols can be reached at larry@epgn.com.