Radar Watchlist: Brave Trails

Phil
5 minutes ago
8 min read

Brave Trails is an adult-run grooming ground wrapped in campfire aesthetics, built to cultivate a captive audience of minors and keep them in the cult long after the tents come down. Founded in 2014, Brave Trails is a national nonprofit with a blunt mission statement: “Build the next generation of LGBTQ leaders.” That mission alone should raise eyebrows, because this is not what most parents think they’re purchasing when they pay thousands of dollars to send their child to sleep-away camp.

Source: Brave Trails

On paper, Brave Trails markets itself as accredited summer camps, backpacking trips, family camps, meet-up groups, year-round leadership programming, and queer-affirming mental health services. In practice, it functions as an adult-managed pipeline that pulls kids into a narrow worldview built around dependency-building, pronoun culture, and social justice programming, with plans to keep them tethered year-round, all while corporate sponsors help foot the bill. Brave Trails claims everything it offers helps LGBTQ+ youth find “their people, their place, and their passion.”

Translation: build belonging first, then build belief.

Because once a child’s entire social world is anchored to a “community” defined by labels and affirming authority figures, Brave Trails doesn’t need to persuade anyone. The kids self-police. The culture enforces itself. And parents on the outside are treated like the problem if they dare ask what exactly is happening inside.

Brave Trails operates as a 501(c)(3) under EIN 46-4530883, with plenty of corporate funding. Brave Trails claims 2,220 youth served, representation from 50 states and 19 countries, and $125,000 in financial assistance given to camp attendees each year. For 2025, it reports seven weeks of overnight leadership camps in California, New York, and Georgia. One Georgia event reportedly featured 31 staff and 67 campers. Brave Trails also says it gave $200,000 in financial support that year, hired 50 paid staff and 90 volunteers, ran family camps in Los Angeles and Georgia, and provided 950+ hours of queer-affirming mental health services to youth in California.

That staffing ratio is not normal. And Brave Trails doesn’t hide why: the entire environment is designed for supervision, containment, and total immersion. Brave Trails frames its flagship offering, Camp Brave Trails, as a traditional summer camp “with an LGBTQ+ twist,” calling it a “safe haven” where youth meet “caring adult mentors” and develop “leadership skills.”

Brave Trails — Instagram

It also offers a seven-day LGBTQ+ backpacking program for ages 14 to 19 and LGBTQ+ Family Camp weekends in Los Angeles and Georgia. Its year-round programming includes free to low-cost meet-up groups, online activities, and leadership workshops designed to keep campers connected long after the campfire. Brave Trails even spells out the tether in its own words: free-to-low-cost year-round programs that provide meet-up groups, online activities, and leadership workshops “to keep our campers connected and thriving beyond the campfire.” Brave Trails is creating an infrastructure where children’s identities, friendships, mentors, and worldview become inseparable from the organization.

Brave Trails makes its business model clear. A nine-day camp is listed at $2,600 full price. Their own “Tuition Includes” list states that tuition covers staffing, year-round administrative labor, an ACA-accredited facility, and a long list of services and programming.

But the most revealing line is also the one they seem proudest of:

Genderless Lodging.

Right there. Not hidden. Not subtle. That single phrase tells you what this camp actually revolves around. Not hiking. Not archery. Not arts and crafts.

Gender ideology — institutionalized and sold at $2,600 per nine days.

Queer Prom Fundraiser — Instagram

Campers are not divided by gender. Brave Trails explicitly states campers are not divided up by gender. Each room has 9 to 10 peers in the same age group with two counselors. Then it immediately pivots into pronoun enforcement and exploration. Campers and staff are encouraged to share names and pronouns, and everyone wears nametags listing pronouns. Brave Trails openly says they welcome campers and staff to try out new names and pronouns while at camp. This is a program that places minors into mixed-sex lodging, encourages gender experimentation, and surrounds kids with trained adult mentors in an affirming, radicalized environment.

The secrecy is a feature, not a bug.

Brave Trails anticipates pushback and describes a privacy and security strategy that reads less like a normal camp and more like an undercover operation. It states the physical camp location is confidential and shared only with registered families and staff. Geotagging or location sharing is strictly prohibited. Brave Trails says it will maintain a low profile by avoiding visible signage or exterior decor that could reveal it as an LGBTQ+ camp from public roads or surrounding areas.

Brave Trails — Instagram

Then it boasts “community screening,” where every camper and staff member undergoes a video screening process to ensure they are part of the LGBTQ+ community or affirming allies, plus ID checks for all folks entering the camp space. They claim staff are rigorously screened through interviews, background checks, and reference verification, and that staff receive extensive online and in-person training. They also claim collaboration with local and federal authorities to address and mitigate threats or harmful rhetoric received by phone, email, or online.

Source: Popsugar

They brag that they won’t post photos or media to public social media until camp sessions have concluded, framing it as “media mindfulness.” Why? Because Brave Trails understands its model cannot survive daylight. When something is wholesome, it doesn’t require secrecy.

Brave Trails has strict rules about physical boundaries. It demands consent before touching anyone, even for high-fives or hugs. It explicitly avoids wrestling, cuddling, and intimate hugs. It mandates what it calls a “Truddy System,” requiring campers to move in groups of three or more. Two campers should never be alone together. A staff member must always be present if campers enter cabins or buildings.

It also has a “Camper Relationship Code” stating that camp is for emotional connections, not physical ones. No PDA, including kissing, cuddling, or excessive hugging. And it tells campers to keep conversations age-appropriate, avoiding stories that glorify alcohol, drugs, illegal activities, or violence, while warning older campers to be mindful of younger campers’ maturity levels.

Brave Trails is admitting, in writing, that when you create this type of environment for minors, you need heavy supervision and strict boundary controls to keep it from going off the rails.

And yet Brave Trails still insists on genderless lodging, trans experiments, pronoun culture, and adult queer mentorship.

That should terrify parents. The identity labels are the point.

Brave Trails publishes demographic breakdowns that reveal exactly what kind of ecosystem it’s cultivating and measuring.

Brave Trails — Facebook

Brave Trails tries to shield itself with biased research. Its Reports and Research page includes 990 forms and resources, including a broken link for a Journal of Homosexuality report. It also highlights “Virtual Camp: LGBTQ Youth’s Collective Coping” (International Journal of Communication), conducted by researchers connected to Washington State University and the University of Oregon, and published by USC. The abstract describes how COVID-era school closures removed social supports, and the research examined “collective coping” among young LGBTQ people, with the “majority transgender/nonbinary.” It reports two studies with ages ranging from 12 to 19, and claims outcomes including reduced depressive symptoms and friendships influencing self-esteem. This is a psychological intervention space, wrapped in “diversity,” then used as proof-of-concept to justify expansion. It also collapses gays and lesbians into the broader LGBTQIA+ umbrella and treats it all as one big alphabet club.

Corporate sponsors are part of the machine. Brave Trails promotes queer-affirming therapy in partnership with TOMS. In a referenced video about a camper who identifies as they/them receiving gender-affirming mental health counseling at Brave Trails, TOMS Chief Brand and Impact Officer Amy Smith reportedly said TOMS donated over $350,000 to Brave Trails’ efforts. Other corporate supporters named include The North Face and Brooks.

A “WOKE ALERT: THE NORTH FACE, TOMS, BROOKS” post from Consumers’ Research included phone numbers for consumers to call:

Call TOMS at 1 (800) 975 8667

Call Brooks at 1 (855) 427-6657

Call The North Face at 1 (888) 863-1968

This is the pattern. Corporations write checks. Brave Trails runs brainwashing programs on minors. Anyone who questions it gets smeared while donors brag about “impact.”

Brave Trails — Instagram

Brave Trails’ leadership bios and board composition show what this organization is actually about. Jessica Weissbuch (co-founder and executive director) is described as creating supportive spaces for queer youth, including the mental health program COLORS, and starting her career at the LA LGBT Center and its Lifeworks Program, focused on resources, support, and mentorship. Her wife is named as a co-founder. Coby (director of finance and operations) spent three years volunteering for the Trevor Project. Jake Young (director of communication and culture) uses they/he pronouns and is nicknamed “Mama Bear.”

Blake is focused on corporate DEI and programs. He previously worked at Google in diversity and inclusion, learning and development, and recruiting operations, and he worked on Stacey Abrams’ campaign in 2022. Max (associate director of strategy) orchestrates workshops on Anti-Racism, Equity, and Inclusion in the camp space. Kiersten (administrative assistant) has a non-binary child and has a nonprofit background in HIV/AIDS service organizations and social justice groups. Micah (outreach coordinator) leads the Nashville Gender & Sexuality Alliance for LGBTQ+ adults.

Brave Trails also lists Pattie Gonia as an honorary board member, described as a drag queen, environmentalist, and advocate for inclusivity and diversity who climbs, skis, surfs, and hikes in drag. Pattie Gonia founded the Pattie Gonia Community, which exists to uplift LGBTQIA+ people and allies through events, Pride festivals, and outdoor programming, is co-founder of the Outdoorist Oath, founded the Queer Outdoor and Environmental Job Board, and has film projects, including Birds Tell Us and Everything to Lose.

Source: GCN

The endgame: a permanent LGBTQ youth compound.

Brave Trails is working on a Forever Home property: a 150-bed capacity site with 12 buildings, a pool, a firepit, and an amphitheatre, and it is currently asking for financial support for renovations. Brave Trails plans on building “gender-neutral spaces that celebrate LGBTQ+ culture, champion social justice causes, and promote sustainability,” plus plans to “provide year-round health retreats, educational programs, community-building events,” and branding it as “Introducing the world’s first LGBTQ+ nature space.” The website also features a land acknowledgement of the Fernandeño Tataviam First Nation.

Camp is not the end.

Camp is the on-ramp.

Brave Trails can dress all this up in nonprofit buzzwords, therapy partnerships, and glossy “leadership” branding. But its own materials describe a recruitment pipeline for minors: genderless lodging, pronoun experimentation, narrative screening, confidentiality policies, and year-round indoctrination sessions, now moving toward a permanent campus.

Thank you to our investigative team, led by Mandy, whose work allows us to deliver robust investigations and well-sourced reporting.

References

Brave Trails. (2025). Brave Trails — Camper FAQ.

https://www.bravetrails.org/camper-faq

Brave Trails. (2025). Brave Trails — Dates + Rates + Aid.

https://www.bravetrails.org/dates-rates-aid

Brave Trails. (2025). Brave Trails homepage.

https://www.bravetrails.org/

Brave Trails. (2025). Brave Trails — Reports, 990 Forms, Research.

https://www.bravetrails.org/reports

Brave Trails. (2025). Brave Trails — Safety & Community Standards.

https://www.bravetrails.org/safety-community-standards