A young Nova Scotia girl's desire to join a boys-only summer day camp has sparked a debate over whether the gender segregation is discriminatory after she was denied admission to the program.

"Kids should just be kids. They should be able to play with whoever they want and it should matter what their gender is," nine-year-old Lydia Houck, of Windsor, N.S., told CTV Atlantic.

When nine-year-old Lydia Houck of Windsor, N.S. reviewed the summer camp options available in her area, a camp called 'Rec'n the Outdoors' piqued her interest.

The camp included fishing, hiking and golfing, which were all activities that Houck and her seven-year-old brother Jonah enjoyed.

"My brother and I were interested in fishing and we liked to be outdoors and nature so it seemed to appeal to me and it was pretty much the only camp that had that kind of description," Lydia told CTV's Canada AM.

However, the camp was just for boys. The only camp that was created specifically for females was called "Glamorous Girls," where the camp activities included spa visits, manicures and pedicures.

The Municipality of the District of West Hants is offering three other co-ed day camps, but the trip to the amusement park, a day at the waterslides and pirate-themed excursion did not appeal to Houck.

Houck called the recreation department at the Municipality of the District of West Hants but was informed that she would not be admitted to the camp, a decision that did not sit well.

"It made me feel like that they were segregating children because of their genders," Lydia said.

It's a sentiment that is shared by Houck's mother. "I'm in 100 per cent support," Lorna Houck told Canada AM.

"I mean she has a valid point and I don't see any reason why children at the elementary school age should be segregated and stereotyped into male-type activities and female activities."

The Houcks did not take the rejection lightly, and after making a series of phone calls, reached municipality warden Richard Dauphinee. While he sympathized with Lydia's predicament he did not feel much could be done to address the situation.

"This is a pilot project, we've never run it before," Dauphinee told The Canadian Press. "They decided they would try just girls things for the girls and just boys things for the boys and see how it worked."

Windsor councillor Gary Cochrane said that while it's the first time the municipality has tried a program that isn't co-ed, the Houcks were the only family to complain.

"We've had one out of 18,000 residents complain, and we've actually had parents that phoned in and encouraged us to stay with this," he told CTV Atlantic.

Jacqueline Warwick, the co-ordinator of gender and women's studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax, told CP she was "astonished" a municipal government would be behind segregating boys and girls into traditional gender roles.

"I do think that there is a widespread movement to restore these very repressive, old-fashioned gender roles,'' said Warwick.

"This emphasis on frivolity ... can be understood as a way of occupying girls' and women's time. They spend all their time and money on these activities. It's a way of containing women and girls into these safe stereotypes where they're not going to disrupt society.''

At Dauphinee's suggestion, Houck has submitted a letter to the local council concerning the matter, but she is holding out little hope for an immediate change to the situation.

"I don't think they're going to let me go to this day camp, but it's not really about me anymore," Houck said. "It's about telling the world."

With a report from CTV Atlantic and files from The Canadian Press