Queerburners is a service organization focused on LGBTQIA+ burners and our allies creating safe and accountable spaces for every person in that acronym and more.
We start a new calendar year following the big event in Black Rock City every year because we are also looking ahead to the future and setting the tone and direction we want to go.
We are a consensus based organization and everyone who attends a meeting has a voice. We vote by majority, but we are exceedingly open to view points some of us might know need to be heard.
Where am I going with that?
We need more help in order to continue – and there are roles for people to play if you can.
The board is largely CIS, white and male TBH. We would like to see more representation from the people who identify from more letters of LGBTQIA and people of color.
We need help with our communications and event production to meet some lofty goals for next year.
In 2022
– We sponsored and ran 2 local events in the bay area to hook up campers with camps and visa versa to great success
– We also saw our camp directory on our website get spectacular attention and were able to help continue networking people and camps
– We produced 4 Zoom workshops called the Rainbow Leadership Summit that can currently be seen on our YouTube Channel and our website
– We gave out grants to projects headed to Waking Dreams in a way we have never been able to before
Queerburners was originally founded in 2008 as Gayburners and evolved a lot over time. I had a lot of help along the way, but through community support we were able to keep going to produce a variety of events over the last thirteen years.
We produced
– 4 LGBTQIA regional style events in 2015, 16, 17 and 18.
– Leadership conferences in 2012, 16 and 2018
– And many local events in the bay area…
The future demands we do more in more regionally if we are successful in supporting our mission beyond one region.
We currently have about twenty Facebook groups for people all over the world to network. This is more than just getting ready for the big burn, these spaces are a chance for local producers and community leaders to rally and carry on the mission of Queerburners.
To be clear, our mission is simply to build community through events and education. To promote leadership. And to stand in solidarity to assure we are being heard for our collective safety and welfare in the greater community. We are not an authority or representation of the Borg. But we will stand together and make our needs known like we did in 2016.
Grants
This year we gave out two grants and a well-deserved donation to a project we really loved.
Gender Blender received a grant from us to help promote their message and support their education and performance programs on playa. We love the work Ariel and her crew do off and on-playa through their active programming.
And Moonlight Outpost who served soup from a Soup Cart on deep playa bringing Asian and Queer culture together in a way that shares the best of both worlds.
We made a donation to one of the most talked about projects at Burning Man this year called The Afterlife by Blitzy, Chickpea and a group of amazing volunteers.
Changes
Truthfully, since the pandemic with Corona virus we have been changed as a community. There has been a thematic shift in the priorities and what we need and expect. Not just from each other, but our leadership. There were a LOT of new camps placed this year. There were a lot of smaller camps who were part of bigger camps that broke free to create their own spaces.
How we burn has shifted. What we need for self care and what we can give has changed too. My own priorities have changed, and as I speak to different people in our community I can testify to the huge shift in what we hold dear.
Acknowledgements
That is why when I admire how some of the leadership in our community are able to marshall tremendous resources and create with so much passion, I am left in awe, I have to send out a few shout-outs before I go tonight.
Christian Williams who had brought the BAAAHS sheep out there year after year actively supporting other projects, social causes and community along the way and how he is able to get so many people behind him.
Mary from Tomorrow Lambs for her success in building her own camp and making it such a presence on playa for 2022
Comfort and Joy for always demonstrating their commitment to the values we hold dear and work so hard to lead
Dr. Dilemma aka Mark who actively does so much for the Queerborhoods behind the scenes and works hard for the BMorg
Rui Rita and his people from Glamcocks who, with his team, always delivers mind blowing architecture and events
And Ariel Vergosen from Gender Blender who gives constantly in producing educational and entertainment programming, not to mention a safe place for people who are Trans, Gender Non Conforming and Questioning bodies on the playa.
Conclusion
Queerburners need more engagement from the community and people who might drive the ship into the next generation. We have been actively looking for people with the desire and ability to take this to the next level.
Simply put, the thirteen years Queerburners has existed and evolved is not the same institution that can coast into the future. Our services are for the strength and success of the people we serve.
You can find recruitment links on our website queerburners.org, sign up for our mailing list on the same link, and find all kinds of information.