Happy burning man everyone, this is Toaster writing. A question came to me through social media the other day about who is managing Queerburners these days. There are some amazing people who have stepped up in a vacuum I created by taking some steps back. I am grateful those persons who kept this legacy alive with a great deal of respect and honor.
Starting in 2018 I began a slow process of making changes. My last visit to the burn was in 2022 and it was a rough year for me. I began looking into what my priorities are and where they are going. 2022 was so rough, I ended up leaving the burn the Friday before Labor Day weekend for my own mental and physical health. Would I go back? There is a part of me that craves it.
I go to my regional burn called www.snrg.com outside of Las Vegas and am open to others. This year there has been a lot of temptation to return to the burn but I am still questioning if the logistics will work and why I would go. I have never gone to Burning Man as just an attendee before. I have always, always been super committed to projects. In 2022 I didn’t have that structure around me of a theme camp and really crash landed because of my own mistakes. I never learned to Burn on my own.
2018 my parents became seriously ill and I had to make some choices. It was the beginning of change for me as life started asking for more commitment from me. Marriage, moving, job, trying to get a book published, and more.
I still help out on Facebook and check in with @spolsky routinely. He is an amazing human being. Also Paul Carey and others who keep the faith on what Queerburners was always meant to be. I’m in the background, helping where I can, leaving the major decisions to the team who is left. My status as creator and founder is acknowledged, but I am glad to take a back seat as needed. I am no longer involved in a lot of things regionally and nationally that I used to be.
To all those keeping the faith, to all those building community and not getting caught up in the negative, to the creators and the influencers, to those raising up people instead of bringing them down – all the love and respect in the world.
Hey everyone this is Toaster. It’s been a hot minute since I reached out to the community because I have been taking a break over the last couple years and working on figuring out what my future is going to be with Burning Man. As much as I have changed and evolved, so have a lot of people who participate in this amazing community. As the founder of Queerburners, as the president of the board running this as a 501.c3, we have went through a period of reflection and adjusted to the needs and wants from all of you.
The board decided to disband, but keep certain services working along with these web pages. This is largely thanks to Joel’s work who is deeply passionate about this project. Some of us from the board are still participating only to manage resources and assets that have been designated to go to another non-profit as soon as we are able to close the non-profit part of this down.
Who knows what is next. I personally have not let go 100%, because I think a lot of who I am is still tied to Queerburners and this community as a whole. I chose to be a part of this, to work on helping build and create, over the last fifteen years and this is something that is hard to give up. My personal ups and downs with this have been meteoric, but I am hold on to the best moments. I am focused on my local regional event, SNRG.org, and am looking around to new ways I can do more. My time as a BRC Ranger has been very rewarding, too. So, who knows?
I updated the front of Queerburners.org and am checking in with Joel with some frequency while he has been managing a lot of the online stuff and has taken over the BRC Queer camps map and his events guide is opening for submissions on August 15th.
Tonight we opened a forum for any member of the community to join us and learn a little more about Queerburners. We also had doped to recruit some interest in participation in the board and inspire the community to help us in our mission. Where could Queerburners go with new leadership at the helm?
Document referred to in the video include: – Roles and Responsibilities Document (PDF) – Emails: info@queerburners.org, toaster@queerburners.org, matt@queerburners.org
Please take your time and let us know if you see yourself taking a role in the future of Queerburners. The next Board meeting will be October 2nd to install the officers for 2024 and start planning for the next season.
Hey Queersdos! Just a reminder that this will be a Zoom Meetup that will be an hour or a little more depending on the vibe. Really want to talk to the community leadership and would be leaders about the future of the LGBTQAI Burner Community and how Queerburners can help you as we move forward. We have done a lot in the past, but as the future evolves we are looking at camp/project/mutant vehicle leaders as the targeted audience who will take information and spread it into their groups. The information can come from other leaders, our internal network of leadership, and in some cases other resources that are vital for the health and well-being of our community and the community at-large.
The Agenda is super easy and will have an open floor for discussion and topic related to the community
Welcome to the August Board Meeting: Town Hall (This meeting will be recorded and put on our website and YouTube Channel)
Role Call (Name to addressed as in meeting, Association [camp, project, mv], pronouns, going to BTC this year? Board member or interested in Board role?]
The Board will accept nominations and vote in the first week of October to fill these positions.
Join us at Queerburners
We have accomplished a lot of things over the last fifteen years and there is a lot more we can accomplish within the scope of the community as a whole with room to grow.
In my fifteen years of burning, I tried a lot of channels. My position has always been to be a person who contributes and supports my community. As you might have noted from previous posts, I talk about my fellow burners a lot. My community focus is the LGBTQIA, but my network and community extends far beyond that. And, also noted in a recent post, I set a clear intention to develop better relationships with women, which I feel successful at. The bonus is, I met and became close to a lot of wonderful humans from all kind of walks of like that became very important to me as well.
Why Rangering?
The positive side of rangering, from my point of view, is you someone can feel like you have become a co-host for the party. Honestly, you walk around and get to watch people having a great time and when someone is being a jerk, you get to help them walk themselves back into the party in a btter place. Well, hopefully. There are times when people are just going to be assholes and that is not really your problem in the bigger picture.
As a Ranger you are a volunteer on vacation and you get to hang out with like minded people. There is a dizzying amount of ‘kinds’ of ranger you might see at Burning Man, but the most common you might see is the Dirt Ranger who is wandering the event in pairs. They are level one ambassadors and have built a lot of trust. That trust is called “Social Capital” and its really important. Bottom line, Rangers are there to help make things run smoothly.
Let’s go back to Social Capital. I learned a lot about leadership from this model. I wish I learned this in the beginning, like before I started leading camps, because my world might be very different from today. Part of rangering is about learning to listen and not reacting to a situation. Often that means doing nothing. Social Capital lets that happen because very often just being around a Ranger makes people want to do better. As a neighbor or as a citizen of BRC.
Volunteering
Volunteering is what makes Black Rock City tick. It is the major line that defines Burning Man as a cultural event over being a festival. Anyone calling it a festival is missing the point. There are rewards that come with giving your energy and time that make it worth while. Rangering is, IMHO, one of the best things leaders in our community could take on and find themselves much better evolved because:
You learn a lot about conflict resolution
You learn a lot about yourself
It is the perfect chance to leave you camp and self assigned responsibilities to enjoy the event
It is freeing of the ego
Conclusion
Is it too late to jump on ship? Check out the Volunteering form through your burner profile today. There are several layers you have to go through to be a ranger to start off with. Do this with intention.
Complete the Volunteer Form
Complete the online training course (it’s short this year and concise)
Complete in person training (a whole day)
Complete your Alpha Shift on playa (10 Hours)
This is very much worth it with what you will walk away with.
The only negative side of this coin is that there are still some jerks that ruin that social capital that is hard to unsee. Ranger really value that Social Capital and those remaining salty old fuks are a dying breed. Like the Ranger Manual says, sometimes do nothing and move on. Hold on to the intention we talked about in a previous paragraph and use these tools to make you a better leader, community member, and participant. Community is more important than ever these days.
IMPORTANT NOTE: It seems to be too late to become a ranger for 2023. Can’t stop you from learning about it and getting to know some cool rangers. Maybe 2024?
(NOTE: The comments below are an opinion and not official policy of Queerburners. This is not in anyway officially connected to the Burning Man Project)
Recently, with the impetus of the camp directory, I wanted to clarify what it means to be an ally for LGBTQ Burners. I might have been a bit “stern” in my feedback. This is because we live in a time where LGBT people are being demonized by conservatives to deflect from a problematic agenda. It is more important than ever to know who our community partners actually are. It is also important to know what allyship can mean. Granted, it can be very different for various people. Maybe there are layers?
Flag waiving was one of the comments made. We see that kind of shit all the time with corporations and businesses who are trying to attract LGBT dollars. Or, the blow back on their Allyship has caused their business’ to reel backward fearing a loss of revenue as a result. Even individuals have claimed an allyship and been shamed into stepping back. A true ally will stand through the storm, because all storms pass.
Here is a great example of Allyship in a statement I found from Summa Health:
Anyone, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, can support the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning) community. But being an ally of this population takes action. Allies work to stay informed on current LGBT issues and events. They speak up for what’s right and they support equality by fighting for policies that protect LGBTQ individuals from discrimination.
Allies are important and welcomed supporters of the LGBTQ movement, as they have one of the most powerful, influential voices. They help create a platform for activism to fight homophobia and transphobia, and they personally advocate for equal treatment for all people, regardless of their sexual orientation.
Love this… I came back to it several times as I explored the subject. Visit their website to see employee statements that are truly touching. (Also Check out Reachout Australia)
How does this apply to Burning Man or Black Rock City?
The battle to get the Queerborhood secured for LGBTQ camps has been a climb. The last great battle came in 2016 when we met with Placement when it was headed by Answergirl. We were able to drive home the point the purpose of the neighborhood is the safety and security of queer people who are vulnerable at the event. Maybe you are one of those people that does not believe things like that happen at Burning Man, and you would be wrong. (2016 Survey)
No matter how you cut it, Burning Man is a very heteronormative environment with a hard focus on being CIS and white and privileged and able bodied. Any regional event you attend is clearly a hetero focused event with some gay people, which is why I feel it is important to have our own Queer Regional Events and we invite our hetero allies. We had 4 years of success in that area from 2015 to 2018, but not since. However, events like Something Queer and BAAAHS have made really strong efforts in that area. And Comfort & Joy have been doing it a long time.
In 2023 with all the anti LGBT agendas in the United States, even Burning Man has dropped the ball. With something as simple as dropping the LGBT category from on-playa events it has reverberated in how we make our presence known. So, we are producing our own What Where When.
Maybe you are asking: Well, we have the Queeborhood! What else do you want?
LGBT Burners are still a very marginalized group and there are fae, GNC, and Trans people (more specific: anyone not CIS and white and male and masc) and safety and community are still top priority and those things get lost in heavy environments.
What is RIDE?
Burning Man RIDE can be found linked here. There is a huge push in Burning Man on RIDE initiatives with a specific focus on BIPOC participants. In the 7/22/2023 meeting there was an announcement about a new effort for Blind as well as Deaf Burners in the community. The support for LGBT Burners over time has been a real roller coaster. IMO with only 13% of burners going to Black Rock City identifying as BIPOC the real problem is CIS white leadership of BMorg need to prove to the world they are really Diverse by forcing the conversation instead of dealing with the people that make up the entire rainbow of loyal participants.
Take a look at the Burning Man RIDE resources page and how they are all about everything BUT LGBT burners. Queerburners in one form or another has been active in the community for 15 Years and still have yet to be given an ounce of respect from the Org.
I am not saying that BIPOC efforts should be reduced or impeded in anyway. Having more representation from all cultural backgrounds is super important to the DNA of the Burning Man idea.
Burning Man RIDE is only about POC (People of Color), which is great. However, the BIGGEST and most participatory segment of the marginalized population of this phenomena called Burning Man is LGBTQ burners and we are routinely kicked to the curb in spite of many LGBTQ staff at BMorg headquarters and leadership.
Burning Man RIDE lets the leadership of Burning Man point into a crowd and say: Look we have POCs here. LGBTQ people rarely stand out on group photos. We need to be able to point to the pictures and see more than Instagram models and TechBros and Celebrities.
Final Thoughts
This is the hardest part, because I have let Burning Man and the LGBT Burner world become a part of who I am and to think I could lose that is like losing a parent or family member. I have been a strong advocate for Queerburners behind the scenes as well as by writing cheerful blogs like this (sarcasm). I have let myself be involved in our leadership on Alabama Street in San Francisco (BMorg HQ) and have played in a lot of different ponds.
I have seen Burning Man Leadership fall down and then get up even stronger over and over in these fifteen years. I think accountability is vital.
When I hear important leadership like Maid Marian, Level, Answergirl, and Andie Grace using language that lessens us as a presence of this community, it really hurts. These are people who I thought were allies, and in some cases actual queer burners, get lost in the politics of the office. Where are our real allies? Who is advocating for the LGBTQ PARTICIPANTS OF THIS COMMUNITY?
Following the meeting on 7/22 and after listening to Level, there was a part of me ready to give up entirely on leadership on Alabama Avenue. Seeing the things I am seeing on the RIDE official pages for Burning Man really makes me see how they DO NOT SEE US. The world is heading in the wrong direction and to me it seems Burning Man is a reflection of that. Burning Man has always been a reflection of the world.
Truth be told… a lot of feedback is that LGBTQ leaders are glad not to get officially involved with the BMorg, and I understand why. This is my last post on this subject, take it or leave it. Comments welcome below.
Getting the real Tea will come from watching the recorded video that is published on Burning Man Hive, linked below this paragraph (bloop). There were almost 400 people at the meeting including presenters. Considering the number of camps and mutant vehicles out there, and the importance of the information, there should have been a lot more. But, then again, the powers-that-be and the community are usually good about getting it all out.
TLDR; My quick two cents was that the meeting was great for being packed into a single hour. They can only do so much with a topic a huge as this. Biggest take-aways for me was LNT topics and new sound rules for camps and mutant vehicles. Moreso, while I am glad they verbally acknowledge the Queerborhood, Level had to specifically state that it is not Placements position to officially acknowledge it but a community request to have queer camps together ignoring the topic of why. And when talking about community resources completely ignored queerburners.org as a long standing entity.
Ups of the Meeting – Transparency – Clarified Sound Policy – Awareness of Exodus issues – Changes to Center Camp
Downs of the Meeting – Seeing how people are leaving their shit behind post event (LNT) – Sound Policy (yes, there is plus and minus) – 1 Violation on Mutant Vehicles could get license revoked? – BMorg still has their head buried in the sand over RIDE/Diversity
Note: This is a persons opinion. I am in no way an authority on any of this information. You must find the facts yourself.
Meeting Notes (from Toaster)
The meeting started at 10am PDT on 7/22/2023 on a Zoom Call
BM Collaborators Meeting
The opening was couched By Charlie Dolman as something new to loop in the community on changes to Burning Man for 2023
2022 MOOP was a huge problem
eBikes another huge issue
Government Regulations in some cases have changed
D.A. on MOOP
Biggest MOOP problem was tent stakes, lag bolts, rebar
There was so much more captured in his slide deck
Magpie talked about Exodus
Wants to make it NOT SUCK in 2023
GARS is coming back 95.1 on the radio dial / BMIR Traffic every 30 mins
On playa parked vehicles outside DMZ limited to 3 hours with Sound Limits
On playa parked in DMZ no limits
Limits around all events and art installations for Mutant Vehicles
Quiet time in city 2AM to 10AM
A single violation COULD get your license pulled
Level (Placement)
Big Changes!
Max 300 db GONE, 90 db CHANGED!
All speakers in a camp must be pointed internally
60db @ border of neighbors camp or center of the street (except Esplanade)
100 db to open playa
Case Levels need to be negotiated with neighbors – be a good neighbor
Cory and Tinker about Center Camp
Camps can bring their vibe to Center Camp (sorta like Golden Guy works: IMO)
SWIFT Team can help you schedule time and space
e.g. Blood Mary Bacon Bar and more will be setup there…. stay tuned!
Level and Shaye about Vending
“Mistakes are the best place to start”
IMO: this was a great way to start because it allows people to make mistakes and learn from them
Reporting violations to Placement @burningman.org
doingitwrong@ or ip@ for intellectual property violations or placement@ or oss@
These usually make sense to those in the know
Help the community
Keeps us in scope of the 10 Principles
Marnee and Katie from Government Relations
LNT and Environmental Protection
Earth Guardians / Black Rock Rangers / Playa Restoration
Provides Education
Addresses Leaks and Fluids on the Playa
Look out for your neighbors
LE (Law Enforcement)
BLM / Pershing County Sherriff Office (PCSO) – on playa
Unified Command / Emergency Response
Decommodification – Katie
BLM has strict requirement
Venders MUST be part of the OSS program
Housing for payment is Eliminated
Plug n Play, Mobile Homes Delivered, etc
Traffic Safety – Katie
Speed limits are very important
NO VENDORS at EMPIRE in 2023
Starchild on Sustainability
There was a lot about fuel and solar ideas
Harley and Level on RIDE
New dimension this year goes to Sign Language and Blind Burners
There were a lot of stats and a strong focus on BIPOC that they say made up 13% of the population based on the Census
LGBT burners got an honorable mention with notes that the Queerborhoods are at 4:30 and 7:30
Like I said, there was a lot to cram into a one hour meeting. And there was a lot missing in the conversation. The RIDE message from the BMorg has never sat well with me, because their focus seems to be on the visible spectrum of Diversity. With 13% BIPOC as a statistic and a desperation to get those numbers up over everyone else it is because those are accountable stats because every picture taken at Burning Man is not all white CIS people. Even having Blind and Deaf participants getting recognition, it is still a visible commodity to be used in the sale of Burning Man as an event and an ideology.
How can someone in the middle of 80k people be lonely at Burning Man? It’s hard to imagine that it is even possible, while for some the gathering in the desert is the ultimate in participation and social engagement, it can play a harsh toll on body and mind. Connections are extremely important and many of us go the burn to something this amazing to dance and rejoice in a community with principles we can all relate to. The reason we do these kinds of things is to build community and relate to other humans that are different from ourselves.
One of the most important things for me, that brought me into Burning Man was the intention to have better relationships with women. I feel like I achieved that, but subsequently I learned a lot more about other people in the LGBTQIA spectrum and the community at-large. My connections to humans have deepened to see and respect people from all walks of life and self identity.
In 2019, I held an event in my camp called “Being Lonely at Burning Man” and the turn-out was small, but really powerful. For an event that never made it to the What Where When, getting this amazing group together to walk through a connection and intention setting safe space was purely magical. Out of the group, I remember a beautiful young woman in particular who couldn’t find the connections she wanted and needed in the rush of people. Maybe an afternoon at the Land of Monkey Theme Camp helped with that a bit. But, after a long time talking things through and sharing with a circle of people we finished with a group hug that raised all of us up.
It was later in the week so for many of us that Dopamine was in short supply and the rays of the sun were taking their toll.
In fifteen years of burning, as a camp leader, artist, community cheerleader, I have found myself feeling very alone even in a circle of people I was burning with. Hence, the impetuous of writing a post like this. With a case of severe social anxiety that was basically undiagnosed (along with PTSD from sexual assault) my own mountain was steep in my minds eye. I learned that very many of my fellow Burners were really going through the same thing.
I managed Theme Camps for most of a decade. I also created a few other channels of Burner gatherings inside and outside the Queerburner community for years. My theory was that if I could not participate because of my internal limitations, I would create spaces where I had ownership/investment so I had no choice but to engage. It was very impowering and freeing of those anxieties. At least, until I couldn’t.
Even with 20, 30, 40 or more people who joined me in my camp annually, I often felt abandoned and alone and turned to things that were not healthy to deal with the loneliness.
The impulse to be angry in a place of fight or flight was often the result and may have signaled my own crisis moments.
For me, life in 2018 began sliding off the rails with my personal relationship and my parents health. I became my mother’s caregiver and not long after my step-dad died and a year later in 2020 my mom passed on, too. My PTSD was diagnosed in the same year and I have been on a radical journey since peeling back those layers and coming to terms with social anxiety as well.
If you know me, I can stand in front of a room of people and talk like any TED talk. The truth was that the demons inside my thoughts were preventing me from ever thinking I was good enough. The ego and pride of seeing myself how I thought everyone else saw me was only my problem and delusion. When I see other people in the same boat all I can do it empathize and be patient for them.
Todays epiphany is that you have to put yourself out there to make any kind of connections. Not to oversimplify something very complicated, but I am offering a little advice to ponder. Getting good mental health guidance! I was in mental health treatment for years before the PTSD diagnosis came into focus. Use your sources wherever you are do not be afraid to ask for help.
In the United States dial 988 for the National Suicide Hotline
ALERT!!!! Burning Man Placement has removed the LGBTQAI option on their events submissions and replaced it with “Diversity…” which sounds great on paper, but that step backwards in the promotion of queer events is not going to deter us. In the interest of Radical Self Reliance, please edit/add #LGBT in your event writeup to guarantee (as much as we can) being placed in our own version of the What Where When for Queer Camps as a focus. AND it will help the person writing the Time to Burn Ap as well. Otherwise, we no longer have a way of noting specific LGBT events that we might not already know of… our first source for sourcing queer camps will be the Queerburners Directory at www.queerburners.org/directory
Like, c’mon… who are they talking to on decisions like this? It’s like adding Queer to the census and suddenly every hippie on the playa wanted to be queer to be a part of the story of the outsider. Flag waiving is not cutting it anymore. Actions over words. This change was a bad choice.
The people that end up really screwed are people new to the burn looking for their tribe and might feel really alone when it comes to getting a gay fix of human interaction. I’ve seen this so many times. It is not always obvious where the queers are. And, there are still a lot of clueless people who have no idea that the Queerborhood is there. Any way you look at it, Burning Man is still a very hetero streamed event and diversity is still lacking in many many ways. (Rant completed)
2023 Queerburners Event Guide – Download PDF (29.6MB)
If you are planning an event for Burning Man that will be of interest to LGBTQIA+ burners, you’ll want to know about this. This year, Queerburners will be distributing a downloadable, printable guide to all the queer events and camps on playa.
You might have seen the version that was available in hardcopy at the Future Turtles camp bar in 2022. This year, it will be expanded and made available to everyone, with the goal of including all the scheduled LGBTQIA+ programming. There are some requirements and deadlines for all of that detailed below.
First step, if you haven’t already, please register your theme camp at the Queerburners Camp Directory on www.queerburners.org/directory ASAP. This is a great resource for people looking to connect with Queer camps and find their tribes while burning. It will lead to new and amazing campers you might not have found otherwise, because Queerburners is the #1 resource that shows up on any search when people look up Burning Man and LGBT.
What defines an LGBTQIA+ Camp or an Ally Camp?
LGBTQIA+ Camps have a majority of these marginalized groups that include, but are not limited to, the letters of this age-old acronym. They are often part of the Queerborhoods of Black Rock City. LGBTQAI Camps are camps where a majority of the camp identifies as LGBTQAI or similar marginalized people. These camps exist for safety and community representation and are all radically inclusive agents of the Burning Man Culture as a whole.
Ally Camps are camps that are community partners and might have Queer people represented however do not create events that represent queer culture as a focus of their mission. Ally camps will provide shelter and Safe Space for marginalized people in need of safety. How do I submit my events to get into the guide?
First, you have to submit your events to the WHAT, WHERE, WHEN through Burning Man’s official Playa Events site. They are accepting submissions from June 22-29th only.
Although most events submitted there will not make it into the What Where When printed guide, due to lack of space, we will publish all LGBTQIA+ events that you submit in the Queerburners Events Guide.
How do we know what’s an LGBTQIA+ event? We will include events that are at any camp in the Queerburners Directory, but not at an “Ally” camps because those events are probably not queer focused. In addition, any event that is marked as an LGBTQIA2S event in Playa Events, no matter where it is held, will be included.
Behind the scenes, Burning Man has a cool API that we use to get a complete listing of all events, and this is where we’ll get your event information from. This is the same data that the Time to Burn app uses.
Where do you get a copy of this guide?
The Queerburners Event Guide will be distributed publicly as a PDF that you can print at your convenience. This will happen in August. Watch for our August newsletter for the announcement.
What about the fancy Queerburner Map I have been seeing around?
The Map will be included in the guide. There will be a chance for you to download the full color version and print it separately as well. How do you get listed on the map? Get in the directory!
