QBAdmin Collective

Safety

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In the wake of Orlando, many of us are just stunned. It is probably more surprising that something as bad as that did not happen before. Every week it seems we are hearing about some horrible tragedy with guns in the world, but Orlando hit close to home for all of us. Queers have been targets for years by zealots.

In recent weeks we have been talking to BMorg about safety on the playa and in the Queer parts of the city and how it is important. That reason exploded this week. Believe it or not: many BMorg leaders and community participants have this misshapen view that Burning Man is all hippies and hugs which is not true.

Safety everywhere is a real issue. Listen to our older members of the community; to those who grew up in rural, scary places, to those who could not come out of the closet. Gay marriage was not the golden rainbow bridge that made us all equal. The things we did to survive in a hostile world in a country where all people were never really equal.

When the BMorg asked us if the flood of 7:30 Sector requests was queer camps we figure out the answer was no. Camps want the 7:30 sector because of alleged reasons such as better weather, streets in good condition, energy and more entertainment. While queer camps coalesced for safety, we hear BMorg uttering the dull roar of breaking it up again. We can’t have that. Now more than ever we need to safety and security of a united community.

Does that exclude non-queer community members? Not at all. We are a radically inclusive community but we have not always felt that inclusivity. Many see themselves and have experienced clear and defined marginalism. Our strength is in our perseverance and our chosen family and our community pride.

NOTE: BMorg Placement has not said they are breaking up the area typically known as the Gayborhood. But they are talking about making two distinct spaces in future events. This year it looks like we are going to see a Rainbow Road scenario and many of us are excited for that. But as Placement is taking on new leadership this year we need to be vigilant that the dialog of integrating queer camps through the city simply does not happen to dissolute the magic we bring as an attraction year after year.

Are you Safe at Burning Man?

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In a recent poll we took from our subscribing community asking LGBTQ++ people we asked about the reasons why the Gayborhood became a thing. We also knew from the Queer Burner Leadership Summits from 2012 and 2013 that Safety was the principle reason for queer camps coming together.

It was less so for gay, white males. The amount of people who felt threatened in the poll was nominal until your removed the gay, white male numbers from the report. Trans, woman and other gender identified persons went to 100%.

So we brought up a project from 2014 in a new form and held a discussion about it. Here is the video. But for notes and documentation see:

Are we ready to make this happen for the well being of our community?

BRC Gay Pride Parade – Please Support

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There is new blood running the Gay Pride event at Burning Man this year. Justin is part of Camp Proper and he is taking a whole new perspective on the Gay Pride Parade which has historically taken place on Friday of burn week.

The Gay Pride Parade started more than a decade ago under Mario Cisneros (formerly Moonbow Camp / RIP) whom we lost in 2012. Since then Toaster took over the Pride event, but in 2015 participation was at an all time low and the thought was that it needed new imagination, new eyes and new ideas.

Burner Buddies has been the other end of that event and have generously invited attendees to their camp with Nacho Daddies and others to an after party in their camp.

The pride parade is still done in honor of the memory of Mario and is driven by community support. This is really important to people who knew and felt the loving support and brotherhood with Mario in his day.

This is important to rally and support this project. If everyone would commit to giving a couple hours to Justin and help make this a success it would be a great way of helping build community.

Burning Man Placement is asking for Feedback

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We did it! A collective of local queer camp leaders met with Placement at BMHQ to discuss how to manage the number of request for 7:30 sector, which are almost double the number requesting any other sector of Burning Man. Besides providing a safe space for LGBTQIA folks, we’ve created a tight-knit community that produces amazing art and a powerful experience on the playa. Other burners have responded, and queers and allies alike are flocking to our rainbow colored beacon.

Using survey data you, the Queer Burner community, provided us, we discussed what makes the Gayborhood (or more inclusively “Queerborhood”) such an important place for our community and for Burning Man in general. We tried to tackle issues of safety, inclusion, freedom, self-expression, and all the powerful themes that you all wrote to us about!

The Placement Team also brought data of their own. Using the BRC census data, almost a third of the BRC population self-identify as “LGBTQQ”.

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And, now, BURNING MAN PLACEMENT needs actionable information so as to not break up the Gayborhood/Queerborhood and still solve the logistics challenge of cramming too many camps in a limited amount of space. So…

URGENT: Before Friday afternoon we need the community to answer a few more questions (not many, really): https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GPJFRLZ

Answering the questions above will directly guide the ongoing logistics discussion with Placement. You and your camp leaders are invited to participate so that we can continue to create a supportive space for those who want to share in the community.

This year we anticipate seeing a Gayborhood “Rainbow Road” scenario much like 2016 (possibly extending beyond the bounds of 7:30 and into the adjacent sectors). However, in the not so distant future, we are likely to see TWO Gayborhoods and new questions in the Placement Questionnaire for camps to self-identify as queer and wanting to be in the Gayborhood/Queerborhood (rather than just requesting 7:30).

For now, use the Queer Burners [dot] Com Forums to share your opinions. Help us continue the dialog by letting us know what you need!

Leaders of Queer Camps facilitating the discussion:

– *Tiger (Glamcocks) – *Christian (BAAAHS) – *Cyndi NoPants (Gender Blender) – *Toaster (Sun Guardians / Queer Burners) – *Indigo (Astropups) – *Dare (Glamcocks) – *Foxy (Beaverton) – *Ariel (Gender Blender) – Terry Grossman (Gaylactic Village / Time to Burn) – Ed Edmond (Burner Buddies) – Zach Bunker (BloAsis)  *in attendance at meeting w/ Placement Team

URGENT: Changes to the Gayborhood

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Placement @ Burning Man wants to hear from the community about the role of the Gayborhood. We need feedback from the community NOW as we are meeting with the BMorg on June 1st. Please complete this Survey Monkey post right away and give us your feedback. [link here to survey – UPDATED]

Some of the collective leaders of queer camps are being asked to communicate with Placement @ Burning Man about the logistics and purpose of The Gayborhood. The Gayborhood has become a huge presence. Now Burning Man is asking us questions about HOW to manage requests to camp in the 7:30 sector and HOW to fit the concept of the Gayborhood into their current policies.

Toaster reached out to some of the most active leaders he knew about creating a survey so we can come to the meeting better prepared with data. What we have surmised from the Queer Burner Leadership Summit discussions is that there are clear and compelling reasons for the gayborhoods that have appeared on playa.

Did you know there are 2 annual Gayborhoods? One is the Gayborhood usually falling in the 7:30 sector most people seem familiar with. Another is the 4:30 and J self placed camps like Burner Buddies and Nacho Daddies that have made that area their own space. In 2010 there was also a Gay Ghetto. (Yes, they called it that) It appeared over on the entire block of 3:00 & C. A group of campers independently made that happen.

[link here to survey – UPDATED] 

Safe Place: You will see reference to the term “safe place” in the questionnaire. This is not the same things as the project “Safe Place.” Some camps are going to be implementing a project called Safe Place for people under duress to retreat to while at the burn where they can be safe from predators or the effects of “too much.” A meeting about “Safe Place” the project will occur on June 8th if you would like to learn more. [Facebook Event]

The HIVE mind behind the survey includes: Toaster (Sun Guardians / Queer Burners Admin) Foxy (Beaverton / Ranger Torchwood) Cyndi Vee & Ariel (Gender Blender) Terry Grossman (Gaylactic Village / Time to Burn) John Pacheco (GlamCocks) Russ Smith (AstroPups) Ed Edmond (Burner Buddies) and there were others included in the discussion who may or may not have added but were included in the conversation: Yogen Kushi (GlamCocks) Jered Floyd (HIVE Boston) Micheal Cooper (Comfort & Joy) Brian Busta (Comfort & Joy) and Zach Bunker (BloAsis)

 

Update on Spring Retreat Tickets

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2016-sr-retreat-stickerWe have stopped selling anymore tickets for now. We are technically at our limit of what we can bring on the land for GroundSwell. However, in the next week we might be able to do more. Do not give up. We want everyone who can and wants to be there to enjoy this amazing weekend.

For those who are attending we are putting out an important email soon  we need everyone to answer. Thanks to Shaul we are going to have some great stuff for you to take away from the event as well as something to remember all the new people you met!

Meanwhile, everyone should have seen and responded to previous emails that are published here on this site:

  • Email 1: What you NEED to know 4/11
  • Email 2 : WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW 2 : 4/19
  • Email 3: NEED TO KNOW going 4/26

Get ready for Ticket Sales… like NOW!

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If you have done nothing yet, there are 2 things you must stop and do immediately. Because if you wait you are screwed. So you need to:

These two things are what you need to buy Burning Man tickets. If you have not read, IN DETAIL, tickets.burningman.com you could suffer some pain through this process.

When is this happening?

We copied all the important dates we could find from the Burning Man site on this page [click me]. There is even more detail on the Burning Man Tickets link above as well. But heed these dates as they are carved in stone and need to be thought of as if they were in two tablets from a burning bush… pun intended.

But that is not all!

On that page of important dates is also shows that the applications for Theme Camp placement, Mutant Vehicles and other things are also opening up. We hear there is no advantage to filling them out early or late, but one would imagine that the sooner the better is a win in our column and theirs.

The people reviewing those applications need to review them, might have to ask questions about them, then go through a series of processes to complete them. We have a responsibility to make sure they are thorough and complete as well.

Conclusion

Here are some cool articles from other sites that relate to this topic:

Google Search: How to get ready for Burning Man ticket sales.

Ticket Sales Announced Today

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Well, after a long wait the Borg released ticket information. As it turns out the Nevada Entertainment Tax does not seem to apply to Burning Man, but some genius somewhere is charging $80 / car pass now. That blows balls! Anyhoo, at least we finally have word.

Burning Man just updated info on its 2016 Ticket Sales:

-Directed Group Sale tix and Main Sale tix will remain $390
-Low Income Sale tix will remain $190
-2 levels of limited Pre-Sale tix increase to $990 and $1290
-The new mandatory Nevada “Live Entertainment Tax” of 9% will be collected from you at the time you purchase a tix
-Nevada still hasn’t answered Burning Man’s inquiry as to if/why the 9% tax applies to Burning Man
-If Nevada sees it Burning Man’s way (“Hello, Hell? Is that snow?”) the 9% collected will be refunded
-Vehicle Passes increase to $80 for 2016 yet are not subject to the 9% tax
-See tix sale info on BurningMan.org at http://bit.ly/1PiXeNj
-See tix sale 2016 Important Dates at tickets.burningman.org
-You must register to participate in any tix sale
-To register, you must have created or updated your Burner profile in order to buy tickets. Do that NOW at profiles.burningman.org

People: Puck

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2b96c9106b94c0ad577d7008d33029ed-bpfullHe was one of the earliest Queers to land on the playa and be queer. Not just weird queer but freak fag flag waving homo with other homos making an impact on this new thing called Burning Man in 1993. He was a part a of a new wave of people coming to the playa and making a bold new statement. That group would eventually start the first version of the Gayborhood when queer camps began networking.

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1993

Puck (Nathan) wrote an amazing piece recounting burner history from when a group of guys wandered out to the playa way back when and laid the foundation that would one day become Mudskippers Urban Decay Cafe and even AstroPups and more. And eventually Avalon Village that became the Gayborhood.

Read Nathan’s piece LINKED HERE

 

People: Pink Pants

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12314103_10203922705946830_6916226417254714998_nAdvocate, leader, creator, spark of seemingly endless energy. Ariel is a highly motivated member if our Queer Burner Community.

Ariel ( Pink Pants) is the co-creator of Camp Gender Blender and part of the organizing team. Ariel is a proud gender out-law, decade-long burner, educator, activist, performer, and writer. Ariel loves sparkles, glitter, dancing, making smoothies, and being a rock-star at life. You can find Ariel on playa teaching about gender, leading rituals, hosting play parties, drags shows, and making a queer-fabulous ruckus. Off playa you can find Ariel working to shift the patriarchy, ensure a future of safe healthy non-gmo food, facilitating workshops including gender liberation, overcoming oppression, nonviolence as a life path, team building, and much more. Ariel is currently training to be a Priestess as part of the Kohenet program. Ariel loves to play with gender and uses many different pronouns including unicorn. Ariel is available for speaking engagements, workshop facilitation, and performances. Ariel can be reached on Facebook as “Pink Pants” and by email at ariel@genderblenders.org – from genderblenders.org

While this snippet from the web site for her camp Gender Blender says an awful lot about her she recently returned from a trip to the Middle East where she advocated heavily (see cover image) for American Jews for BDS.

“Honoring Trans Day of Resistance by existence – for existing is resisting! So thankful for my community for all my Trans and GQ folks for the world we are creating – I give gratitude and I mourn all the lives lost due to hatred and bigotry. Here is to a better brighter future that we are building with each breath. I’ll be looking for my community tonight in Istanbul Turkey if you know folks here connect me!” – from her Facebook page dated  11/21

When Ariel shows up this person shines so bright. See Ariel in the crowd often will have a bullhorn in hand or maybe a unicorn horn. This person has the energy and vitality we can all appreciate and love.