Burning Man LGBTQIA+ and our Allies
Getting ready to head to Burning Man? We’ve put together a detailed guide to all the LGBTQIA+ events on playa – at least all the ones we know about! It comes with a map of the Queerborhoods, a guide to your favorite camps, and all the events we could find. We even know where BAAAHS is going to be!
Download your free guide here:
2023 Queerburners Event Guide – Download PDF (29.6MB)
Print it out, bring it with you, and share it with your friends.
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.
https://playaevents.burningman.org/playa_event/create/
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.
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.
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.
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!
Hello Queerdos everywhere! This is Starduster along with Toaster reminding you about a Queerburners event so relaxing, fun, and affordable you’d definitely regret not going – unless, of course, you really have your shit together and already made other plans! Eventbrite Now
Are you still looking for an easy and chill Memorial Weekend getaway specifically for LGBTQIA+ people from all over Northern California? Then bring your camping gear and some friends to East Park Reservoir for a three-night Spring Campout, organized by Queerburners, a 501(c)(3) nonpofit organization.
Are you ready to take a break from all those outrageously priced, EMD-pulsing, highly-decorated, and body culture-obsessed gatherings and events trending within the intersection of Burning Man and Queer communities?
We love, love, love all our digital native, Burner, straight and gay brethen so much! Just look at everyone’s preferred pronowns declared on practically every Zoom call these days. But our entertainment budgets simply don’t include much in the areas of glamping gear, chauffeured commutes, catered cuisine, or diesel-driven disco whether or not we can actually afford them (exceptions for DJ equipment, renewable power, LED tech, and a little dab of Day-Glo).
All hyperbole aside, we absolutely love that type of event and the talented lovelies who produce and attend them. But Queerburners cares about your pronouns and your pocketbooks!
At Queerburners events we resist social and financial stratification and LGBTQIA+ isolation through community building that centers the regularly-resourced (and still fabulous) rainbow of gay & lesbian, cis, transgender & non-binary queerdos (and all their pronouns).
At our Spring Campout there will be folks from some of the gayest theme camps at Burning Man and other similarly-oriented, queer civic and social groups from the Bay Area and beyond. Think swimming, boating, and hammock-swinging by day and picnic table dining and campfire singalongs by night.
Workshops, group activities, variety shows, etc are welcome! This event will take whatever form the community shapes it into! Blinky lights, radical couture, and bikes? Yes! Children and dogs? Bring ’em! Pulsing music and intense partying? Well hey, if that’s your happy place then bring it on and we all can go there, too (until 10pm when quiet hours kick in)!
This is a Ten Principles event! More information also at Queerburners.org or reach out to Starduster (Events Director for Queerburners) with questions at events@Queerburners.org.
Dusty hugs from Toaster and Starduster
Where: Online only
When: April 21, from 8pm to 9pm or later as needed
How: Register for direct access on Eventbrite
Who: As of 4/10 leads from BAAAHS, C&J, GlamCocks, Camp Beaverton, Gender Blender (Queerdome)
I invited select leaders in the community from some of the most known camps to speak about the Queerborhood in recent history and share ideas for the new age we have entered post covid (an assumption and maybe an unrealistic view). How can we help open a path to better collaboration and presentation without curating ourselves into a corner away from intrinsically inspired content that is spontaneous and inviting.
The Queerborhood in 7:30 has gone through a lot of evolution over time and continues to shapeshift. The splitting of Queerborhoods in 2019 was the first major change.
The 4:30 Queerborhood anchored by BAAAHS was not the only Queerborhood that emerged over the years. Users have often generated spaces grown and fostered out of a need for safety and community. This includes Burner Buddies and others over time.
On Thursday on April 21 8pm, I am inviting a panel to talk about Burning Man 2022. What are the needs of th Queer community and how do leaders in those sectors want to inspire, enrich and mentor our community into more enriching and accountable space.
On March 26 we do a Zoom meeting with Placement and OSS as the headliner. (1.5 to 2 hours)
Queerburners presents a series of programs to prepare for return to the playa in 2022 and to make our Queerborhoods shine by inspiring collaboration, resource sharing, and community and culture building together.
– 13:00 We start at 1pm with Toaster welcoming people to the Rainbow Leadership Series
– 13:05 Level: Placement and the Queerborhoods
– 13:20 Q&A
– 13:25 Galaxy and President talk about OSS and a new program for reducing our impact on the playa with new power solutions
– 13:40 Q&A
– 13:45 Farmer: to talk about storage and other services available in Gerlach and Empire that he wants Queer Camps to be aware of
– 14:00 AJ from Gerlach: Wants to talk about Gerlach Gay Pride
Farmer will talk about a growing Queer Culture in Gerlach
We are asking everyone to register through Eventbrite so the we have a an accountable audience and limit potential spammers and disruptors. We will have someone monitoring and stacking hands for Q&A.
– April – Queerborhoods
– May – Queerstory w/ Harley K DuBois
– June – RiDE the Rainbow, a RIDE initiative
Hi its Ariel (Trixie) and I’m inviting you to Gender Blender on March 25 in Oakland!
Details here – After two long years of being six feet apart we are thrilled to be making our Cumback!!! You waited so patiently, and we’re DELIGHTED to invite you to Gender Blender’s long-awaited CUMback play and dance party! This party is for people of all genders with a priority on creating a safer, consent-focused space for trans, genderqueer, GNC + questioning folks to get their groove on. Our play parties offer a sensuous space to explore, indulge, and celebrate what turns you on. It’s gonna be hot, intimate, & kinky!
Chill in the BYOB bar, get down on the dance floor, enjoy performances by trans and genderqueer artists, meet new friends, or kink it up, well, anywhere! All levels of play are welcome, from first-timers to sexperts~
DOORS OPEN 8 PM
OPENING CIRCLE 8:30 PM
PERFORMANCES PLAY SPACES OPEN 9 PM
~PLAY! DANCE! REVELRY!~
DOORS CLOSE MIDNIGHT WRAP IT UP 2 AM
Private event. 21+. BYOB.
Proof of vax + negative PCR test <72hours or rapid test <24hours.
To attend you MUST arrive with a “PAL”. PALs are pairs/groups of 2+ guests who can vouch for each other, and will be responsible for each other for the night.
Safer sex supplies provided, and our lovely house caddies will be on call to deliver them to you, or fetch you a toy from our party stash.
How to get in on the action:
Check out Gender Blender CUMBACK Party! on the Bloom Community app: https://bl.ooo/m/gender-blender-cumback-party. Don’t forget to invite all the cuties you just can’t wait any longer to see… If you have something special you’d like to share at this event, need a low-income discount, or have any questions, please contact one of the event hosts (Alex or Trixie/Ariel)
The vision of the RLS has always been to create a platform for queer leaders and our allies to collaborate and meet the needs of our community on the playa for Waking Dreams: Burning Man 2022. What special needs? Among them are safety and security of our camps and participants. Our voice is as unique as other special groups on playa, and our special sauce is bigger and better now with 2 Queerborhoods and more are self manifesting.
We are going to present the same content in smaller doses over time before the big event in the Black Rock Desert. Stay tuned as we prepare this new channel that can be received around the world.
I am so grateful for how much we have done on the 1.5 years it took to get where we are today. We became a nonprofit exactly a year ago and in that time we have worked hard to set the groundwork for our future. Queer Burners has been around since 2008, but the non-profit is a better, leaner and more structured animal. I can tell you that I am not the same person. This project has taken me on a huge journey with amazing people I am so proud to have walked this path with.
It’s hotter, fiercer-er, and hungrier. Meow.
This thing started off to be a place to create an intersection for LGBTQAI burners. It’s not so much that there was no crossroads for that out there, but people were generally very tribal and like any group of humans we stayed in spaces that were safe and familiar. Queerburners has only sought to help expand that and try and create a safe and conventual path to collaboration
The results of ALL OF US in 2017 and 2018 felt like the peak of success. Since 2019 there have been a lot of reasons why the brakes had to be put on the progress that we had achieved. Do we go down or do we keep climbing? I will keep climbing with some ambitious and exciting ideas ahead for 2022.
I expect to be able to announce 3 major events for 2022 produced by Queerburners and our community. We only succeed with collaboration. What we are doing is driven by volunteers and participation. Yes, a few people get paid too! Our creative people have to be paid for their work.
All that is coming. I am so excite for it. I can share hints from the blog, but am waiting to get the okay from the Board and our committees to share more. I am just – that – excited about it.
Fuck yeah.
Here are some other important notes!
Toaster
Right now I am actively looking for some special people to feature at Spirited. I am working on doing better than I have in the past with All Of Us. And I would like to find a team who I can hire and pay fairly that I can establish a good relationship with for this and future projects. Maybe even more than one team.
In the past I hired a head DJ and gave that person a budget and said … do your thing. However, in 2017 it was clear there was an element missing which included Technical Support and in 2018 we hired someone to that specifically, so I think whomever comes on as a team has to have someone in that group to be technically proficient so the talent can do their jobs with fewer people stressing over equipment.
Going forward, I am seeking a package deal where I can hire a producer who might also be the head DJ who:
Queerburners will pay the Producer a negotiated contracted amount as a budget item for our records and either treat you as a contracted entity or will work with you to see what is the best solution. This will have to be in writing with a clear understanding of what is expected for your protection and ours.
Additional production design, lighting and decoration is the responsibility of Queerburners unless that is also negnotiated.
Sound must always be in compliance with local laws and may need to be managed or limited based on the direction of the production team leadership.
Basically you and each person on your team will also get:
It is time to get into how Spirited will work. I scheduled a meeting on August 4th @ 7pm at the Pilsner Inn at Church and Market.
Join us and be a part of making Spirited an amazing community event. This kind of event is not as technical as All Of Us was, but can be a lot of fun to produce. Jump in and be a spark for something new and amazing for the LGBTQIA+ burner community.We are working on a socially responsible, accountable and consent embracing event.
Facebook: Link https://www.facebook.com/events/879950396065896/
On Monday 7/26 Starduster and I will be driving to the site to survey and get a first hand view of the site where we will be hosting the event.