2015

Well 2015’s Carnival of Mirrors came and went and it was fantastic. Read our official Trip Report for 2015 from this blog.

Carnival of Mirrors featured a Midway that was as superb as the Souk from last year, showing that Burning Man is working on elevating the features of the-man experience. If this is the working model moving forward it certainly brings a greater sense of excitement to the event. It’s very marketable.

This year marked some new possibilities for the Queer Burners project and it also a time to re-evaluate and asses where to go forth into the future. Your admin Toaster will be stepping back in some areas and pushing forward in others. In the eb and flow of that energy we hope to see others taking an effort to be a part of the machine.

Events

Our annual list of event seeks to highlight as many of our community camps possible and feature the largest efforts. When Hanging Gardens announced their plan to create an event inclusive for the whole 7:30 sector and beyond the excitement was high. That was before we knew that our placer Hepkitten was going to turn the Gayborhood on it;s side with what was to become Rainbow Road.  What’s the right tool for your burn? Get the Time to Burn App for Apple | Android | not Windows 🙁

 

The above events were not nearly as successful in their current formats as hoped for, as they as described in the trip report linked at the top of the page. In the next year, if they happen again, they will not happen in the same form or by the same person leading them.

We also saw our first major regional-like event with participants coming from all over. Spring Retreat brought in 90 people to the GroundSwell – a Radical Faery Land in norther California. With a lot of it’s success on the shoulders of producers that came from Glamcocks, Beaverton, BAAAHS, and Comfort & Joy. We had lighting by Steve D and music from the BAAAHS, Polyglamorous and Digital Wildlife collectives.

All proceeds went back into the community and no one made any money on the project. We did pay for some expenses and paid for some services needed to make it work, but none of the producers made a dime from it. We were able to use the money collected to make a gift for the community that was given out in 2015 Burning Man for the first time… and more are coming. See the full report on Spring Retreat here.

Gifting

Thanks to the proceeds from Spring Retreat we were able to produce a patch featuring the city (BRC) and the rainbow flag. It is definitely a collector item. The patches first went out to the leaders, doers and makers of the community. Some gifted randomly  to members of the community. But we made enough to give away a lot of them. So stay tuned how to get yours if you want one.

We also gave to the community as a whole. There were a couple small fund raisers out there that we took some of those funds and used to help burner efforts before 2015’s Carnival of Mirrors. One of them was to help the Soul Train art car get to the playa.

Leadership in the QB Community

The annual (since 2012) Queer Burner Leadership Summit did not happen in 2015, but at the Spring Retreat Event there was a makeshift attempt to provide a Leadership Lite version of Leadership workshops. It is clear there really has to be a structure and value for attendees in the future greater than in the past.

Toaster did go to the Burning Man – Global Leadership Conference and Regional Summit representing in April 2015. We did ask for 3 passes and were turned down because it would have been ideal to have been joined with Foxy (Beaverton Mayor) and Cyndi Vee (Gender Blender Mayor) if it could have been arranged. The value of queer leaders at the Regional Event is a little blurry because this event generally caters to geographical regions rather than populations of people.

In the last couple years, 2014 and 2015 especially, issues impacting women and other sexually predatory behavior have been making a strong presence in the conversations. This conversation includes the LGBTQ++ community although we are never really named; the focus is usually non-gender specific by leans a lot toward women.

10 Principles

Acculturation is key to be a member of this community. It either comes naturally while for some people never really wrap their heads around the ideas. It is about community. It is about fostering relationships. It is not a weapon.

Using the phrase Radical Self Reliance is not a paddle to smack someone who needs a hand. Community, Immediacy and Radical Inclusion are just as important.

Community is the principle this side endeavors to embody the most and what we work hard to foster in the Gayborhood and beyond.

Camps List 2015

NOTE: This list will grow between now and burn time. Any comments are made random and are intended to be helpful in your choice. All camps are radically inclusive, but some play to a more particular audience. Queer Burners [dot] Com encourages all camps to have diverse members. While not all camps are the right fit for everyone all campers have an obligation to the collective and the health and well-being of that collective, so membership is not obligatory; your request may be denied. Camps returning to Burning Man and their status or recruitment / fees / etc will be linked below.

 

Gayborhood Camps (P = Placed / NP = Not Placed / U = Pending / V = Village / * = Confirmed for 2015)
To apply to any of these camps or to explore who they are more please follow the links! Note If V / (XYZ) this means they are part of a Village and (XYZ) refers to the village they are part of. None of these camps are Plug n Play Camps.

Type	Name	Address	Taking Apps	Placement	Link	Theme
Queer	BAAAHS Village*		Ukn	P	Facebook	Art Car / DJ Collective
Queer	Diva Nation*		Unk	BAAAHS/V
Queer	Meowtown		Unk	BAAAHS/V
Queer	Mack Hookup Truck**		Unk	BAAAHS/V
Queer	Adult Play Space*		Unk	BAAAHS/V
Queer	BloAsis Village*	7:30 & D	Ukn	P	Facebook	Runway / Bar
Mixed	Wiener Zoo & Pussy Aquarium*		Unk	BloAsis/V	Facebook
Queer	Bearin’ Oasis*		Unk	BloAsis/V
Mixed	Camp Rainblow Fishy*		Unk	BloAsis/V
Mixed	The Dead Pirates*		Unk	BloAsis/V
Mixed	Gaylactic Invaders Village (GIV)	8:15 & D	Yes	P		Bar / Aerialists
Queer	Homojitoville*		Yes	(GIV) / V	Facebook
Mixed	Cirque du so Gay*		Yes	(GIV) / V
Mixed	Om Bindi*		Yes	(GIV) / V
Mixed	Time to Burn*		Yes	(GIV) / V
Queer	Comfort & Joy Village (C&J)*	8:00 & D	Yes	P	Facebook / Web	Nightclub / Chill Space / Sex+
Queer	Pink Gym*			C&J / V	Facebook	Gym
Queer	Camp Montage			C&J / V		Art
Queer	Camp Realness*			C&J / V
Queer	Water Boys*			C&J / V
Queer	Tatza Habba*			C&J / V
Queer	Dust Bunnies*			C&J / V
Mixed	Celestial Bodies*	7:30 & D	Unk	P	Facebook / Web	Bar
Mixed	Vietnamese Iced Coffee Experience*	7:45 & F	Unk	P	Facebook	Coffee Service
Queer	Dickstracted*	7:45 & D	Unk	P	Facebook
Queer	Camp Conception*	7 & D	Yes	P	Facebook	Nightclub / Art
Queer	Sun Guardians*	7 & D	Yes	P	Facebook / Web	Temple / Yoga
Queer	Mudskippers Urban Decay Cafe*	7:15 & D	Yes	P	Facebook	Smoothies
Queer	Down Low Club*	7:45 & D	Unk	P	Facebook	Playspace / Sex+
Queer	AstroPups*	6:45 & D	No	P	Facebook
Queer	Glamcocks*	7:30 & D	No	P	Facebook / Web	Nightclub
Queer	Camp Beaverton*	7:45 & D	Yes	P	Facebook / Web	Classes / Safe Place / Sex+
Queer	Gender Blender*	7:45 & D	Yes	P	Facebook	Events / Safe Place / support
Queer	Burner Buddies*	4:30 & J	Yes	P	Facebook	Hairy, Hung, Naked
Queer	Bïërdhäüs*	7:15 & D	Ukn	P	Facebook	Hot Bearded Men
Queer	Yes, Please*		No	P	Facebook	Chill space / Sex+
Queer	Milk & Honey	7:15 & D		P
Queer	Disco Chateau*	3:30 & D		P	Facebook
Queer	Camp Harmony*	7:45 & D	Unk	P		Sexy Dungeon
Queer/Sober	Run Free Camp*	7:15 & C	Yes	P	Facebook	AA Meetings
Queer/Sober	Camp Stella*	7:15 & D	Yes	P	Facebook	AA Meetings
Mixed	Hanging Gardens*	6:45 & D	Unk	P	Facebook
Mixed	Paradise Motel*	7:45 & D	No	P	Facebook / Web	Daytime Snow Cones / DJs
Mixed	Petersons Pink Pagoda (PPP)*	3:30 & RR	Yes	P	Facebook
Mixed	Camp Get Nailed*	6:45 & B	Yes	P
QueerFr	Dilated Peoples Eye Spa		No	P	Facebook	Eye Wash
QueerFr	AstroCats*	6:45 & D	P	U
QueerFr	Sukkat Shalom		Unk	P	Facebook
QueerFr	Poly Paradise*		Unk	P
QueerFr	Orphan Endorphin*	7 & A	Yes	P	Facebook	Bar

*THIS PAGE IS THE MOST UP TO DATE LIST

Camps temperature may vary and before you go diving into any of them thinking you want to camp because they are already awesome, make sure they are dancing to the same beat as you are. Check out this page about choosing a camp.

• Sex+ Camps: these are camps that have a strong sexual dynamic in exploring sexuality and gender identity
  (Comfort & Joy, Beaverton, Gender Blender, Down Low Club, Poly Asylum, Poly Paradise)
• Spiritual Camps: these are typically somewhat low key camps that have sacred space
  (Sukkot Shalom, Sun Guardians)
• Niche Camps: usually catering to people of a like-attribute or sub section of the community
  (GlamCocks, AstroPups, Camp Stella, Run Free Camp)

It should be noted that ALL camps are radically inclusive but have the right to be selective on who and whom they want to camp with for most reasons anyone else would. Nuf’ said… the above associations are subjective and you should explore what camp you want that turns you on whatever they may be.

Glossary

• NrQueer: Mostly Queer campers
• QueerFr: Queer Friendly
• Queer: Basically all queer but not a hard line
• Unk: Uknown … which means I do not know…
• Under “Placement” if:
  • Yes: They were registered and placed
  • No: Not Registered and will be approximate address
  • Anything else: will typically mean they are part of a Village and the name of the village will appear in this space.
  • Unk: see above…