Burners on the Playa

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This site is a resource for Queer Burners (LGBTQ++ which is Radically Inclusive) who want to connect with and hang out with other burners with similar wants and desires. Those needs might be social and/or it might be sexual. Queer Burners have a lot of talented people. We also have a lot of amazing personalities people want to be a part of.

Gayborhood v. Gay Ghetto

The existence of the Gayborhood has been criticized and discussed in past posts. However, BOTH Queer Burner Leadership Summits (2012 and 2013) the attendees have discussed the real value 2013_Final_Web_LGof this part of the city is in it’s safety and familiarity for LGBTQ+ people. This is a place anyone who needs help will find real sanctuary if needed.

The one sad fact about the Gayborhood is how it is often misrepresented by the perception of those who do not participate in it. Or those from within the LGBTQ community who sit on the sidelines like bitchy gossips peering down their nose and refer to it as the Ghetto; not unlike a gay man being called ‘faggot’ on the street. It’s slanderous and mean-spirited.

The Gayborhood this year sits on the 7:30 corridor and is spread out thinner than it has been in recent years. This is both good and bad as it either undermines the sanctity of the space for queer and queer-friendly people or it gives other Queer Camps a chance to fill in the space and make a bolder statement.

LGBTQ Who’s Who at TTITD*

2006 DemographicAt some point (after 2006) Burning Man stopped sharing the actual numbers that were released through the afterburn reports. Assuming that this is a fair representation 22% of the people polled showed how potentially queers were playing a significant role.

In the same year, in a place with some very fluid sexuality, people were asked if they were bi-sexual. 38% of those who answered were vague at best but it further cements in the need for awareness.

Many of us have seen or participated in the census at burning man which can be found in the Center Camp Cafe. There are more questions than you can imagine in it and yet the afterburn reports give us a fraction of the results.

2006 Bi Sexual? 2006 Straight ? 2006 Gay ? 2007 Gender ?2008gender-jpg 2009 Gender ?married-jpg 2011 Gender at Birth ? 2011 Gender Now ?

Take a look at the above charts from the afterburn reports and see how the data has been portioned out effectively editing out the queer community and focusing on a homogenized and very heterosexual audience. While the data showed in the past 1/5th and potentially more of the burners out there were or are LGBTQ identified or not. The data released spawns more questions.
(*TTITD: That Thing In The Desert aka Burning Man)

Not every rainbow is gay

Before you get confused about the uncommon amount to rainbow flags out there… they don’t all mean what you think. There are 3 rainbow flags out there and if you were unaware they meant something different one might think there were A LOT of Queers on the playa!

3flags

  1. 6 Color Flag: LGBTQS Diversity (gay)
  2. 7 Color Flag: Diversity (gay or not but usually not)
  3. 7 Color PACE Flag: Diversity with ‘Peace’ in Italian on it (same as #2 but pretending to be Italian)

Not that there are a lot of rules about flying these flags but my initial thought was ‘wow, there are a of gay people in these camps’ as if in many cases these were letting others know where we were… not so! But not necessarily not so either.

Maybe this was the same confusion Oscar Remundo (blogger for the Huffington Post) had when he stated in his post that 70% of Burning Man attendees were LGBT. I know I was starting to wonder myself because gay people were everywhere.

Queer Utopia

LGBTQ people have flocked to this culture because of it’s radical inclusion and acceptance of people irregardless of who they were or where they came from; as long as they can afford a $400 ticket and survive in the dirt for 8 days.

Conclusion

The contribution the LGBTQ community offer a lot to the Burning Man experience inside and outside of the trash fence. Our identity as Queer Burners v. just being referred to as Burners is often at question, but to be minimized by BMorg (the Burning Man Organization) or from within by Queer people is a cancer that is not constructive.

Being aware of each other out there strengthens us as a whole not just LGBTQ but also with Burners everywhere.

We celebrate faggotry and all Queer presence on the playa that gains focus in the Gayborhood and radiates outward. The Gayborhood expands and contracts wildly with layers and satellites that bring diversity all over the BRC (Black Rock City).

TO FLAME BUSES NOT AUTHORIZED TO ENTER BLACK ROCK CITY IN 2013

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Hello Queer Burners,
I wanted to make sure the word got out to the community about the authorized busses. Here is the post from the latest JRS.

Burning Man Update: The Jack Rabbit Speaks
Volume 17, Issue #30
July 20, 2013
TO FLAME BUSES NOT AUTHORIZED TO ENTER BLACK ROCK CITY IN 2013 Burning Man organizers want participants to know the To Flame bus operated by Rally Bus will not be granted access to Black Rock City in 2013.

Companies providing bus service to the Burning Man event are required to secure permits from Burning Man and the Bureau of Land Management. To Flame and Rally Bus have not secured these permits.

Additionally, Burning Man issued a Request for Proposals for a bus service to the event earlier this year. To Flame submitted a proposal, but was not selected based on gaps in their operational plan to support the event, previous track record and negative feedback about their bus service from operators and participants.

During the RFP process Burning Man advised To Flame to not sell any additional tickets. To Flame was not selected as the bus service vendor, but continued to advertise bus service during and after the RFP process. On June 26 Burning Man issued a Cease & Desist letter to the company.

Participants have a few options for public transportation to the playa, including the new BRC-supported Burner Express bus service operating from the Reno-Tahoe International Airport and the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. For more information on options, visit http://www.burningman.com/preparation/travel_info/.

2 Tribes: Burner v. Faerie

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This last weekend this burner joined a celebration being held by another community that I have been told is very similar to queer burners. It is very likely some of the original people who brought us Burning Man were Faeries; or better known as Radical Faeries.

They too started off in San Francisco and sought land outside the city for the expansion of their mission that would, after many years, still be a hub of joy and liberation for many. While we have the Black Rock Desert, the Faeries earliest property purchased under their church was called Wolf Creek Sanctuary up in Oregon. Now they have several properties all over the world that celebrate their uniqueness.

Within our Burner community we do have a core of Queer Burners that are also Faeries and marry the two worlds almost seamlessly. San Francisco based Comfort & Joy are mostly members of the Radical Faery community with their amazing play on gender identity and radical self-expression.

Similarities

One of the first things I heard someone say at the gathering, independent of the knowledge of my Burning Man present, was how much Radical Faeries value Self-Reliance. It’s not a unique factor in the world, but my mind immediately went to one of the 10 Principles: Radical Self-Reliance.

On the chores board I saw MOOP (Matter Out Of Place) as the top item on the page and again I saw something else that came from the Burner world. We know many Radical Faery-Burner people have been on Wolf Creek and the influence is there. It goes both ways.

The recent screening of James Broughton’s “Big Joy” (link broken) movie was all about Radical Self Expression and was featured at the Frameline film festival recently and San Francisco faeries took loving ownership of making sure people all over the world knew of this film. Seeing it at this Faery gathering was amazing.

While visiting Wolf Creek there were 2 people present who ever attended Burning Man including myself, but the influences are fairly evident and acknowledged by many members. Consider that just more than a year ago the president of their parent organization (Nomenus) was a burner.

Differences

As similar as the worlds are there are differences in philosophies more than basic principles. Many faeries are fairly witchy or hold to some spiritual ideals that reach well beyond what many burners hold on to, but that is not an absolute.

The largest difference, based on this particular experience, is that there is a significantly reduced focus on the party. Though the event I went to was a requested sober event, there were some (self included) that indulged. Chemical stimulants were no where on the property; it was much lower key than most burner occasions.

Comparing

These really are apples and pears in they way they compare. Both are fruit, sweet and tasty, but the sensitivity and pulse of the community runs on different blood types.

The writer has been hanging out with Faeries for almost 2 years on a very part time basis getting more and more involved over the last year. This year started off with Faery celebrations like Saturnella, Beltane and most recently the SGRF (Spiritual Gathering for Radical Faeries).

The touching part of each of these communities is how closely knit many of the participants are and how much love of the environment and their spiritual siblings.

More from Toaster on his personal blog

Get the latest here…

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The @queer_burners on twitter is fed off a couple resources and with it we get it here to the web site as well. If you do not use Facebook, you will have limited access to some of the information, but just ask and we will get you what you need.

<< Look right in the left column of this page for the feed, too. or go to the Twitter link above.

You MUST be a member to access any camp info on the site. See some of the previous posts for more info.

Time to put the wheels to the pavement

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Camps are recruiting and welcoming new members of their micro-communities. We are 90 days out from the burn people and you need to invest yourself, your time, and in some cases your dollars to camp with the right space for you.

Today, Gender Blender added their web site to their listing and an email received from PnkPants said they were looking for some amazing cool, new people. Check them out on the Queer Camp Page.

Also check out the pages listed in our previous post and the Groups page for more info.

Camps accepting campers:

  • Gender Blender
  • Beaverton
  • Comfort & Joy
  • Sun Guardians

READ THE PREVIOUS ENTRY

I am looking for a camp!

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So, you are looking for a camp to hang with at Burning Man? How do you know which is the right one and where do you begin? Some of us who have been doing this a while point to the 10 principles which most, if not all, camp leaders will direct you to. Immediacy, community and so much more are components of the 10 principles that are about getting involved.

Radical inclusion applies to us all, but some camps have a core of people who are ‘like’ in some way. Is like another word for a ‘click’? Not at all, because you will find most camps I have interacted with have some really open ideas about the mixture of people in their camps.

While many camps are eclectic in nature’ let’s be honest, some camps have a ‘type’.

  • AstroPups is known for the bears, cubs and sexy otters and such. According to Russ Smith; “the Astropups are that group of pups and cubs and otters and bears you love to shower with in the dust”. Maybe these guys are your cup-of-tea but they are a tight group who have been burning a long time together. You have to be sponsored in to join them by a member who has already camped with them. Their Facebook…
  • Glamcocks has a lot of twinkie goodness; rich in cream filling (just kidding). They do have an amazing camp unlike many at the TTITD and have a younger demographic. While they are a lot of fun they too have a strong core. Check out their web site and maybe their movie and maybe you have that something special to join their ranks.
  • Drag queens and radical self-expression personified are what you might find at Comfort & Joy. This is an elective crew and very welcoming for civic minded boy-girls. They are typically part of the nexus of the Gayborhood along with the Beavers and the smaller camps inside their borders. Check out their web site and Facebook pages too. I think they are looking for new people, by the way.
  • Did someone say Beaver? This Beaver has a Tale. While having been paired with Gender Blender and are separating themselves but this is a great group.

We do have the QUEER CAMP LIST right here on the site, but things are always changing. While we asked people to help keep these posts alive and updated people are busy.

REALITY CHECK

Few camps are going to let you waltz in without investing in getting to know them, their culture, their principles and their interpretation and implementation of the Burning Man 10 Principles.  No one wants  an unknown variable in their midst.

Getting involved is the key to success: Participation.

Resources

Check out these links… many of them you have to be logged in to access.

 

Queer and Burning Man

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We have been fighting a battle that may have reared it’s ugly head in 2001 when a protest over a Jiffy Lube sign on the playa caused an uproar on the playa. Even Larry Harvey had to go speak at this protest on the playa… that is a little burner history.

Burning Man Organization (BMorg)

Burning Man has changed a lot over the last couple years as they transition to a non-profit and less about running a giant festival in  the desert. Yes, I called it a festival. That Thing in the Desert (TTITD) reels when called a festival. By virtue of existence of the Gayborhood we have been accused of being divisive; in the sense that we are keeping people out and keeping people in.

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I got word about this last year from the home office. We are not affiliated with BMorg (Burning Man or the Burning Man Project), but in the 2013 Queer Burner Leadership Summit we attacked this question directly. Were we acting against the principles of Burning Man by creating this neighborhood that seemed to cater to a specific demographic of the experience? Collectively and through a great deal of discussion we determined the answer was a resounding “no”.

We have multiple events inviting people in to participate in this amazing community.

  • The Gaybohood has 2 stops on the Naked Pup Crawl.
  • Camp Beaverton: Workshops for everyone
  • Comfort & Joy: Fantastic workshops and shared space
  • Celestial Bodies: a hub of the playa with Playa Cosmos
  • AstroPups: Naked Showers
  • Camp Conception & GlamCocks: Amazing parties

We are looked at as being exclusionary. We are looked at as being divisive. We are simply misunderstood. While Burning Man wants it’s citizens to be integrated, the level of homophobia at Burning Man and in the community is always surprising to people exposed to it.

BMorg members and leadership camp in an area called First Camp which is positioned just outside center camp. They actually have a wall around their camp. Anyone can walk in and engage people but how many feel welcome?

Visitors stream into the Gayborhood sometimes aware of the principle demographic or not. They run through the silver streamers in front of Comfort & Joy or just enjoy the art and welcoming, open spaces of our community.

The Gayborhood

We went through a lot this year. We had some people within the LGBT community attempt to tear us down from within and we had people looking in from outside making huge assumptions about what this neighborhood represents.

Our leadership has converged and came to a conclusion; we are here and we are queer. We provide to the Burner Community and we have a neighborhood that is a community in every sense of the word. We provide a safe island for some who stay a long while or just a quick visit.

This rich space is filled with art, faeries, sex positive support and expression and so much love it is hard to fathom. We are always welcoming and we are always giving back.

Queer Burner Leadership Summit (QBLS)

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We did it. I could not do it alone. Although I did put a lot of effort into this event it could not have happen if a few people had stepped up and lend a hand here and there. Whatever their efforts were I am grateful. Some of the people I would like to specifically thank is:

Bernadette Bohan | Kd Calfee aka Kitten |
Jean-Jaques | DJ Momme aka Fathom

This was our 2nd year and believe it or not year 3 is already somewhat on the calendar, but no real planning will go on until after the beginning of the year (September).

The expenses in 2012 for the event was $1200 and that may not sound like a lot, but it is when this is a non-money making operation. In 2013 we spent almost 50% of that to bring a stronger overall event.

Check out the reports and please make comments. If you can, please join us next year!

My eyeballs were falling out of my head the Friday night before. I was hoping to get out to First Friday in Oakland, but it was not meant to be. Alas, we had such an amazing day in the end.

We had attendees that traveled in from Georgia, Sacramento and Los Angeles.