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.
If you want to know more about me and what I am doing in life find me www.scottkay.me and www.iamscottkay.com.
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.
Thanks for all your leadership over the years, Toaster!
We’re still actively maintaining the Queerburners Directory (https://queerburners.org/directory) which is up-to-date for the upcoming burn in 2025. Soon we’ll publish a map of the Queerborhood. As we have done for the past few years, we’ll publish a Queerburners Event Guide in August which lists everything we can find on playa that will be interesting to the community. You’ll be able to pick up a copy at the Future Turtles, 7:00 & E, or print a PDF and bring it with you.