May 2024 BIPOC Queer Campout Overview

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The May 2024 Campout will be our first BIPOC Campout and will take place Friday, May 17th through Monday, May 20th in Jemez.

The background is a feded cartoon image that includes a bear and a cat standing in a forest next to a camping tent, and the tent is decorated with rainbow flags. Text at the top reads, First-ever QTBIPOC Campout: Queer & Trans Black, Indigenous, & People of Color. Text underneath reads, May 17-24, Jemez Mountains, NM."

Click here to read about why we’re creating this protected space for BIPOC queer campers.

Click here to learn more about how the BIPOC queer campout aligns with QCO values.

This Campout is open to anyone who is both Queer and BIPOC.
See how white folks can support the success of this Campout.

Please also see the info below and review the QCO Values & Community Participation Guidelines so you’re prepared to co-create our time together.

We’re continuing our tiered registration process. Emails are sent out at the start of each registration section and the link is below.

May 2024 BIPOC* Queer Campout Registration Timeline:

  • April 9: Registration opens for Black & Indigenous, trans fem/women, and disabled** folks
  • April 23: General registration opens—all BIPOC queers can register!
  • May 10: Registration closes (will close earlier if we reach capacity before this date)
  • May 17- 20: Campout weekend

*We define BIPOC as people who have been racialized as ‘ethnic minorities’, including but not limited to Native/Indigenous, Black, Brown, Asian, Pacific Islander, Indian, Middle-Eastern, and/or multi-ethnicity/mixed-race folks. Rather than gatekeeping, we are relying on community members to self-assess which spaces are for them.

**Disabled: those excluded from aspects society due to lack of accessibility (read: social model of disability) and/or those with physical, cognitive, psychiatric, sensorial, and undiagnosed conditions necessitating accommodation, including those who do and do not self-identify as disabled; identity-first language intentional

Families

Kiddos are an important part of the community and including them is in line with QCO’s Values. Ideally, someone coordinates all things family-related for QCO (activities, youth supervision, and meeting family’s needs). If this is a role you’re interested in taking on, please email us at hello@qcampout.com or let us know in your registration.

QCO is a body-positive space, which means that attendees can expect some nudity.  Families should ensure their young people are prepared for and comfortable with this. (Kink and play activities will take place in designated 18+ areas.) 

Furry Friends

Trained service animals who will be working while at camp are welcome, but please leave ESAs and pets at home.

We’ve heard from campers that finding reliable and affordable pet care is a big barrier to joining camps located far from home. We hope to connect campers who need pet care with people who are able to offer it to meet this need where possible. If you can provide this support, please email us at hello@qcampout.com. If you would lik to receive this support, let us know in your registration.

Volunteering

In the spirit of co-creation, everyone who attends Campout should plan to volunteer for at least one shift. Campers can sign up for role(s) before camp or at camp:

  • Before camp → We’re recruiting for roles that require varying levels of commitment. From Helpers to Team Leaders, we are looking for campers to join the following teams and prepare together before camp starts: Camp Greeters, Care Bears, Disability and Access Resource Team (DART), Camp Setup & Teardown Crew, & the Medic Team.

If you’re interested in taking on one or more of these roles, please contact us or let us know when you register. Our Volunteer Coordinator will reach out to you directly.

  • At camp → At check-in, campers can sign up for shifts on crews that don’t require commitment before camp such as Camp Upkeep Crew, Campfire Crew and Answer Keepers. Folks are also encouraged to help out with empty shifts throughout camp if they can.

We make QCO happen together! Learn more about Volunteer roles and what they entail.

Activities

Campers have hosted all sorts of fun games and activities at QCO, from kink workshops and play parties to dance parties, talking circles, and topless watermelon eating. If you are interested in hosting an activity, please let us know on the registration form and the Activities & Engagement team will reach out directly to help coordinate.

COVID-19

COVID-19 continues to present a very real and serious risk to many people, including members of our community. Queer Campout is an anti-oppressive space committed to inclusivity and accessibility, which means practicing community care through continuing to take COVID-19 precautions although they were lifted across the country and much of the world. Please plan to take a COVID test before traveling up to Jemez and make sure to have a mask with you at all times.

Read more about QCO’s COVID-19 Precautions.

Accessibility

QCO was–and is continually–created to offer an opportunity for those with less access to nature/camping to enjoy the outdoors in safe, inclusive community. This means prioritizing accessibility for disabled** campers. In addition to using campsites with ADA-compliant features, the QCO Disability and Accessibility Resource Team (DART) is prepared to collaboratively develop accommodations for those with a range of disabilities and accessibility needs.

Learn more about QCO accessibility. If you have questions, please email us at hello@qcampout.com. If you have access needs, let us know in your registration and DART will be in contact with you.

**Disabled: those excluded from aspects society due to lack of accessibility (read: social model of disability) and/or those with physical, cognitive, psychiatric, sensorial, and undiagnosed conditions necessitating accommodation, including those who do and do not self-identify as disabled; identity-first language intentional

RVs & Campers

Space for RVs and campers is limited at the campgrounds. We ask that only those who need to use RVs and campers do so and that all others plan to car camp or use a tent. The QCO Disability and Accessibility Resource Team (DART) will reach out to those who note in their registration that they hope to use an RV/camper to make appropriate arrangements.

Donations

This year, we will collect donations at camp. We ask that all campers who are able to make a contribution to help cover the costs of the campground rental and supplies needed for the weekend and suggest a sliding scale of $10-25 per camper. 

No one will be turned away for lack of funds. We want everyone to be able to enjoy the weekend regardless of their ability to contribute financially.

We’re so excited to be in the woods with you so soon!

P.S. If you have IG, follow us! And, if you have any questions or feedback, please email the Organizing Team at hello@qcampout.org ♥️

Tier 1 Registration is Open for the May 2024 BIPOC Queer Campout!

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If you identify as transfemme/transgender woman, black, indigenous, or have a disability, you can begin registration from today.

Things to note:

  • Please ensure that everyone in your group who is 18 years of age or older registers individually.
  • Please make sure you specify if you require any accommodations and fill out the registration form as accurately as you are able.

Early registration is an opportunity for people who are historically underrepresented in the community to join and participate in camp activities before all spaces fill up. Don’t let this opportunity eclipse you by!

– The BIPOC Queer Campout team

REGISTER NOW!

2024 Campout Dates & Other Important Announcements

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May 2024 Campout Dates & Intentional Community

We are excited to announce that the May 2024 Campout will be the first QTBIPOC Campout and will take place Friday, May 17th through Monday, May 20th in Jemez.

A cartoon image that includes a bear and a cat standing in a forest next to a camping tent, and the tent is decorated with rainbow flags. Text at the top reads, Save the dates! Queer Campout 2024. Text underneath reads, May 17-24, Jemez, QTBIPOC. September 6-9, Jemez, All.”

We’ve all felt how powerful it is to have time and space in nature specifically for us. Guided by our values, we aim to be intentional and conscientious in centering and prioritizing those who are intersectionally marginalized within our community and outdoor spaces at large. Gestures like tiered registration have started to help us do this. Still, we’ve seen camp after camp that QCO remains a predominantly white space (as well as predominantly nondisabled, cis/transmasc/nonbinary, and other dominant groups).

Having a QTBIPOC-only campout is not about furthering segregation or disconnection, but a response to their occurrence within queer-only spaces like the campout. Just as Q* people need spaces without straight people, and trans people need spaces without cisgender people, Black, Brown, Asian, Indigenous, and other people racialized as People of Color or ethnic minorities need spaces without white people.

We envision additional specialized campouts, such as one for disabled folks, another for trans women and fems, and one for families with children. Everyone in the QCO community is invited to participate in making these spaces happen, even if the space itself is not designed for you. This is an opportunity to actualize and practice the values of equity, allyship, and community care, all in service of our collective well-being.

Click here to learn more about how the QTBIPOC camp aligns with QCO values.

The background is a feded cartoon image that includes a bear and a cat standing in a forest next to a camping tent, and the tent is decorated with rainbow flags. Text at the top reads, First-ever QTBIPOC Campout: Queer & Trans Black, Indigenous, & People of Color. Text underneath reads, May 17-24, Jemez Mountains, NM."

Call for QTBIPOC Organizers

Part of our goal is for QCO to not only support and center BIPOC, disabled, transfemme/TMA, and other intersectionally marginalized members of our community but to be organized by BIPOC, disabled, transfemme/TMA, and other intersectionally marginalized folks. Ideally, QTBIPOC folks will be the ones making decisions about what this (and future) campout looks like.

Regardless of the level of involvement you can commit to, please let us know if you would like to be part of the planning and decision-making for the May 2024 QTBIPOC Campout! A small core group of white organizers is committed to providing labor and support for the QTBIPOC campout and assisting in displacing the amount of labor. (If other white folks would like to offer labor, we invite you to join us in doing so as well.)

September 2024 Campout

The fall 2024 campout will also be in Jemez, Friday, September 6th – Monday, September 9th, and open to all queer campers.

Why having a BIPOC Queer Campout aligns with and enacts our Values & Guiding Principles

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Queer Campout’s values are aligned with and aimed at equity: equitable inclusion and access. This is not the same as equality and does not assume that everyone is welcome in the same way. Equality acknowledges that every member of the queer community is entitled to care, dignity, and safety. Equity, on the other hand, acknowledges the diverse identities, circumstances, and challenges within the queer community, and aims to give everyone what they need so that they can participate and access in the ways that are meaningful and essential for them.

Inclusivity, therefore, does not mean including everyone in the same way; it means including people in an equitable way. Sometimes that means certain folks aren’t included to allow others to participate more fully. Protected spaces–such as the campout itself, where only queer people are welcome, or community activities/circles at campout like the transfemme support circle, where only trans feminine campers are welcome–provide a different kind of safety and community that cannot exist without that protection and exclusivity.

The background is a feded cartoon image that includes a bear and a cat standing in a forest next to a camping tent, and the tent is decorated with rainbow flags. Text at the top reads, First-ever QTBIPOC Campout: Queer & Trans Black, Indigenous, & People of Color. Text underneath reads, May 17-24, Jemez Mountains, NM."

Camp after camp, we’ve seen that Queer Campout remains a predominantly white space (as well as predominantly nondisabled, cis/transmasc/nonbinary, and other dominant groups). This has shown us that despite our intention of inclusivity, some aspects of QCO are not accessible and welcoming to all members of our community.

Since white dominance is widespread, having a distinct space for non-white folks isn’t meant to segregate but to focus on a unique experience for QTBIPOC* individuals, different from the one shared with white QT people.

Creating a campout exclusive to BIPOC campers doesn’t dismiss the needs of others in our community. It’s a both/and situation, aligning with our values by focusing on BIPOC campers while inviting all queer campers to the general campout in September. This approach may feel uncomfortable for non-BIPOC campers, but it presents an opportunity to support and celebrate the centering of historically marginalized individuals within our queer community.

We anticipate a range of feelings and reactions to arise for some folks. We encourage you to approach this with an open mind, engage in critical thinking and inquiry, and consider the following reflection questions:

  • What are my initial thoughts and reactions to this post? How did the content make me feel, and where did those feelings show up in my body?
  • Do I feel provoked? What specific aspects of the post provoked me? Are there any underlying factors or personal experiences that may have contributed to this emotional response?
  • Do I feel any anger or resentment when I see that there are spaces exclusively dedicated to the BIPOC community? Why? Am I feeling excluded or invisibilized?
  • What biases or feelings surface when I meditate on this?
  • What sources of information or perspectives could provide a more comprehensive understanding of my experience and QCO’s stance on these issues?
  • What resources do I have to help me sit with and then move through what I’m experiencing right now?

*QTBIPOC stands for “Queer and Trans Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color.”

Recommended resources to learn more:

We Stand with Palestine

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A white square containing a banner representing the Palestinian flag, a white peace dove positioned in the middle of the banner, and the word "PEACE" written above the entire composition.

We are proud to openly align QCO with the Albuquerque Queers for Palestine and the call from Queers in Palestine for community members and groups across the world to voice their support for and solidarity with the Palestinian people amidst this most violent and vicious bombardment of Palestine. Our support for the Palestinian people, their lives, and their freedom is not, in any way, a statement against the Jewish people or support for the denial of their lives or their freedom.

“Queer Campout intends to be an inclusive, consensual, and anti-oppressive space, meaning we actively work against racism, ableism, transphobia, fatphobia, classism, sexism, white saviorism, xenophobia, and other forms of systemic oppression.”

As organizers and campers, we return to our values and use them to guide our path forward as Queer Campout grows and evolves. We invite you to reflect on them as well. We recognize Zionism, Islamophobia, anti-semitism, capitalism, and US imperialism as additional forms of oppression that we must actively resist and dismantle in order to realize the kind of community that we envision.

As such, we resolutely believe that voicing our support of Palestine is an opportunity to not only reaffirm our core values but also practice steadfast commitment to them and to the liberation of all oppressed peoples. By supporting our Palestinian siblings in Gaza, the West Bank, and across the world—be it through the signing of a letter, calling our representatives, participating in public demonstrations, or myriad other acts of solidarity and resistance—we are enacting the values and principles that underpin Queer Campout and the community we strive to create together.

We believe, also, that failing to state our support of Palestine speaks just as loudly, if not louder, than this statement.

We stand–both metaphorically and often literally–in solidarity with folks of conscience who are rising up to say no to ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and settler colonialism; in Palestine, here on Turtle Island, and across the world.

Recommended reading: Why Queer Solidarity With Palestine Is Not “Chickens for KFC” – A conversation with Dr. Sa’ed Atshan about the rise in LGBTQ+ solidarity with Palestine and the reductionism of its backlash (please note that the death toll has risen since this article was published—as of today, a total of 21,320 Palestinians have been killed and 55,603 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October).

Thank you for joining us!!

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A huge, huge thanks to everyone who came together last weekend and created queer joy in the woods! It was our largest campout yet, and we look forward to telling you about our numbers in a future post!

If you’re one of over 100 folks who came out last weekend, you should’ve received an email and a calendar invite. If you didn’t receive it and for everyone else, check out the information below!

Donations: We are still collecting funds for the September Camp!

If you haven’t yet and you can, please contribute to help keep QCO going! We suggest a donation of $10 – $15 per camper. Thank you to those who have already donated!

Please send donations to:

  • Venmo: LeonOsito (last four of phone: 3830)
  • PayPal:

If you donated cash at Campout, let us know in the feedback survey below.

Feedback Survey:

As many of you know, a new group of us depended on the years of work, resources, and knowledge of past planners to make this Campout happen.

Use the link in your email to let us know how it went and what you’d like to see going forward!

Planning Meeting: Sunday, October 1st @ 1pm – 3pm
via Zoom

You should’ve received a Google Calendar invite from us. Please RSVP.
If you didn’t receive the invite and you want to join, let us know!

As promised, we will hold a follow-up planning session for all who wish to attend. We plan to discuss past processes, suggestions & plans from brainstorming sessions, and a plan for moving forward.  

In our next follow-up email & Post:

  • Attendance totals
  • Financial totals 
  • Camp photos

Thanks so much, campers! We’ll be in touch again soon.

With love and appreciation,
The QCO Crew 

Purple graphics on a white background. Simple imagery shows marshmallows roasting over a campfire with sparks or stars surrounding. Large in the middle of the image are the words "happy camper"

Campout updates—we’re less than a week away!

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Hey, campers!

We’re under a week away from creating Queer & Trans magic in the woods together!! 

Registration

A huge thanks to everyone who registered! Registration is now closed.
This campout is gearing up to the biggest yet with over 170 campers of all ages signed up to join at some point throughout the weekend. 

If you won’t be able to join us, please cancel your registration by completing this form. 

Communications

This is our last planned public update post before the September campout. 

If you’re a camper joining us in Tijeras next week, you should have received an email from us yesterday evening. For the sake of safety, some of the info provided in this email is intended only for registrants, so please:

  1. make sure you got it,
  2. read it through, and
  3. don’t share it with anyone else.

Two final emails will go out to registrants a couple of days before camp: one with final details about what you need to do before leaving for camp and when you arrive, and the second with driving directions to the campground.

Questions

If you have any questions for us, please submit them by Tuesday September 5th. On Wednesday night, we’ll log off to pack and prepare ourselves! 

To further prepare for camp, please check out the Information for Campers page and Info Hub/FAQs.

Sept QCO: General Registration & 8/27 Planning Potluck!

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Queer Campout is in Tijeras from September 8–11! Check out the September Campout Overview for more details.

General registration is open until 8/28 (or capacity is reached)

Registration is open for all campers. Click here to register.

Save the date for the volunteer planning party ✨

We’re having a planning potluck in Albuquerque on Sunday, August 27th at 11am. This will be an opportunity to get to know your team and role, as well as collaborate with other teams. Location and other details will go out about a week prior to those signed up as volunteers.

  • If you already signed up for a volunteer role, stay tuned for more details about the planning party via email.
  • If you indicate on the registration form that you’d like to sign up for a role before camp, the Volunteer Coordinator will email you directly.
  • If you registered already and want to sign up for a role before camp, there is still time! Email hello@qcampout.org and let us know.
  • If you cannot commit to a role before camp, you will sign up for shifts at camp check-in.
Whether you’re a new camper or a seasoned camper, there’s a team for you:

Do you love logistics?

September campout needs two Team Leaders and multiple coordinators for the Onsite Resources team.

Do you have medical or first aid training and wanna help keep us all healthy?

September campout needs two Health and Safety Team Leaders + more medics. 

If leading a team isn’t a fit for you…

DART, Care Bears and Onsite Resources need Helpers! Helper roles have the support of Team Leaders and Coordinators. 

We can’t wait to camp together in just 25 days!
Registration is open for all campers. We are at 34% capacity.

REGISTER NOW

After Registering:

  • Log into your QCO account (or register to make one!) to access the forum and other information
  • If you can join a volunteer team before camp, please monitor your email inbox for an email from the Volunteer Coordinator.

Early Registration for 2023 Sept Campout is Open!

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Queer Campout is in Tijeras from September 8–11! Check out the September Campout Overview for more details.

If you are BIPOC*, a trans woman or trans fem/femme, and/or disabled**, you can register now. Otherwise, please register after August 14, when general registration opens.

*BIPOC: People who are Black, African, Asian, Brown, multi-heritage, Indigenous to the global south, and/or have been racialized as ‘people of color.’

**Disabled: those excluded from aspects society due to lack of accessibility (read: social model of disability) and/or those with physical, cognitive, psychiatric, sensorial, and undiagnosed conditions necessitating accommodation, including those who do and do not self-identify as disabled 

REGISTER NOW

After Registering:

  • Log into your QCO account (or register to make one!) to access the forum and other information
  • If you can join a volunteer team before camp, please monitor your email inbox for an email from the Volunteer Coordinator.