ABOUT CAMP BEAVERTON

Camp Beaverton is the iconic oasis for queer womxn and gender-diverse souls at Burning Man and beyond since 2007. A legacy queer camp, we're a community of intersectional 2SLGBTQIA+ folks who are simply as wayward as the playa is dusty.

 

We celebrate sexuality, gender, self-exploration, and respect for one's journey through this life. This amazing group of Beavers congregates in-person, online, regionally, and at the Burning Man festival annually.

 

 


Our Mission

Camp Beaverton is an intentional, experimental, and experiential Burning Man community theme camp. Our goal is to provide a safe space for women, non-binary, and trans folk on- and off-playa. We encourage education, participation, inquiry, conversation, and self-reflection. We extend our goals to the greater Black Rock community by hosting workshops and social events. We are a sex-positive community centered around consent as a key principal.


Our Values

1.  We affirm that all people who identify as cis and trans women, non-binary, genderqueer, or trans folks are welcome in our space, regardless of names, pronouns, and gender assigned at birth. Beaverton social spaces are open to all Burners 18+ with the exception of our Beaver Dome and private camping areas, which are recognized as a safe space for women, non-binary and trans folks.

 

2. All people shall be addressed with their pronouns and designated name, and we avoid using body parts to describe genders. Camp Beaverton is an explicitly trans-inclusive space.

 

3. Camp Beaverton is a source for information and education regarding gender, sexuality, consent, and many more sensitive and nuanced subjects. During the Burn, we offer many workshops where people are free to attend and ask questions. Outside of workshops, we are happy, but not obliged, to answer questions and have discussions with visitors to camp, provided prior consent is obtained by all parties.

 

4. We approach every interaction with respect and assume people’s best intentions. However, we will speak up, and encourage others to as well, when someone says or does something that reinforces inequality or otherwise discriminates, including comments or behaviors that are racist, sexist, ableist, cissexist, heterosexist, classist, or personally hurtful. When called out, we will strive to respond gracefully, rather than defensively. Calling out is meant to educate, not to shame.

 

5. We strive to use inclusive language and avoid default phrases and terms that further discriminate, ostracize, and marginalize people.

 


Herstory

Camp Beaverton was founded in 2007 at the request of a long-time lesbian Burner. Exasperated she couldn’t find other lesbians with whom to frolic in the dust, she asked her dear friend Reid Mihalko to “make her a camp.” Reid obliged his friend’s request and helped create "Camp Beaverton for Wayward Girls", as a subcamp of FreedomCommunity Village, a pangender camp dedicated to exploration of personal freedom.

 

 

From that very first year, Camp Beaverton became the destination for queer women at Burning Man. We hosted a series of workshops and provided a safe space for lesbians and bisexual women to explore their sexualities and sisterhood. For three years Camp Beaverton shared infrastructure with FreedomCommunity, including commandeering their large dome once each Burn week for the women-identified-only play party, the Strap-On-A-Thon.

 

As Camp Beaverton grew, we raised funds and muscle to create an independent camp, purchasing our own large dome, kitchen, storage units, and more. In 2010, we paid FreedomCommunity’s generosity forward and helped usher another camp into independence: Gender Blender. Functioning as sibling camps, the relationship between Beaverton and Gender Blender allowed folks exploring their own non-woman gender identities to find a home. To this day, we collaborate and camp as close neighbors.

 

As Burning Man has grown, so has Camp Beaverton. Since 2016 we have hosted 50-60 Beavers and welcomed hundreds to the Strap-on-a-thon every (non-covid) year, expanding our refuge to all women, non-binary and trans folks (about 15%-20% of our campers identify as trans any given year). We now have a presence at some regional burns, as well as decompressions. Since 2022 we have a vibrant community run Discord server which has allowed us to continue connected and gathering regularly off playa in groups of beloved friends, linked by our identities, our communities, and our passions. These includes everything from attending queer festivals, parties, ski trips, weekend escapes, Pride celebrations, fundraisers, and others, keeping the magic alive throughout the year. We have also been partnering with the Sum Of Us queer wellness festival annually showing up with an official Beaverton presence and hosting our Strap-on-a-thon there as well.

Friends and Allies

  • Camp Gender Blender – Beaverton has a strong allyship with the campers at GenderBlender. Together, our camps hold an incredibly powerful and intentional space for exploration and expression of gender and sexuality. We offer each other mutual support and friendship on- and off-playa.
  • FreedomCommunity – Thanks to their help and support for Beaverton at its inception.
  • HPZ, aka Heavy Petting Zoo - making a blast lighting up the vibe at the Strap-on-a-thon with rad beats! Long time beavers fill their ranks.
  • Velvet SF - San Francisco's prime queer nightlife collaborative, joining many of our favorite queer neighbors on playa.
  • Safer Sex Camp – Remember the lube shortage of 2011? Safer Sex camp came to the rescue with lube and a multitude of other safer sex supplies.
  • Dikes with Drills - Queer womxn empowering people with the tools to build.
  • 8 Bit Bunny - Our favorite sauna-clad neighbors on playa, we offer each other mutual support and friendship on- and off-playa.
  • Comfort and Joy – Never has a morning been so gorgeous as when waking up to fully dressed drag queens with the playa vista behind them! The folks at Comfort and Joy are friends, supporters, and allies.
  • BAAAHS - Is the Big-Ass Amazingly Awesome Homosexual Sheep and he wants you inside! And the beavers oblige, with this unique art car visiting our shores.