Continued Visioning for Queer Nature

As the work of Queer Nature has become more visible and reached more people, we are seeking ways to dedicate more of our energy and life force to it. Although the simple but deep mission of teaching place-based skills to other LGBTQ2IA+ folks is at the heart of what we do, the soul of Queer Nature is an emergence of "artivism" (art+activism) and radical philosophizing in service of unsettling, shifting, and re-creating narratives of what it means to be connected to land, place, and other-than-human beings in overlapping contexts of ecocide, racism, white supremacy, and continued displacement and cultural genocide of indigenous people. If you follow us on Instagram @queernature, you probably have a good idea already what we’re about—which is hard to put into words!

We're coming upon winter, which is the slow season for us work wise (not just with Queer Nature programs, but also in our various work in outdoor educaton in general), and typically we find diverse sources of income to ensure the continud stewarding of the type of work we do through Queer Nature. Moving forward, especialy through this winter so(u)lstice season, in addition to envisioning continued and new programming for next summer, we seek to also focus more on advocacy work in the form of art, writing, and collaboration/community-building. This typically involves many potentially unpaid hours of brainstorming, planning, Zoom calls, creating, and of course, lots of dreaming and being with the land!

And, we know we're long overdue for cool T shirts! We hope this can be a fun way for folks to support us this winter!

Some of the programs we are planning for next summer include:
-Another Queer Stealthcraft immersion (formerly called Queer Scoutcraft) in collaboration with Rewild Portland (this time possibly a week long!)
-Planning another Queer Mountain Quest (a backpacking-based rite of passage for teens) with Rite of Passage Journeys
-A tuition-subsidized backcountry trip in the Rocky Mountain region through Queer Wilderness Project (the grant-funded program we run through Womens' Wilderness)
-More - Stay tuned!