Kevin and Nick of Unicorn Booty Blog
Hottie San Francisco writer Oscar Raymundo‘s story about the gay experience at Burning Man appeared in today’s Huffington Post. “Party Drugs, Perfect Dates, And Showers? Welcome to the Gayborhood in Black Rock City” features interviews with Kevin Farrell and Nick Vivion from Unicorn Booty Blog, Brenden Shucart, my very own “coming out at Burning Man” story:
Writer Oscar Raymundo
The dust settles. In the distance, the hazy afternoon sun shines on a body, a man you might know. A man you must meet. Walk past the pink bar, the pink drinks, the pink go-go dancers, the pink streamers blowing in the wind, Burning Man’s Pink Mammoth camp takes its name seriously. In the middle of the desert, across the dancefloor, a man wearing a bowtie and a cummerbund meets a man in a red bandana and a loincloth. “We spent the night walking a scale model of the solar system a few miles long. We stopped at every planet to sit and talk and have a drink. By the time we reached Pluto, the sun was almost up. It was an absolutely perfect first date,” that’s how Kevin Farrell describes meeting Nick Vivion at Burning Man. The co-founders of Unicorn Booty both talk of their six-year affair with the Man and the yearning to go back year after year with the same energy it’d make the Energizer bunny jealous.
And they’re not alone. Before Milk, Dustin Lance Bass‘s first film, On the Bus, was about his trip to Burning Man, and Adam Lambert got a revelation to audition for American Idol while on his own personal trip of self-discovery and ginger rejection.
—————————-
Losing your Burning Man cherry may sound intimidating, with friends preparing for it months in advance. For first-time Burners, it’s recommended going with a small group of friends and getting a feel for the overall experience so that next year you’ll be ready to join an established camp that will fend for you (with food at least).
“Most of the bigger, returning camps have vetting processes, camp dues, and pretty elaborate chore lists. It’s so much easier to do your own thing and grow it organically,” Kevin said.
It’s been six years since Dan Estabrook of DanNation has been to Black Rock City, on the tenth-year anniversary of coming out to his friends during Burning Man in 2001. Appropriately enough, the theme of this year is Rites of Passage. “They were the first people to whom I came out,” Dan said. “They were critical in this transformation, and who I am today.” However, the theme that year was not Transformation.
“The best way to know you’re in a camp that’s a good fit for you is to create your own,” Kevin said. “I’ve camped with 100-person mega camps on the Esplanade, and tiny little two-person camps in the backstreets.” That’s perhaps one of the reasons one-time Burners are eager to come back; each year is a completely different experience.
For Dan, this will be a completely different experience mostly because it will be his first time staying in an almost exclusively gay camp, Mudskipper’s Café, located in what can only be referred to as Black Rock City’s “gayborhood.” Recently, large camps at Burning Man have been designated certain regions, as to make sure the S&M camp is far away from the kids’ playground. Due to this zoning structure, most of the gay and queer-friendly camps like Pink Mammoth, Mudskipper’s Café, Comfort & Joy, AstroPups, and Emerald City Glam Cocks have been “ghettoized” between 7 and 10 o’clock (the city is mapped out after a clock face).
A great story and worth a full read here. I am so flattered to have been included.
