CO June Queer Quest

For over the last decade at the Queer Quest, groups of people from every part of the queer community have gathered on the land to celebrate our stories and step into the fullness of our queer bodies and selves. This healing space has been a refuge and a reminder to all that being queer is a reflection and celebration of nature’s true diversity. Showing up as who we are, and with our many gifts, brings wholeness to the world!

Queer people have always been edge walkers who are a source of deep connection between the community, nature and the mystery, and now is the time to fully own our place. With all the challenges facing the queer community in the world today, now is the time to come back to our roots and the gifts that the queer community brings to the world. Connecting deeply to yourself, and fully accepting all of who you are, is both a radical act of rebellion against forces of hate and division, and a radical act of communion with all living things!

Join us in this inclusive and supportive circle surrounded by the tallest peaks in Colorado for this ceremonial rite of passage designed specifically for the LGBTQIA2S+ community. Coming together, to step all the way in to the multifaceted person you are and being witnessed by the community, is healing for everyone and the land.

If you are feeling the call to be on the land in queer community to do deep, personal work for yourself, your community and the earth, then this program is right and the time has come. To secure your place, the first steps are to enroll by clicking the ‘enroll’ button and sending a deposit by clicking the ‘pay deposit/tuition’ button. If you are unable to pay a deposit, write to [email protected] about a scholarship. No one will be turned away for lack of ability to pay. Taking these steps will save your spot in the program. You can also send a check to the School of Lost Borders but you will still need to enroll through the website. This program has a long waitlist every year so enrolling and paying or working out the deposit as early as you can is a good idea. You will then receive more information about the next steps in the process.

Here is what others have said about the Queer Quest over the years:

“In sacred circles before, I have found an ally or two, another queer person who understands in some fundamental way some part of my story. But to sit in sacred space with an entire group that shares that common thread, that common understanding of shame and fear and celebration, that is a gift that I had no idea until I stepped into that space that my soul was craving.” -Alicia B.

“Every Queer person on the planet needs to do this program. This is the most important work for yourself, your community and the earth.” -Quinn F.

“The Queer Quest was like coming home to a fullness and richness of myself and community I had never known before but longed for so deeply.” -Nadya Z.

“Claiming a seat in the council of fellow queer questers was empowering and affirming to my spiritual, psychological, ancestral, and physical bodies in ways I could not have anticipated. QQ gifted me what I didn’t know I was missing and needing so deeply: a rite of passage to bring intention and worthiness to the journey I am on as a trans adult.” -Luca T-S.

“I couldn’t encapsulate the experience of my Queer Quest into a few sentences any more than I could distill down a proper explication of the sun, moon, clouds, rain, sadness, joy, life and death all onto the face of a postage stamp.” -Paul F.

“As an elder cis-gendered man who now considers himself primarily gay, the opportunity to be around people of all ages and identities was a profound learning and spiritual experience.” -Steve B.

If you are feeling the need to be in queer community and do deep, personal work for yourself, your community and the earth, then this program is right and the time is now. To secure your place, the first steps are to enroll by clicking the ‘Enroll’ button below and then sending a deposit or sending a check to the School of Lost Borders by clicking the ‘Pay Deposit/Tuition’ button. You will then receive more information about the next steps in the process. Scholarships and payment plans are available and we have additional funds for BIPOC participants if needed. Please contact us if interested.

Program Overview: The program is divided into three sections; severance, threshold time, and incorporation. The first days are a time of ‘severance’ or separation from your daily life, leaving behind what no longer serves, and a time where you will be wholly seen and witness each other’s unique queer stories while setting an intention for your solo. The ‘threshold time’ is your solo time of four days and nights out in a vast and beautiful Colorado wilderness area. Base camp will be held not far from your solo spot and you will have a ‘buddy’ nearby who will check a sign from you each day to ensure your well being. Finally, the days spent after the solo time are the first days of your ‘incorporation’ experience. During the incorporation time you will share the story of your solo. The guides will reflect or ‘mirror’ your story back to you in order to bring it into the world in a concrete way. The witnessing by the group will ensure there is no doubt about the transition you have made. Finally, we will prepare you to carry your story and yourself back into the world where the incorporation will continue to unfold over the year ahead.

Program Questions Contact: Ruth “Roo” Wharton at [email protected] or Bear at [email protected]

*We recognize and honor that the word “queer” has been used in the past as a derogatory term and is still hurtful for some in the LGBTQIA+ community. Many LGBTQIA+ organizations and communities have reclaimed the word “queer” and this has been both empowering and uniting of the multiple complex identities within the community. We use the word here as an inclusive term and shortcut for the LGBTQIA+ lettering.