Support Queer Affinity Programming

…and get a chance to win a handmade single-person canoe!

ON QUEER AFFINITY COMMUNITY SPACES:

Confluence Collective programs are made as community, for community. Our signature series of Outcast Campouts are open to every body, meeting at the water with diverse lived experiences and identities. And they do not replace or satisfy the need for designated affinity spaces.

Tori (he/him) and Bri (she/her) fish for tiny trout on the last day of a campout in montana. Tori is dressed as "craw-daddy" and Bri is dressed as a rainbow warrior nymph fly.

anglers at the first ever campout connect over riverbuddy fishing in Montana

Campers at the first queer affinity outcast weekend in the pacific northwest smile on a bridge over the Yakima river

a rainbow trout is released at the first Maine campout

outcasts Pam and Joanne dance on the beach in mexico at the first ever international campout

a brown hand with blue sparkly nails holds open a fly box full of nymphs at an LGBTQ Summit event in 2021

a rainbow sidewalk in Bethel, Maine has two feet in birkenstocks walking across in the shadow of a tree

anglers serene (she/her) and Tiana (she/her) release a cutthroat trout at the first ever campout

anglers read water on the yakima as part of a queer affinity campout weekend

wildflowers bloom in alpine montana, paintbrush even brighter in the dappled light of the forest

a native rainbow trout is held gently by queer guide Ryan (he/they) before release

annella (she/her) casts into the royal river on a cold day in maine

rods, flies, teaching materials, and the gayling grayling sticker are set on the ground waiting for use at a queer flyfishing workshop

campers connect on the first night of campout in darby

angler bertie (they) holds a big cutthroat while fishing the yakima

bri (she/her) leads a queer walk along the potomic at the lgbtq summit

Bri and Serene stand side by side in paired outfits: Bri as a rainbow warrior nymph and serene as a chubby chernobyl dry fly

Outcast Campouts and many of our workshops are not affinity spaces and we recognize the necessary healing and connective possibility of gathering with shared identities in safer, self-defined spaces to cultivate a sense of belonging and togetherness. With a strong base of LGBTQIA2S+ anglers already in our community, on our Confluence team, and still out there looking for to join up on the water, we are centering interconnectedness in new ways to meet more folks where they’re at.

Our Queer Affinity Fishing programs in development will provide a gathering point to collectively take part in queering our relationships with the water, ourselves, and deepen our community ties to contribute to the work of cultural change together.

Want to support this work?

and set yourself up for fall fishing in style?

Grab a few raffle tickets for a handmade wooden single-person canoe this summer with all proceeds going towards program development and queer community support initiatives through Confluence Collective and our partners focused on providing necessary space, care, time, and energy on the wellbeing of queer folks everywhere we fish.

How to Get Tickets

This is a hand-crafted wooden canoe was built by Anne P. Schaad and named the "Wee Lassie" with accompanying wooden kayak-style paddle. Lightweight and beautiful, it's manageable to handle individually and will get you to where the fish are in any pond or slow river.

The Summer of Pride 2024 raffle will be open to ticket purchases in person and online until August of 2024. At that point, a random winner will be selected from the raffle and will receive directions on how to collect the boat and included oar from it’s current home in Maine. This canoe was a generous donation from members of our Confluence Collective community as a way to grow queer community opportunities and support, on and off the water. This raffle is following guidelines as stated in Maine SP0689 LD 1837.

Raffle entries are offered at the following tiered pricing:

$5.00 for 1 ticket
$10.00 for 3 tickets
$20.00 for 8 tickets