Bear & Queer Issues
I remember, back in the summer of 1969, reading the "Newsweek" story about the Stonewall riots and getting a secret, guilty thrill. Not only were there other folks like me; they were open about it and willing to take a stand. For an isolated Gay teen, this was a major discovery.
Thirty years later, how things have changed! Gay rights issues are openly discussed in the Capitol and state houses. Employers provide benefits for the spouses of gay employees. We're visible in everyday life, on TV, in books.
But our lives are still political fodder. And even the most private and non-political individual has to live with the fact that the most personal decision-to come out and live openly-is still a very political act.
So what is a Bear?
Ever since the term began being used to identify a particular Gay subculture, this has been a question most Bears can't agree on. In physical terms, the word is most often used to describe bearded gay men, possibly hairy-bodied, perhaps stout, and not necessarily under 29.
Some people believe that being a Bear is a state of mind representing a sense of inclusiveness, a down-to-earth view of masculinity, and an unwillingness to identify with the typical urban gay image.
Others think there is a blue-collar and anti-intellectual element involved, a stance clearly repudiated by the wide variety of men from all walks of life who identify themselves as bears.
Other thoughts on bears. . .
"Masculinity. . .without the trappings"
"Furry technoqueers. . ."
"A gay man who is comfortable with himself just as he is. . ."
So, what's the deal with the Bear Code?
All those letters, numbers, and plus & minus signs are the Natural Bears Classification System. It's part shorthand, part parlor game, and a way for Bears to give each other some sort of thumbnail sketch of what they are like. I usually say my code is. . .
B4 W G+ K- S- R
And if you need an answer key to find out what that means,
CLICK HERE.
And what's with all those
HANKIES?
The Canonical Hanky Code is a quick way to visually answer the question, "What do you like to do?" Now, I'm so vanilla they put my picture on ice cream cartons, and most of those pretty colors don't mean a darn thing to me. Still, a guy is free to wave whatever color at me he wants; he'd just better be willing to wear that hanky on either side.
I can always, without qualification, wear brown lace on the left and teddy bear on either side.
I'm a member of the Carolina Bear Lodge.
NC_Bear & Orgelbear at the 1999 CBL Hallowe'en party
Walt Whitman has to be the Bear poet laureate. At a time when 19th-century America was trying to ignore the fact that sex of any kind existed, Whitman was openly extolling "the manly love of comrades." He cruised the streets of Manhattan with a vigor that would have made him the talk of any modern-day Bear run. Yet he wrote of the love of man for man with a voice as eloquent as that of any poet. "When I Heard at the Close of the Day" is one of the most beautiful poems in the English language. Besides, Walt was such a big ol' Bear!
Walt Whitman
1819-1892
I am he who kisses his comrade lightly on the lips
at parting, and I am one who is kissed in return.
Click on the flag for Bear and Gay-related links
or visit other areas using the navigation buttons below.
