10/11/2023
he Bear Subculture of gay and bi men, which celebrates larger and hairier body types, has its own community infrastructure. Over the years, podcasts, magazines, books, even the online radio station Bear Radio Network have served the community, and bears have proven a loving space for many men to connect with community, health and spirituality as well as get involved in community activism. Out Magazine takes us on a history lesson, which is fascinating for students of social scenes, subcultures, countercultures and the LGBTQIA communities. They say "who actually coined the term "bear" as a descriptive term for hairy, burly, thickly hirsute gay men. Some claim it was Richard Bulger, who, along with his then-partner, Chris Nelson , founded Bear Magazine in 1987. But nope! It was Out's sister publication The Advocate! Bulger and Nelson were smart enough to make a cottage industry of it. Arguably, the first usage was by George Mazzei in his article "Who's Who at the Zoo?" in the July 26, 1979, issue of The Advocate. Beautifully illustrated by talented longtime Advocate cartoonist Gerard Donelan, the article went on to blithely categorize other gay men and lesbians as types of animals in the zoo". They go on to reprint this original article "Gay Zoo Animals" - Pop along to our website for a link to this fascinating slice of gay history: https://www.out.com/art/gay-bear#rebelltitem1
