voices-
Don’t Forget Your Roots
38
APRIL 1.2011
N ote : Some names have been changed to protect
both the guilty and the innocent.
Prior to becoming a card-carrying member of
the Oregon Bears, I had a heart-to-heart talk
with then president Frank Armstrong, as I had
slight apprehensions that I wouldn’t fit in or be
welcome. After all, I’m not exactly a classic Bear
specimen. There’s nary a hair on my face and you
couldn’t convince my chest to grow any hair—
not even for all the tea in China.
During our chat, Frank allayed my fears and
explained the Bears’ roots to me and how the
movement came into being. I le told me Bears
are usually more accepting and diverse because,
in the past, they were shunned and ostracized
for being different than other gays. Since they
know what it feels like to be excluded, inclu
siveness is one of the Bear movement’s tenets.
Frank also said being a Bear is not just physical
but a state of mind. If you think like a Bear and
act like one, you are a Bear.
So I signed up and became a member. As a
whole, the Oregon Bears have been very wel
coming. I was embraced from the outset by this
fun-loving group of men (and a few women).
In this group, I found a sense of community,
brotherhood and camaraderie. It wasn’t long
before some Bears started calling me “Panda”
and the nickname stuck.
«
WWW .JUSTOUT.COM
panda say what?!
BY BENNIE TAN
As accepting and diverse as Bears
self-proclaimed Bear, spotted her posting on
Facebook and decided to email her saying she
are, there are always exceptions.
wasn’t welcome to the event because she was a
My mother has this saying: “ In every
woman. He claimed the bar where the event
was held was a “sanctuary” for Bear men only.
bushel of crabs, you always find a
I was stunned.
few that are hollow.”
Terri felt uncomfortable, and she didn’t go. I
But as accepting and diverse as Bears are, was beyond livid when Terri told me she later
there are always exceptions. My mother has this discovered Karl was not local but lived in Alas
saying: “In every bushel of crabs, you always ka and Colorado. I couldn’t fathom why an in
find a few that are hollow.”
dividual who wasn’t involved in the local Bear
This past February, I coordinated a fundraiser community took the time— had the audacity—
for Shane, a fellow Oregon Bears member who to tell someone they weren’t welcome at a
had to have emergency colon surgery. He didn’t charitable event because of gender. It was a
have health insurance and was growing over fundraiser, for heaven’s sake! I really wanted to
whelmed with medical bills. I created a Facebook give Karl a piece of my mind so I searched for
event page to spread the word and Terri (not her his profile on Facebook, to no avail.
real name), a mutual friend of ours, wrote on the
I’ve had an experience similar to Terri’s.
event page’s wall that she would love to support Last June, right after our Bear run called
Shane. Terri attended high school with Shane’s BearTown, I received hate mail on my official
sister, self-identifies as queer (bisexual) but is Oregon Bears email account from Dick (not
currently married to a man. She is very much a his real name but indicative of his character),
part of the queer community, so I was surprised an Oregon Bears member. In it he opined I
when she didn’t show up.
was “downright silly” for considering myself a
The next time I saw her, Terri explained Bear. Dick went on to explain, “A white guy
what happened. Karl (not his real name), a may support civil rights and speak out against
i----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
racism and even join the NAACP, but he does
not become black!”
Isn’t Dick a lovely person?
I decided to pull a Margaret Cho and post
Dick’s message, complete with his email ad
dress, on my Facebook page. Several of my
friends—who are Bears and consider me a
Bear—emailed Dick, chastising him for being
a bigot, demanding an explanation and apology.
Needless to say, being the bully and coward
that he is, Dick never responded.
W hat is perplexing to me is how quickly
people like Karl and Dick forget their roots. As
Bears, how can they forget what it felt like to
be singled out and discriminated against and
start doing the same to others?
W hat I’m writing about isn’t exclusive to the
Bear community. As queers, we’re all inherently
different from heteros and have, at some point,
been discriminated against. I get very disheart
ened when I witness and experience instances
where queers hate on each other when we really
should be rallying together.
It is vital for the Bear community— and
queers in general— to always remember where
we came from and learn from our past. We
must never forget our roots, lest we turn into
the very people who shunned us. J#]
Genetically , the gian t panda was recently proven
to be p a rt o f the bear fam ily, so don't you tell
Bennie he is not a Bear. This Panda accepts non
hate emails a t pdxpandacub@gmail.com.
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