LOVE & SEX ISSUE
“He met a bunch of friends online on GROWLr, and
body and how I looked.” Part of that confidence, he says,
towards a balding, bearded and bespectacled man that
a bunch of other people in town that had just moved to
came from losing a couple pounds, growing a beard and
just walked in the door. “Mr. Oregon Cub, Jason Clow. He
Eugene, and there was no place to meet,” says Vince
getting tattoos “all over my body.”
came down from Portland.”
Mays, who stepped in to help coordinate the event after
But, he notes, “I’m always going to have a big belly.
Clow won the 2014 title from Portland’s Oregon Bear
his departure. “They decided they were going to, once a
I’m always going to put down a 16-oz ribeye steak like
organization, which crowns an annual Mr. Oregon Bear
month, have an event.” (GROWLr is the self-proclaimed
nobody’s fucking business. That’s who I am.” The bears
and Mr. Oregon Cub. Herein lies the nuance: A “cub” is a
“Gay Bear Social Network” app, in the same vein as
and otters and cubs around him nod in agreement.
younger bear, and that’s only the beginning.
Grindr and Tinder.)
“A bear can look at themselves in the mirror butt naked
“Bear is kind of a standard. I’m a bear,” Collins
What started as a group of four or five people has
and know that they’re sexy,” he continues.
explains, leaning back in his barstool and pointing to his
blossomed to anywhere from 25 to 75 per Bear Bar
A cub to his right, who prefers to only use his nickname
boyfriend and friend next to him. “These two over here
Takeover, rotating to watering holes like Jameson’s,
Cody, adds, “That’s a big part of why I started identifying
are ‘otters,’ so they’re small and furry.”
Cowfish, Falling Sky Pour House, Good Times
as a bear … I had just moved to Eugene. I was so
and Oakshire Brewing, and, typically, part of the
welcomed with open arms. This is the group I need
drink proceeds of each event go to HIV Alliance.
‘I’M KIND OF OF THE BELIEF THAT EVERYBODY to be in.”
I ask Mays — a tall, strapping guy with a
That openness, they say, extends to sex as well.
HAS A KINK, THEY JUST HAVEN’T
smartly trimmed ginger beard and handlebar
“It seems like a higher percentage of bears are
mustache (like a Viking who grooms) — why
into fetish and kink, for whatever reason,” Collins
FOUND IT YET. BEARS GO OUT AND FIND IT,
the event has become so popular, bringing many
says, pointing to a prominence of leather and
bears out of the woods, so to speak? “Bears
bondage. “I’m kind of the belief that everybody has
LIKE SWIPING SALMON FROM A RIVER,
are typically a little lazier,” he explains. “We
a kink, they just haven’t found it yet.” He continues,
EXCEPT INSTEAD OF SALMON IT’S COCK.’
don’t stay up until all hours disco-ing.” The bar
“Bears go out and find it, like swiping salmon from
takeover is in the evening, he adds, and “it’s easy
a river, except instead of salmon it’s cock.”
— MARSHALL COLLINS, EUGENE BEAR
to get to. We try to make it easy.”
But more so than hookups or romance, all the
Mays, a customer loyalty specialist for
bears I ask that night say they come to the bar
Symantec, stands next to his partner of 17 years, Brian
takeover foremost for the company and conversation.
Together they tick off more subcategories: “polar
Haimbach, the head of the Lane Community College’s
“Personally, I just want to be with my community,”
bears” — bears that are older with gray or white hair;
theater department; they moved to Eugene from South
says Walter Rosenthal, the business planning director for
“daddy bears,” or older bears that prefer cubs for partners;
Carolina a couple years ago.
HIV Alliance. Rosenthal is hesitant to pick a bear label,
and “grizzly bears,” or dominant bears of extreme stature
“It’s just awesome,” Haimbach says of the event. “It
saying he’s still feeling it out. “I have spent most of my
or hairiness. The list — “musclebear,” “black bear,” “bear
just quickly grew,” adding that “once a month is enough
adult life focused on my career and I’m relaxing a little
hunter,” “panda bear,” “ewok” — goes on on and on.
for me.”
on that and want to get back into socializing. I want to be
This wide net of identities and appearances is why
Mays says that it’s also about inclusivity. “Everyone
part of a gay community. Eugene needs a gay community.”
many, including Collins, are drawn to the community.
is invited,” he says, adding that in bear circles, men of all
This is one Goldilocks that thinks the bears are just
“For me, I’ve always been a big guy,” he says, adding
ages and sizes are welcome. “We are not the Abercrombie
right. ♥
that as a teen he felt like he didn’t fit the mainstream gay
& Fitch model group. We’re not the perfect-body, shaved,
culture that the media projects. “It wasn’t until my mid- to
To find about the next Eugene Bear Bar Takeover, or for more information,
contact eugenebearbartakeover@gmail.com.
make-ourselves-look-perfect group.” He pauses and nods
late-20s that I really started to feel comfortable with my
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eugeneweekly.com • February 12, 2015
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