T-Shirt Sums It Up<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAs much as LGBTQ people are judged, shamed, and discriminated against by those outside of the subculture, the truth remains that we are our own worst enemies much of the time<\/p>\n
As but one example, my trainer at the gym (I hear the irony but my interest is in improved overall health and mobility, not social conformity since my social groups are generally aged out of body consciousness) is constantly self critical because he is “too short” or he isn’t “working his legs enough,” or he is losing his hair, as if any of these things would reduce his value as a kind and loving person, which I know him to be.<\/p>\n
Suffice it to say, that while not NBA material, my trainer is not abnormally short and even though he is shorter in stature than many men, his incredibly muscular, obviously so, body shape should compensate, and yet it doesn’t.\u00a0 When I was younger I tried very hard to conform, but a combination of genetics and overall health meant that I would never achieve the ideal and I had to learn to live with that.\u00a0 To some extent, and to the degree that I identify with any group, I find a bear mind-set attractive.<\/p>\n
Enough ranting, on to the flag!<\/p>\n
The Bear Flag, formally known as The International Bear Brotherhood Flag was designed to represent the bear subculture within the LGBT community.\u00a0 It is said by some authorities that the color of the flag, dark brown, orange\/rust, golden yellow, tan, white, gray, and black were meant to represent the colors of all the furs of animal bears throughout the world.\u00a0 While not necessarily meant to represent skin or hair tones, some commentators interpret it as such, and perhaps that serves to increase the message of inclusion which is to be applauded and celebrated even if it wasn’t the original intent.<\/p>\nBear Flag<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nWhile this story is disputed by some, others claim that the Bear pride flag was created by Craig Byrnes.\u00a0 Byrnes’ undergraduate degree in psychology involved designing a senior project about the bear culture that had exploded since the early 1980s, of which he had first-hand experience.\u00a0 Mr. Byrnes thought it might be fitting to design a flag that would best represent the bear community and include it with the results of his research.\u00a0 He created four variations with a sewing machine and he won approval to display the four 3\u2019\u00d75\u2019 prototype flags at the Chesapeake Bay Bears “Bears of Summer” events in July 1995.\u00a0 The winning design was a version created by Paul Witzkoske and that version remains the commonly recognized International Bear Brotherhood Flag to this day.\u00a0 If you were wondering, the design is trademarked!<\/p>\n
In our next installment we will look at a variation of a more famous “bear flag” that happens to celebrate not bears, but galactic facsist overlords and terrorists.\u00a0 Stay tuned as we revisit, you guessed it, the universe of all things Star Wars.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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