10 Rob Harris
28 Max Stone
40 Eduardo
54 Kevin Wolf
68 Jake Taylor
Editorial Note
All about bears
Okay, so we've been absent for a few issues, but now we're back and
more into uniforms and leather than ever before. I am not the only one.
There are more and more people every day finding a new escape, a new
passion, a new way of life, a new way of sexual expression. The mere
fact that you enter a leather bar in a leather vest and black boots
does not make you a man into leather. It just makes you a man wearing a
leather vest and black boots.
The number of people moving toward the S&M scene gave me cause to
investigate. A bar that once had three people in it on a Friday night
now has a hundred and three. No, not everyone is wearing leather, but
they all seem to be in on the scene, looking for a man to be their
Master or a boy to be their Slave. With the entire gay community
wrapped up in safe sex, the leather scene offers more than a burger at
Mac's and a quick J/O in the car. The clothing indicates a mood, the
stance indicates an attitude, and the hanky in the back pocket
indicates habit preference. The color code is much too long to list,
but those in the scene know exactly which color hanky to look for. They
also know how to look for a top or a bottom, and which side pocket
indicates what.
The bar I picked to check out was filled to capacity and the parking
lot was stuffed with Harleys. The outer perimeters of the bar collected
the fancy automobiles that you wouldn't park next to a Harley — a
Pathfinder or Jeep seems to cross the line, but the late model
Cadillacs and Lexus just don't work in this scene. S&M is a way of
life as well as a way of sexual expression. The days of throwing on a
tight T-shirt, levi cut-offs and posing in a bar for hours are gone.
With less hard sex out in the open, the cruising has changed. For
example, the membership count in health clubs has increased
dramatically. Pump up and throw on that tank-top muscle shirt and
you're on your way. Well, almost. It seems that during the last few
years, the muscle guys have been having a problem being as popular
because, too often, they have been found to be too boring,
narcissistic, egotistic and the list goes on. A new group to be
reckoned with today, however, is called "Bears."
"Bears" is the latest group making waves in the cruising community.
Older guys who have beards, 'staches and a belly suddenly seem to have
a lot more. The younger guys love these Bears. The Bears have money,
influence and jobs in high places. At a bar for Bears, you could easily
spot attorneys, police officers, bankers, clergy, and a host of CEOs.
These guys don't have the time to spend four hours in a health club
pumping up. They enjoy good food and drink, and they are very sensual.
Some of them even have wives at home, some wives who understand and
some wives who just don't know. Mrs. So-and-So thinks her hubby is at
the office when in reality he's ... well, you all know that story.
Bears have their own bars, their own magazines, their own sex clubs,
their own beer busts, their own WEBsites, their own 800 and 900
numbers, and now their own escort services. So, is it a group to be
reckoned with? Turns out that seventeen hours of observing a newsstand
in Manhattan proved that nearly all of the men who purchased one of our
magazines were — you guessed it — Bears.
Chuck Edwards, Editor-in-Chief
