The first tour of “Bears On The Run” is over. Along the way we gained a bunch of new friend and we all lost some weight, because there is always time for family but not always time to eat. I have never hugged so many sweet guys in so short a time! It was GREAT!

A lot happened in the space of 19 days. We started out on Oct. 17th as friends and by the 19th we were a family. I watched and listened as our performances grew in both depth and quality. It was easy to see that Bobaloo, Elijah and Kendall had been performing regularly and where right on the money from the first show. Shannon had told me that he was concerned that he might not be at his best because he had spent so much time working on the tour he had not been able to do too many gigs. I was overwhelmed by what I heard that first night in Dallas. No worries Shannon you were incredible!! But for all of that it was nothing compared to what would happen over the next 16 days. All of you who sing, play an interment, recite poetry, act in plays or do comedy know that there are “safe (easy)” ways of doing your performances but if you want more you have to take a riskier approach to what you do on stage. If you take the risk, reach for the harder note, play closer to the edge, reveal more of yourself, your performance can go from good to great and that is exactly what I was privileged to see. Kendall, Elijah, Shannon, Bob & Josh I cannot express how proud I am of all of you.  Your risks helped me to start taking my music and my performances more seriously than I ever have in my life. Kendall, I think you took the greatest risk of all of us. I’m sure your brothers know what I mean. Rock Cub thank you for taking a chance on us. We all understand the issues you face. Maybe what we do here today will make it easier for you and others in the near future. As far as I’m concerned you are part of the family.

I have lived in 9 states over my life and visited all except Hawaii. Our community is pretty much the same all over. It may vary in how “out” and how “active” it is but we are a lot alike across America and because of this America has much the same view of us. The stereotypes of gay men are based on the most visible portion of our community. I know that as bears we have a tendency to look with less than favor on the more outrageous members of our community. Like twinks, I have poked fun at them myself “Twinks! 2 are a snack 5 are a meal” or Drag Queens. Dressing up and acting out in gay clubs everywhere. But in truth they are a lot braver then I have been about letting the world know that I’m gay. They put themselves out there in a time when they were at far greater risk of being fired, beaten, arrested or murdered. And the Drag Queens!! Well like it or not they are out there every night putting on shows and I know it’s hard work for very little money. I think it’s time we stand “UP” and stand “OUT”. “Bears On The Run” is my way of doing that. I think Bears make the straight world very nervous. They can’t point to us and show their kids how different we are. It’s easy for us to be invisible and “Pass” as straight but it is certainly not honest and it robs others from having an example to follow.

The two words I dislike the most in the gay lexicon are “Straight Acting”. We are not straight acting. It’s just that we don’t fit America’s idea of how gay men should act. My partner Dean will tell you that when we are out in public I never let a snide or hurtful comment about gays go unchallenged. In cases where a person laughs at someone who flames or is Trans I let them know that I’m gay and that I do not like other gay men being made fun of for their entertainment. If it’s at a business I make them call their manager and before I leave I tell them “next time just shut the fuck up”. It’s time to pop the bubble. It’s time America found out gay men come in all shapes and sizes and you can’t always tell who’s straight and who’s not. It’s time to be OUT. After all have you ever heard of a gay bashing at a bear bar?

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