Gen-X Bears Boston
Title
Gen-X Bears Boston
Description
I used to lead a gay social group called Gen-X Bears Boston. It was a social group for bears 18+ and their allies. Their goal was to establish a bear community separate from the bars, to promote a healthy social environment.
Gen-X bears originally started in Washington DC in 1995 by founder Randy Stern: Gen-X D.C. Bears: A Community Profile, Metro Weekly, 20 July 2005.
From there other chapters opened in cities like Boston, State College PA, Indianapolis, New York City, and other cities that I can’t recall at the moment. I do believe there was a Toronto chapter as well. Boston’s chapter started in 1998. I was one of the original members; the group was by Terry Jamro. I took over for him a few years later. The group was 18+, so we didn’t do bar events. We mainly did dinners, movie nights and outings to places like the Harbor Islands, Provincetown in November, or Yankee Candle Factory near Springfield. We marched in the Boston Gay Pride parade every year, flying our local chapter flag.
Gen-X bears originally started in Washington DC in 1995 by founder Randy Stern: Gen-X D.C. Bears: A Community Profile, Metro Weekly, 20 July 2005.
From there other chapters opened in cities like Boston, State College PA, Indianapolis, New York City, and other cities that I can’t recall at the moment. I do believe there was a Toronto chapter as well. Boston’s chapter started in 1998. I was one of the original members; the group was by Terry Jamro. I took over for him a few years later. The group was 18+, so we didn’t do bar events. We mainly did dinners, movie nights and outings to places like the Harbor Islands, Provincetown in November, or Yankee Candle Factory near Springfield. We marched in the Boston Gay Pride parade every year, flying our local chapter flag.
We were active until around 2005. At that point, more people were using the internet to meet up. A lot of members wound up meeting their best friends, boyfriends and future husbands from this group, so the demand wasn’t there anymore.
I’m proud of what we did in that short window of time. They were the best group of people.
Creator
Michael Poirier
Contributor
Michael Poirier
Rights
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Is Part Of
#QueerArchivesAtHome, http://www.historyproject.org/project/QAAH
Collection
Citation
Michael Poirier, “Gen-X Bears Boston,” Documented | Digital Collections of The History Project, accessed April 28, 2024, https://historyproject.omeka.net/items/show/850.
Comments