"Let me tell you a story. No, this is not a fairy tale, but a true story about some fat kid with body hair, facial hair, some organizational skills, a lot of vision and some nerve to create change inside of a subculture within gay male society. Some say that this is a tall tale. Others still live to tell how this subversive action has forever changed their lives."
- QBliss.net Cover Story August/September, 2003
That paragraph sums up the story about a guy and a movement. Perhaps the most unlikely of activists to ever start something that ended up making an impact on a part of gay male culture.
He wasn't polished in the ways of moving the masses. He never went to a college full of well-educated, multicultually-minded and subversive peers. He only had a professor who motivated him to become a change agent.
Yet, everything he understood about creating change came down to a post in the Bears Mailing List during the summer of 1995. For the next ten years, he has seen his work through a rollercoaster ride from a booming success to the high drama that almost destroyed his most important contribution to his people.
The work has survived a decade. And so has he. It's a small wonder how he survived that rollercoaster. Sometimes, he wonders why his work has lost its vitality or its relevance. Sometimes he wonders if he’s lost his ability to become a hub for people to gather. Yet, he feels truly blessed that his work is still recognized and remembered by many segments of our community and beyond.
Incidentally, that person is me. And, I thank you for all for being a part of this history and allowing me the space to reminisce about this wonderful chapter of my life.
Happy 10th Anniversary, Gen-X Bears!
Quote and Link © 2003 QBliss.net/R. Olivera Jr.
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