 Jack Radcliffe on the cover ofBear Magazine (Issue No. 65, September 2008.) | |
| Editor-in-chief | Steven Wolfe |
|---|---|
| Categories | Men's magazines |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| Circulation | 30,000 (2010)[citation needed] |
| Publisher | Bear Omnimedia LLC |
| Founded | 1987 |
| Country | United States |
| Based in | Las Vegas, NV,United States |
| Language | English |
| ISSN | 1049-6521 |
BEAR Magazine is aperiodical geared towardgay andbisexual men who are or admire "bears", stocky or heavyset men with facial and/or body hair. It was initially published inSan Francisco, California, in 1987 byRichard Bulger and his partnerChris Nelson and marketed to the bear community within the largerLGBT community.[1]
 | This sectionneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.(January 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In San Francisco, in 1987, Richard Bulger began a self-copied magazine calledBEAR, dedicated to the appreciation of bears. Bulger had been running a modeling agency called Creative Options Associates (COA) with his photographer partner Chris Nelson. With his connection to gay biker culture and proximity to the Lone Star Saloon (a gay bar credited with the inception of the San Francisco Bear Community), Bulger sought to partake in the growing success ofzine desktop underground publication taking hold in San Francisco. It's often thought thatBEAR Magazine was begun by a man named Bart Thomas, who died of AIDS before the magazine's first publication. However, "Bart Thomas" was a pseudonym Bulger chose for himself ("bart" being the German word for "beard") in the earliest days of the project. A friend of Bulger named David Grant was reported to have suggested the name "Daddy Bear" for this new magazine just before his death from complications from AIDS.
The first copy ofBEAR Magazine consisted of 45xeroxed copies, promoted inThe Big Ad andHandjob Quarterly (two established, popular zines at the time).
Originally created as an alternative to the abundance of shaven men represented in gay mainstream media,BEAR gradually expanded to become an internationally distributedglossy magazine, which featurederotic photographs of bears and erotic stories. There was also a classifiedpersonals section which, before the emergence of the internet, was one of the few ways for men to find compatible romantic and sexual partners, and tonetwork with men with common interests.
The first formal company office was in an iconic converted SFFD firehouse at the corner of 16th and Albion Streets in San Francisco, where the gang showers, commercial kitchen, hose tower, and rooftop were often used in photo shoots. Bulger maintained his bedroom in a landing inside the 4-story hose tower. A retail shop distributed their various publications, videos, clothing and lifestyle products to walk-in visitors. In 1994, Brush Creek Media (Bulger's company, named for the town ofBrush Creek inButte County, California where he maintained a summer cabin) moved its office and Bear Store to 367 9th Street in theSouth of Market district, which is the center of San Francisco's gayleather district and around the corner fromRick Redewill's Lone Star Saloon.
The close proximity of Brush Creek Media to the Lone Star Saloon resulted in a synergistic relationship. With the Bear Store and nearby bars, shops and hotels catering to those who identified as bears, the Lone Star Saloon eventually became considered the quintessential bear bar, further fueling the bear movement. This formed a circuit for locals, tourists and visitors to events such as theInternational Bear Rendezvous andFolsom Street Fair. In 1994, Beardog Hoffman purchased Brush Creek Media Inc. and began expanding the company into several special-interest gay magazines and video series.
In 2002, Brush Creek Media closed its doors when theIRS seized itsinventory.[2]BEAR Magazine publication ceased after issue #64.
In 2006, the BEAR trademark wasjudicially assigned and registered to Butch Media Ltd ofLas Vegas, Nevada, acreditor of Brush Creek Media. In 2007, the court assignedBEAR Magazine and all the Brush Creek Mediacopyrights to Butch Media Ltd.[3] Bear Omnimedia LLC, the parent company of Butch Media Ltd, continuedBEAR Magazine in 2008, starting with issue #65. Under the new direction of publisher and editor-in-chief Steven Wolfe and photographer Teddy Mark, the format was updated in 2010 to better reflect bear movement and LGBT community, covering broader aspects of masculinity.BEAR Magazine continues to be published in both print and digital formats.