If you care about our gay male community please read.
You probably have seen this flag around if you're active in online queer spaces.
I've seen many people, especially gen z on Tik Tok/Instagram call it a "furry pride flag" or even worse, a "beastiality/zoophilia flag"
Please, STOP.
This is the BEAR BROTHERHOOD FLAG.
This flag was created in 1992. It's older than me, and older than most of you on this app. It represents bears, an identity that belongs to gay men and their community, just like butch and femme belong to lesbians. However gay men identifiers usually describe a body type more than a way of presenting.
Bear describes a gay male who is usually chubby with a strong build and very hairy.
It has nothing to do with being attracted to animals.
Those are the two otter flags.
Otter is also a gay male term that describes a body type.
It has also nothing to do with being attracted to animals.
Please learn your history.
This post is important, but if I may add onto the learn your history part, butch and femme aren't exclusively lesbian terms. They are most often used by lesbians, yes, and bi women, but if you ask some older gay men about their identity they might bring up being butch or femme, and that's literally okay!
So like, I guess, don't go after old gay guys who only date "femmes" or dress "butch".
This goes for bear and otter and twink too! While these terms are associated with people who want/prefer a same gender relationship, they were always inclusive of bi+ people.
