My bear411 Story

[weebax]

When the Nazis came for me by 
 Pastor Martin Niemöller

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I didn’t

Comments

[kcfireplug]

I wouldn't have wasted one minute of my life writing this.

Don't give them anymore of yourself. They don't deserve it.

On the contray

[weebax]

We need to write and talk and DEBATE this for this very reason!!

I love bears but not the cult of the "A" list Bears! These beliefs need to be called out!!

Re: On the contray

[kcfireplug]

You're talking about intellectual cannibalism and for what? So you can assert yourself into a hiarchy of use and refuse, all at the hands of those who have the funds and time to use the website as their personal black book? Because that's all it is

Re: On the contray

[weebax]

It's not about ego. You are right I can simply walk away from it, for already his fiedom is starting to collapse. Already a number of people I spoke to in Montreal has backed away from the webmaster himself. He is surrounded by his own posse of people powered by his ego. He runs Sugarbear Weekend and appartently attendence was down from the past previous years, because people are not happy with bear411.

At the sametime I don't believe in remaining silent. How many people out there feel the same way I do but don't sya anything about it. So I'm going to tak about it because it's important that the message gets out there! It will at lease create some form of debate on this issue!

[pensivegargoyle]

I'm a hairy social democrat so BuddyBear isn't coming for me - unless one day I should shave a bit too much. I just wish there were a practical alternative to 411. Sadly, nobody can match that user base just yet.

Sure, there are guys that you don't talk to just because they're so hot you wouldn't be coherent (I pondered that one last night after seeing one, saying hello and escaping before I drooled all over myself.) but they aren't necessarily the A-listers. Those are the ones that have their little cliques and don't dare let anyone else in if they don't measure up. As in life, so it is on the net. Their loss in the end.

[mrpandabehr]

Great entry Don. I love it. Very well said.

You have said exactly what I've felt about the bear community after I got rejected on Bear411. I was new to the bear community at the time and heard how accepting it was, but then got rejected. This mixed message confused me. Not seeing many chasers on Bear411 also made me feel inadequate in the bear... Read More community (like I need to gain weight, bulk up, or grow hair [very hard to do, even with lots of grunting]). After getting to know bears at Bear Events I learned that the community is accepting, but I was still out of the loop. I couldn't communicate with anyone since most bears had a profile on there only. Having such a closed loop system really makes me wondering about how many hots guys one is missing out on or how many friends aren't able to communicate with me.

Thanks for writing this.

[bitterlawngnome]

Don, you're an ossome guy and your heart is in the right place. But please don't compare this to the Holocaust.

[weebax]

Bill

I understand where you are coming from. The reason why I choose this poem is to not make light of nor compare what happened to me to what happened to the millions of people who died during the holocaust that in itself would be asinine, and an insult. So please let's not go there.

The reason why I choose this poem is because it is a reminder to all of us, what happens when people choose to remain silent towards any form of discrimination. It is a reminder that all of us must stand forever vigliant against any form discrimination no matter how big nor small it is. PERIOD. Because we cannot fight it alone.

What Bear411 does, must be questioned because it attacks the very people that it claims it is supposed to serve. In the end, isolating people and segregating them into what they define as a Bear, flies in the face of what a Beardom is all about.

[dougoros]

I think you're wasting your breath Don.I know a few people who have been deleted with no explanation and I remember some people trying to organize a boycott a few years ago for the same reason.Greg just doesn't seem to care and it's his website. That's why I'll NEVER pay to be on it but until one of the others really takes off...it's the best way to stay in touch with some of my US friends.
You're right tho ..it is sort of anti what bear stands for....Greg's a dork not a bear.
And while I agree with bitterlawngnome about use of that writing to make your point...I wonder if this is something that could be brought to the attention of the Human Rights Board?It's a lot like a restaurant owner only choosing to serve blonde haired people or something.....

Human rights Board....it's possible....

[weebax]

It's possible it may be hard to prove cause I know he has minorities on his website (only his type) ; however, it is still in poor taste. We may also have to bring it up to the Quebec Human Rights Commission because that's where they are based out of.

Re: Human rights Board....it's possible....

[pensivegargoyle]

Either his type, or they happen to be the boyfriends of people who are his type, it seems.