Advocate NL 8/14/26

Happy Friday folks! Audience Editor Edgar Ramirez here, back in your inbox with an intriguing piece from Ariel Messman-Rucker.Larger, hairier gay men who felt excluded from mainstream gay culture and its obsession with smooth skin and a low body fat percentage formed their own community in the late 1970s and dubbed themselves “bears.”Larger, hairier gay men who felt excluded from mainstream gay culture and its obsession with smooth skin and a low body fat percentage formed their own community in the late 1970s and dubbed themselves “bears,” Ariel writes.In the decades since, the bear community has thrived. There are magazines, events, and cruises all dedicated to bears and those who love them. But as revolutionary new weight-loss drugs called GLP-1s, like Zepbound, Wegovy, Ozempic, and Mounjaro, grow in popularity, a question comes to mind: Are the bears alright?The answer, it turns out, is complicated, as Ariel gives us an excellent in-depth look.Speaking of answers: will the internet get some regarding Michael Alfonso's eyebrows?Thanks all, have a great weekend, we'll be back on Monday!After Berlin, WorldPride Amsterdam celebrates without looking awayJD Vance demands that the DOJ investigate hospitals caring for transgender patients'Alpha male' Andrew Tate's fanboys did sad push-ups. Now, the internet can't stop roasting themSchool board conspired with Moms for Liberty activists to destroy gay principal’s career, lawsuit saysText blast falsely claims gay Florida candidate is HIV positive: 'I knew exactly what they were trying to do'Beloved LGBTQ+ historian and Southern Decadence grand marshal Frank Perez diesSean Duffy’s MAGA son-in-law wants a seat in Congress. The internet wants answers about his eyebrowsGay reality TV star Tyler Duckworth dies at 44New Hampshire ex-congressional candidate says fellow Dem told her she 'stood no chance' because she's transGay bear culture survived body fascism. It can survive Ozempic