User:TechBear/International Bear Rendezvous

The International Bear Rendezvous (IBR) was an annual gathering of people who identify with the bear subculture within LGBT communities. It is held in San Francisco on Presidents Day weekend. The events span several days prior to the weekend with many social events emphasizing charity fundraising. One of the oldest bear groups, the Bears of San Francisco (BOSF), host the activities and the principal event is the "Mr. International Bear" title competitions in several categories. The last event took place in February, 2011.

International Bear Rendezvous XV was held February 12 through 16, 2009.

Charitable fund raising
Charitable fundraising has been an important aspect of IBR from its beginning. Money is raised by selling raffle tickets, auctioning items donated by businesses and artists and soliciting donations from attendees. This money is then divided equally between several beneficiaries, which are typically a local, a national and an international non-profit organization with ties to the LGBT communities. Past beneficiaries have included Lambda Legal (1995), Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (1996, 2007), the National Center for Lesbian Rights (2003) and Scouting For All (2004). Since 1995, IBR has raised over $320,000 for its beneficiaries.

The beneficiaries for IBR XV were the Positive Resource Center, the Transgender Law Center and the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission.

Title Competition
One of the highlights of IBR is the Mr. International Bear title competition, where up to 16 contestants vie for four titles: Mr. International Bear, Mr. International Daddy Bear, Mr. International Cub and Mr. International Grizzly.

Contestants are selected from a random drawing of applicants. Up to 12 contestants will be United States residents, with the rest coming from other countries. After the contestants are decided, five judges are selected from a separate application. One judge is selected from each of the four US time zones or its counterpart in Canada or Mexico; the fifth is selected from outside North America.

Contestants are judged in three main events: the selling of raffle tickets on Friday night and Saturday afternoon, interviews with the judges Sunday morning and afternoon, and the title competition itself on Sunday night. Based on how well they do during these events, contestants get up to 100 points from the judges. At the end of the competition, the contestant with the most points is awarded with the title of Mr. International Bear. The remaining contestants are divided into three groups, based on how well they represent the cub, daddy bear and grizzly archetypes; the judges then award the remaining titles to one person in each group who has both a high score (but not necessarily the highest) and who best represents the physical archetype of that group.

The titleholders for 2009 were:


 * Mr. International Bear: John David Elam, Lexington, Kentucky, U.S.A.
 * Mr. International Daddy Bear: Joe Mannetti, Toluca Lake, California, U.S.A.
 * Mr. International Cub: Jose Ignacio Zurbano, Sevilla, Spain
 * Mr. International Grizzly: Barry Welch, Madera, California, U.S.A.

The titleholders for 2011, the final year of IBR, were :


 * Mr. International Bear: Paul Hensley, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
 * Mr. International Daddy Bear: Craig Gunderson, Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
 * Mr. International Cub: Erik Green, Santa Cruz, California, U.S.A.
 * Mr. International Grizzly: Curtis Stanton, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

Bear Hug
The roots of IBR go back to June 1987, when several men in San Francisco organized the first Bear Hug, a semi-regular, invitation-only safe sex party that rotated between the organizers' homes. The concept was to provide a safe place for gay men to socialize and to meet up for sex.

By 1989 the invitation list had grown too large for a private residence, so the Bear Hugs were moved to a rented commercial space. They continued to be held infrequently.

Bear Expo
By 1991, the Bear Hug invitation list had grown to several hundred men and included many from outside the San Francisco Bay Area, including people from Canada, Europe and Australia. Several organizers conceived of holding a special Bear Hug specifically for "out of towners."