“Historian and founding figure of the bear community”
Peter Hennen, Fairies, Bears, and Leathermen: Men in Community Queering the Masculine.
“An important gay writer” Amy B. Raff, Director, Provincetown Public Library
“I was a student of yours in the 1990s. You had a profound impact on me. You were the first openly gay man I had met, and you taught me so much about so much. Never doubt you had positive impacts on your students!”
“Your Auntie Mame will open doors for you, doors you never even imaged existed!”
Les K. Wright was once rejected on a first date for being “too multifaceted.” He is a queer historian, writer, fine arts photographer, gay activist, AIDS activist, literary scholar and small press book publisher. He has been a scholar-activist since the 1970s. He received his PhD from UC Berkeley and is a retired professor of English and German. He has authored and edited several books, notably The Bear Book, which is a seminal text of queer history. His current bear history work is a full-time job. In other works he has been documenting the history of gay San Francisco and long-term AIDS survivors. He is a founding member of the GLBT Historical Society San Francisco, founder of the Bear History Project (1995-2005) , and founder of the Bear History Project International (incorporated 2023). Since moving to Syracuse NY in 2023, he has become involved in numerous local queer organizations and participates in gay men’s spiritual communities – the Billy Community and Bear Your Soul at Easton Mountain Retreat Center. This is his second time serving on the SAGE Upstate board.
Les K. Wright 