Author: Les K. Wright

Les K. Wright is a queer historian, writer, photographer, literary scholar and book publisher. He has been a scholar-activist since the 1970s. He received his MA from the University of Tübingen and his PhD from UC Berkeley. He is a founding member of the GLBT Historical Society San Francisco, founder of the Bear History Project, and founder and president of the Bear History Project International. He is editor of The Bear Book and The Bear Book II, author of Resilience: A Polemical Memoir of AIDS, Bears, and F•cking, and a collection of his photographs have been published in Salt City and Its Environs. His writing has appeared in The Gay and Lesbian Review, The Good Men Project, VoiceMale, Drummer, RFD, Bay Area Reporter, Culture Vulture, White Crane Review, and elsewhere. His bimonthly column"Bear Tracks" has been appearing in Bear World Magazine since 2023. He lives in Syracuse, NY and has found his gay spiritual home in the Billys and Easton Mountain.

I Wanted to Live Like a White Person

Notes on Being Old, Poor, and Gay Les K. Wright When I was one of the disaffected youth of the 1960s Bob Dylan spoke directly to me through his music.  Fifty years later “Like a Rolling Stone” still speaks to me personally. When I was young the tone of righteous anger resonated for our generation. Wasn’t … Continue reading I Wanted to Live Like a White Person →

“The Most Terrible Loneliness” Notes on the Historical “Spoiled” Identity of Gay Men

“We’re creatures of the underworld. We can’t afford to love.” -- Harold Zidler (Moulin Rouge) “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” --Oscar Wilde used to teach a literature course to college juniors I called “Foucault for Beginners and Others.” In keeping with academic jargon popular at the time, I described it as readings in … Continue reading “The Most Terrible Loneliness” Notes on the Historical “Spoiled” Identity of Gay Men →

43 YEARS OF “SURVIVING AND THRIVING” WITH HIV/AIDS

WORLD AID DAY 2024 LES K WRIGHT Today I observe my 43 years of living with HIV/AIDS.  I was 28 when I was infected. I am now 71. To say I have been “surviving and thriving” is a facile sound byte that doesn’t hint at what that actually means. I am a member of the ‘forgotten … Continue reading 43 YEARS OF “SURVIVING AND THRIVING” WITH HIV/AIDS →

R.I.P. PHILIP ZIMBARDO

I received the sad news this morning that fellow Billy Philip Zimbardo has passed away. https://www.thebillys.org/memorials/philip-zimbardo/ Philip George Zimbardo (March 23, 1933 – October 14, 2024) was an American psychologist and a professor at Stanford University.[1] He became known for his 1971 Stanford prison experiment, which was later criticized severely for both ethical and scientific … Continue reading R.I.P. PHILIP ZIMBARDO →

REHOBOTH BEACH BEAR WEEKEND 2024

Adding a Very Personal Page to Bear History Les K. Wright In a recent article Bear World Magazine named Rehoboth Beach (DE) as one of “6 small bear-friendly cites” in the US. The other five they named are Provincetown (MA), Guerneville (CA), Asbury Park (NJ), Asheville (NC), and New Hope (PA). No doubt there are several other … Continue reading REHOBOTH BEACH BEAR WEEKEND 2024 →

THE SOUL BENEATH THE SKIN: BEAR YOUR SOUL RETREAT SUMMER 2024THE SOUL BENEATH THE SKIN:

“Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!” Mame Dennis, Auntie Mame                                              Eleven years ago Freddy Freeman (Goldenheart) put his vision of community—deep, loving, spiritual community—into practice with the first Bear Your Soul retreat at Easton Mountain. I attended it and was filled with joy, finding myself in deep community, a … Continue reading THE SOUL BENEATH THE SKIN: BEAR YOUR SOUL RETREAT SUMMER 2024THE SOUL BENEATH THE SKIN: →

I LIKE IT HERE

I LIKE IT HERE Les K. Wright Ralph Arlyck is a groundbreaking American independent  documentary filmmaker, who came to prominence when his film Sean received wide acclaim in US and Europe for its frank portrayal of 1960s counterculture. Following Sean (which I reviewed for Culture Vulture in 2004) received similar praise at international film festivals. His latest film, I Like It Here, was … Continue reading I LIKE IT HERE →

What is the Butttfuck Dictatorship?

Have you heard of Bill Weintraub or the “Buttfuck Dictatorship”? I only heard of him, his writings, and his political cause yesterday from someone I know here in Syracuse, who was responding to a 2022 article published in The Guardian, which I had reposted from someone else on Facebook. The article was prompted by Grindr’s move … Continue reading What is the Butttfuck Dictatorship? →

BEAR TRACKS: THEORETICAL BEARS

https://bearworldmag.com/bear-tracks-theoretical-bears/ BEAR TRACKS 12 THEORETICAL BEARS Les K. Wright Gay liberation and, later, queer nationalism, took as its radical starting point our agency as gay men and lesbians to reject society’s moral, legal, and psychiatric condemnation of us as “sick” and “dangerous threats” to the moral order. We LGBT folks grow up into what sociologist … Continue reading BEAR TRACKS: THEORETICAL BEARS →

CHRISTMAS 2023 REMINISCENCES

Les K. Wright 1. What will you do to celebrate this holiday season? I will be celebrating this Christmas holiday season here in Syracuse, my new home. My plate is already full of social, volunteer, and cultural commitments. I mark the approach of the holiday season with buying Weihnachtsplätzchen (Christmas confections) when they turn up at Aldi’s, … Continue reading CHRISTMAS 2023 REMINISCENCES →