Burly gay men

I know from the boards that a bear is a gay guy who is larger, hairier, more dominant ??? Please adjust or clarify at will.

The situation is, generally at function I am a prude. I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about sexual things and generally speaking that is the atmosphere here. Of course people will expose their sexual orientation through comments about their husband/boyfriend/partner, etc., which is a part of appropriate small talk about family stuff, kids, etc. But anything beyond that starts feeling uncomfortable to me.

So there’s a guy at function who bought a new mug. This being VT/NH, I wasn’t surprised and thought it was cute. Then he tells me “it’s a gay thing” and I should be on the lookout for bear emblem items or a bearclaw sticker on vehicles.

This is what unsettled me. I don’t look after what sexual orientation people are (although I do demonstrate on it to be sure), but I don’t desire to hear about their specific predilections.

Hence the question; how much is implied in the term? In telling me he’s a bear, what is he telling me? I was trying to think of a straight equivalent; is it the s

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