Bears | Inside First

This Bear Essentials & Mardi Gras season, the Harbour City Bears want you to ‘Go Bear, Not Bare’.

The Bears’ message is simple: roll on a condom and use water-based lube to protect yourself and your friends from sexually transmitted infections.

Also important is regular testing for STIs with the frequency of tests dependent on how often you have sex, the more you do it the more frequent the tests each year.

To spread this message, the Harbour City Bears have teamed up with ACON to launch the Go Bear Not Bare campaign. The campaign will feature posters and sex-pack wallet cards with referral information and eye-catching bear candy Mr HCB George with his hot mate Allan – look out for them.

Go Bear Not Bare will be officially launched at the Lord Roberts Hotel from 5pm on Sunday 22 January 22 – all are welcome.

The Harbour City Bears thank their community care partners: ACON, The Star Observer,The City of Sydney and South Eastern Sydney Local Health District for their support in producing this initiative.

via www.starobserver.com.au

VicBears will tackle body image issues in its first-ever theatrical production being staged as part of this year’s Midsumma festival.

Described as a story of sex, self-worth and body image, Man Boobs follows Spence (Phil Webster), a man who has spent the last 20 years struggling to cope with the burden of a painful memory, and Marty (Raymond Lee) a man who has developed feelings for Spence.

The show is the pilot production produced under VicBears’ ARTicle II Initiative, a project offering support and resources to artists to produce Bear-inclusive pieces.

“VicBears is always looking for new ways to engage with our community with the issues that matter to them – it only makes sense to provide a platform for their stories to be told,” VicBears arts coordinator and Man Boobs director Jack Chapman said.

“Whether it is trying to find comfort in your own skin, or loving someone who doesn’t love themselves, many people within our community will identify with the characters and the themes presented in the play.”

The production is supported by the Victorian AIDS Council/Gay Men’s Health Centre, with all profits from ticket sales donated to the Country Awareness Network Victoria.

INFO: Man Boobs will run January 19-21 at Kerynia Cafe (level 2. 354 Smith Street, Collingwood). Book online at vicbears.org.au/arts or www.midsumma.org.au

(www.starobserver.com.au)