History Main / TheBear

* The Spanish film ''Cachorro'' (Bear Cub in English) is about a gay bear who has to take care of his 9-year-old nephew as a favor for his sister.
* Pretty much the whole point to the film ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1426320/ Bear City]]''.
* Another Spanish film ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0856776/ Chuecatown]]'' (''Boystown'' in English) features two bears as protagonists. Arguably, they overlap with [[BigBeautifulMan Big Beautiful Men]].

* Redfern Jon Barrett's 'ambitopian' novel ''Literature/ProudPinkSky'' is set in the world's first gay state – and features Paw, a district just for bears.

[[folder:Live-Action Television]]

* In one episode of ''Series/ThirtyRock'', Jack decides to seduce his wife's gay interior designer so he can get his way on their home's wallpaper. He explains to Liz:
-->"Do you know what a prize I am in the gay community? There's a term for it. I'm a bear. And I'm a daddy. I'm a [[Literature/{{Goldilocks}} daddy bear]]."
** Also brought up in another episode when Jack, desperate to sabotage the CEO's heir to claim the role for himself, is told a rumor:
--->"Hank's son is gay? How gay, on a scale from [[ManlyMenCanHunt bear hunting]] to [[AllGaysArePromiscuous hunting bears]]?"
* The gay couple in the neighboring cabin in the ''Series/TwoBrokeGirls'' episode "And the Bear Problem."
** Big Mary from Max's pastry school combines bear looks with a very campy way of speaking.
* Referenced in ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' Artie (hairy, rotund, and middle-aged) was about to admit that he loved someone (a girl) when he figured out which artifact was causing this week's trouble. He uses the Jewish name, which sounds like a man's name. The (older) man with him responds. "I didn't know you were homosexual. Are you what they call a Bear?"
* In the eighth season of ''Series/WillAndGrace'', Karen's boyfriend Malcolm (also played by Alec Baldwin) says of the charity carnival Will's organizing, "I can't go to the carnival without a woman. The gays would be all over a bear like me."

* Lampshaded on ''Series/TheMuppets2015'', when Fozzie Bear talks about his dating life:
-->"When your online profile says 'Passionate bear searching for love,' you get a lot of wrong responses. [{{beat}}] Well...[[NotThatTheresAnythingWrongWithThat not]] ''wrong'', just wrong for me."

* On ''Series/BritainsGotTalent'', one of the acts that came on was "The Dreambears" - three husky gents in Union Jack-pattern spandex dancing while lip-synching to "It's Raining Men"

* ''Music/TheBigDipper''. He describes his genre as 'gay bear rap'
* A FilkSong from Seattle-based filker Commander Claus (a gay man himself), changed the kid's song "My Uncle Walter Goes Dancing with Bears" to "My Uncle Walter Goes ''Dating'' the Bears," and is told from the point of view of an embarrassed nephew who is fine with his uncle's coming out, but boggled by sights like ''"There's ten in the hot tub, giving each other backrubs."''
* Check out Music/LouReed's references to bears, in the song ''Andy's Chest''. The album ''{{Transformer}}'' got a ''lot'' of crap past the Music/{{Radar}} and onto radio stations, who simply didn't get the references.

* Creator/GabrielIglesias was rather surprised to find that he has a following in the gay community, some of whom find him attractive, though not so much because he is hairy but because he is [[BigBeautifulMan "Fluffy"]].

* Jūichi in ''VisualNovel/{{Morenatsu}}'' is simultaneously TheBear, [[BeastMan the bear]], a {{Bara}} role, and a ''high school student''. He looks more like a 30something [[YoungerThanTheyLook than someone who's supposed to be 18]].

* The main character of ''VideoGame/AllWallsMustFall'' is the time-travelling STASIS agent Kai, a burly man with a rough beard and bald head. On missions, he navigates through various Berlin gay clubs, potentially [[HoneyTrap seducing the all-male security]]. Some dialogue draws attention to his bear status.
* Gregg's boyfriend Angus from ''VideoGame/NightInTheWoods'' is an anthropomorphic bear.
* ''VideoGame/Psychonauts2'' brings us Helmut Fullbear, a large man with a very prominent moustache and a long mane of hair in keeping with a Viking aesthetic, who was not only part of the team of psychics who founded the Psychonauts, but was [[spoiler:[[NotQuiteDead and still is]]]] story-relevantly the husband to another of the team’s male members.

* Josh from ''Webcomic/HijinksEnsue'' is a self-identified bear, of the bald + pudgy variety.
* Creator/CaptainGerBear's ''Webcomic/{{Grant}}'' comic features many bearish men, including the titular character. And as the artist's moniker hints at, bears are his favorite subjects to draw.
* Skoll from ''Webcomic/ChasingIce'' falls into the muscle-bear category.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* WebVideo/WhereTheBearsAre is about 3 bears (and the whole bear community by extension).
* The ''Literature/{{Legatum}}'' series has several openly gay characters in it, some of whom--especially the homosexual orcs from ''Literature/TheRoadToHell''--are noted for being bulky, hairy, chunky individuals.
* Paul from WebAnimation/EddsWorld is accepted as this in the fanbase.

* ''Literature/GoldTongues'' has a hairy, burly biker who's revealed to also be homosexual. He's aptly nicknamed "Bear" in regard to this trope.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where Homer befriends a gay couple, he is [[MistakenForGay mistaken as a bear]] while out in Springfield's [[{{Gayborhood}} gay district]]. Secondary character Grizzly Shawn also fits this description.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow'', while Cleveland and the rest of the gang ventured around New York City, Tim entered a bar he thought was for literal bears. Turns out it was for Bears.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/BobsBurgers'' episode "Turkey in a Can", Bob is MistakenForGay by the deli counter clerk, who tries to hook him up with a friend of his who's into "sloppy bears", i.e., Bears who are both overweight and not overly concerned with their hygiene. However, given that Bob replies that he's [[AmbiguouslyBi mostly straight]], that might not be so much of a mistake.
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/BoJackHorseman''. BitCharacter Jose Guererro is a homosexual and is literally a bear, but he isn't depicted any more testosterone-fueled or muscular than [[{{Polyamory}} any of his lovers]].
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Centaurworld}}'': Splendib is a bulky, heavily-bearded, CampGay tigertaur, who butts heads with (and later [[spoiler:dates]]) the equally-flamboyant Zulius.

Not to be confused with ''Film/TheBear'', or ''Series/{{The Bear|2022}}'', or the Belgian Malinois TeamPet from ''Series/PersonOfInterest''.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' where Homer befriends a gay couple, he is [[MistakenForGay mistaken as a bear]] while out in Springfield's [[{{Gayborhood}} gay district]].

* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate3'': Halsin is an [[TheBigGuy unusually large]] and hairy Wood Elf Druid who is [[EthicalSlut open about being attracted to both men and women]]. He can also a [[{{Animorphism}} Circle of the Moon Druid]] whose preferred Wild Shape is [[{{Pun}} a bear]].

In gay slang, a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_%28gay_culture%29 "bear"]] is a ManlyGay man with a CarpetOfVirility--and not always just on their chests. Very often bears are also [[BigBeautifulMan voluptuously heavy set]] and at least middle-aged, but these are not definitive requirements. Thin bears are often known as "otters", semi-hairy bears are "wolves", younger bears are "cubs" or "pups", Asian bears are "pandas", and especially muscular bears are often called "muscle bears" or "bulls". A "husbear" is a term some men use for their bearish boyfriends or husbands.