BearIt Origins

Back in 2019, I had to go back to Colombia because my visa had run out. I was out in the US for 3 years now, but now I had to go back to my hometown and back into hiding. It wasn’t long until I craved the attention of my fellow queers, which I wasn’t getting alone in my childhood home. Horny and desperate for connection, I started taking nudes of myself daily and posting them to instagram. Of course I liked the attention that came with it, but as I posted more and more I started to talk with amazing people who encouraged me to keep going. This small community that I was building showed me that what I was craving wasn’t people's attention but to be seen again as an open queer person, ready to make a connection with people willing to be open with me. For the first time in my life, my nudity and my horniness weren’t something I should hide, but instead, it was a tool for connection and a place I can relate to with the most amazing humans I would have not met in any other way.

I took daily nudes for almost a year, growing my community by the day. I had photo challenges, where I would encourage folks to get creative with their nudes and share them with the world. I learned how to photograph myself and see myself as a subject of art instead of getting stuck at the “do I look good?” threshold. During these days I chatted with several guys who were even newer to finding their love for their sexuality and their looks, and that's where my Big Bro persona was born. I could see that, even when my journey seemed so new to me, it was ages ahead to other people’s and I could provide a safe space for them to go on their own journey.

Later that year, I had to focus on applying to schools and my visa, so the showoff side of me took a back seat. I was able to move back to the US and move in with my now husband and start my masters degree. Personally everything was running smoothly but I missed the people I had met through my thot days. Then 2020 came and I saw a community of people wanting to connect but having no place to do so, so I started my Zoom Bate Parties. Every month, I would create a zoom session with a fellow bator and we would show off and connect with bros all around the world. From the beginning access was incredibly important to me, so I didn’t charge anyone an entry fee, no one had to show themselves if they didn’t want to. All you had to do was join in and have fun, you were encouraged to show off of course. These parties led me to connect with people all around the US who didn’t have a queer space in their town, and now they had a safe space to be from their own room. Moreover, people from Asia and Africa and many other places where being queer isn’t safe, now have a space to see queer people live out loud. They wouldn’t show their face but they would finish every session telling me how much it meant to have this room.

My favorite part of the parties was the end where we would all finish our edge and just cum together. The moaning was so loud, the screens got sweaty, and every single frame had a smiling bator with a greasy dong. As the year progressed, the parties became further apart, and the tips got lower, so I decided to stop and reevaluate what I could do with everything I had learned. Performing was a lot for me, but I knew I had a lot to say still. I knew I have a talent for creating safe spaces where people can be vulnerable and open, so it was time to make that on a bigger scale. I talked to a bator bro of mine about making a small zine as an art project, and he asked “why not make it a full magazine?”. That question is all it took to get the ball rolling and get us on the journey to making Issue 1.

Bearit Issue 1. Model: Moopup

When building BearIt, I knew I had the responsibility to create the same safe spaces I had created before. A place where people who didn’t feel seen before could see themselves celebrated. A place where the topics they have shied away from talking about are discussed with nuance and excitement. A place where nude is art but first is PORN, and how amazing it is that we get to enjoy porn and the art in it. A place that can see the beauty in a body beyond the white cis abs. It is that big of a deal, it does mean that much. To me and to a whole community of people who get to see the magazine every month. BearIt is a place to be your full self and know that horny you isn’t something to hide but a wonderful side of you that, when you allow it to permeate your existence, leads to such happiness, even beyond the cumshot.

I now invite you to be a part of BearIt with me, with us. To celebrate all the things we were told to hide. To celebrate the beauty in all of us. To connect with our community and make it a safe space to be your full self.

Hugs & tugs,

Andrés Bearly