The San Francisco Bay Area is home to one of largest communities of bears in the western world. In this context, the word bear refers not to large four-legged creatures of the woods, but to large gay men with big beards.

Despite the number of gay bears in this region, the Black bear remains a rare occurrence. So, when I saw these two gentleman at Books Inc. in the Castro, I knew I had to record the moment for posterity.

Ajuan Mance