Gay Animal Kingdom: Bears, Otters, Pups, Bulls, Chickens, Oh My!

Gay slang originated out of necessity. Gay men wanted to be able to speak in public without revealing their sexuality, especially in places and times of extreme LGBTQ+ persecution. Thus, gay lexicon was born. Over the years, gay slang has evolved, and it’s sometimes tough to keep up. 

For those who are still in the dark as to what all those labels for various types of gay males actually signify, we have our list of the animal kingdom. This is of course a growing list and happy to add more to our ark - two by two...or more.

Bears

Bears are chubby, hairy, and masculine gay males. They have a love for beer and flannel shirts which is often associated with the bear community. While this is a superficial definition of what it means to be a bear, there is much more to it if you dig deeper into the culture.

Bull

Hunky, muscular bodybuilders who weigh 200+ pounds. These men are big, strong and have muscles you didn’t even know existed. 

Chicken

A twink is the polar opposite of a bear. Skinny and hairless and often a little more on the feminine side. Chicken is a word used to describe a young twink and twunk is a more muscular twink.

Chicken Hawk

The term "chicken hawk" is a two-word phrase. It refers to an older man who is sexually or romantically attracted to much younger men or boys and is often used as a derogatory term by the LGBTQ+ community.

Cubs

Cubs represent a younger version of the bears found in the gay community. They typically exhibit some of the same qualities as their older counterparts but are usually not quite as big or as hairy yet.

Giraffe

An incredibly tall gay man.  

Gym Rat

The gay man who spends every waking minute at the gym, talking about how he needs to go to the gym, or how he’s coming from the gym.

Otters

Otters are slim and less hairy than their bear-ish counterparts, preferring to admire bears from afar instead of actively participating in their culture. They usually have smaller builds and sleeker features than bears do, but still retain admiration for them and may even participate in bear runs with them occasionally.

Pig

As you might imagine, pigs are more focused on sex than anything else, often into kinkier and somewhat seedier sexual practices.

Pups

Puppy play enthusiasts are part of a larger community interested in bondage, dominance, sadism and masochism, collectively known as B.D.S.M. Participants primarily consider it a form of sexual role play, because they get to act like puppies — friendly, frisky, often nonverbal — and gain pleasure from doing so.

Unicorn

Urban Dictionary has the best definition, “A bisexual person, usually though not always female, who is willing to join an existing couple, often with the presumption that this person will date and become sexually involved with both members of that couple, and not demand anything or do anything that might cause problems or inconvenience to that couple.” They're called unicorns, because bisexuals like these don't (or rarely) exist.

Wolves

Wolves possess qualities similar to those of bears, but they take it one step further by being more aggressive and overtly masculine in nature. While wolves embrace many of the same activities that bears do, they don’t necessarily identify with the same politics or ideologies that often accompany the bear community