This was the breakthrough year for bears—didn't you know? I didn't either, but the fine editors of this here queer issue came up a little short on queer events in 2005, even though it is the year that Michael Jackson showed up in court in pajamas. Just before this issue went to press, I was told to write something about bears in 2005, and when I asked what bears had to do with 2005, Dan Savage said, "Just arbitrarily call it their 'breakthrough year.'"

What you notice in that quote is disinterest. Disdain, really. Savage disses bears because he is attracted to men who look more or less like Cate Blanchett. I have seen him once inside the Eagle, but he was playing Monster Madness and texting his boyfriend (who looks like Cate Blanchett) the whole time. The year was roughly 2005. Meanwhile, all around him were bike messengers and skaters and—yes—a bunch of bears (in the wild, the appropriate term for such a group is a "sloth," and at the Eagle it sometimes is as well). But the point is they were all mixing together. A menagerie. Maybe they were mixing together more than they ever have before; certainly these days there are more bike messengers and skaters and other young guys going to the bear-ish Eagle than ever before. Maybe 2005 was some kind of breakthrough.

Okay, that's bullshit. Here are some facts. A remake of The Bad News Bears starring Billy Bob Thornton came out in 2005. On March 19, 2005, the Oregon Zoo held their annual Bear Fair. Famous people who died in 2005 include Pope John Paul II (total bear), William Rehnquist (bear in a robe), and Peter Jennings (more of a daddy).