The contest Mr. Bear Brazil has a winner: Julio Cesar Maia, known in bear circles as Brutus.
A resident of the Freguesia do Ó region, in São Paulo, the 44-year-old accountant and lawyer was awarded the ribbon last Saturday (14), in the competition held by the iconic bar Ursa Eagle.
Undeterred by fatphobia, he measures 1.79 m, weighs 117 kg, is a proud bear and has a long history with this world.
“I discovered bears in 1998 through an internet chat, but I dove headfirst into this world in 2007 or 2008. I was invited to participate in a contest and came first”, he says in an interview with The Cape.
“I became well known, people recognized me in the places I went and started inviting me to events.”
Brutus is one of the characters in the growing recognition of Brazilian bears in recent years, and defends in this environment that love and affection should go beyond labels based on physical types – “cub”, “chub”, “lontra” and “panda” are some of the “ categories” of the bear medium -, sexual orientation and gender.
Brutus' recognition went beyond Brazil – today he is an icon in European, Latin American countries and the United States. In fact, he lived in some of them, such as France and Argentina.
Brutus is a “family” guy, and is attached to his colleagues in the group. He even made friends with the contestants in the contest he won.
“I really want to bring to Brazil the bear culture that exists abroad, both for people outside the community and within”, he says about projects he has to make the Brazilian environment grow even more.
Good one, Brutus!
See some photos of him below.
