Klubear - Mr. Bear Ireland 2019

When you arrive in a whole new country, you never know what tomorrow is, after all, life is a little circle that turns and shows the ability to like yourself and admit what you are.

Brazilian Kleber , who was born in the interior of the state of São Paulo (Brazil) took a long time to come out as gay (at 27 years old) and during this period he still knew what it was to be a bear that he discovered when he stepped into Dublin (Ireland) when a friend called to meet a local bear party.

It was a start of everything, making new friends (now Irish) came the invitation to participate in the Mr. Bear Ireland contest in 2019, he didn't think he would win, after all, he wasn't really the “favorite” and won the judges with its simplicity. Then he started to be called Klubear.

He is currently representing the country at the next Mr. Bear Europe which will be held in 2022 and is passing through some countries in the region to show the bear beauty of the Irish.

In this interview, Klubear talks a little about his youth, love for football, the surprise he had at the Mr. Bear Ireland event and much more, we hope you like it!

BMI – Klubear when was he interested in people of the same sex?

Klubear - I was 17 when I realized I was attracted as well for same sex as mine , but only when I was 27 I decided to find my way till then I related the felling Attraction for same sex to bad relationship with my father because Iam only attracted to mature man so now I know it’s nothing to do with my relationship with my father Iam attract with same sex and mature.

The taste for football started in your adolescence, what was the reason that led you to leave this sport?

I grew up in a family that was passionate about soccer so from a young age I was also very involved with soccer. I was just a little boy when I started playing and also cheering for the soccer team. My grandfather was my inspiration. He was a Corinthians fan so I'm also a Corinthians fan. I played at school and on adult teams in my town and also in São Paulo were I played on a gay football team. It was like that for many years until I got a serious knee injury and unfortunately I had to stop playing football but I still love cheering and watching football.

That's when they started having to call them a bear in São Paulo, at that time you had no idea about being a bear in the LGBTI+ universe?

After the injuries to my knees I started to put on lots of kilos. Over a short time I gained 30 kilos so when I arrived in São Paulo I started to be called nicknames related with Bears. But I didn’t really know the Bear community in São Paulo well. I went only once to a bear party . I wasn’t familiar yet about the different groups in the LGBT+ world.

Upon arriving in Ireland, what led you to meet the local bear community?

In 2013 when I arrived in Ireland I met a Brazilian friend who told me that there was a Bear party on in March so it was by coincidence that I decided to go. The Mr Bear Ireland election was on that night. It was a nice night and I really liked the atmosphere even though we couldn’t speak a world of English, so not much interaction. After that I kept following the website and got closer to the community. Since then I have been to a lot of events and I started visiting Bear party’s around Europe. I love the Bear community for the way they interact and that they are so accepting and friendly. I always felt very comfortable and welcomed by them.

Have you never thought about winning a bear beauty contest and how was it to feel this emotion among so many people?

At the time I just entered the competition for fun as I was encouraged by my friends. Honestly I didn’t think I would win but I just wanted to enjoy the experience. It was very positive experience because there were some really handsome guys and I was chosen by the public vote and by the jury for the competition this made me fell very happy and confident to represent Ireland as Mr. Bear .

Tell us your expectations of competing in one of the biggest, bear beauty contest, the famous Mr. Bear Europe, which will take place in 2022 in France.

I am very excited to be representing the Irish bear community at this international event. The bear community is increasing from year to in Ireland and it would be a wonderful opportunity to host the event in Dublin if I were to win .

Do you believe that the bear community in Brazil has the potential to evolve after so many new things happening around the world?

Absolutely! We all have to adapt our life style to a new type of normal . I have been asked many times about the Bear community in Brazil and I have met many Brazilian bears at European events Iam sure if the bears in Brazil made a commitment to work together they could achieve a lot .

Nowadays, many bears (in Brazil and in the world), are bringing in the media and social networks the appreciation of the body outside the beauty standards and, showing that it is possible to be sensual and daring, even if you are overweight, you think are they on the right path?

Yes I agree with this . Many people appreciate guys who maybe hairy and / or heavier . Physical attraction comes in many different forms and not just in the way social media tries to dictate. So in my opinion they are definitely right to expose themselves as they are very sensual in their own way .

What advice would you give young people about acceptance and struggle to be one day Mister Bear?

While being Mr. Bear is a great honour it is more important to be proud of who you are and be happy . As being Mr bear will be consequence .

If someone invites you to do a daring sensual shoot, would you agree and why?

As a shy person I don’t feel comfortable with explicit pictures. However I do think it is possible to be sensual while leaving it up to the reviews imagination !!