At the recent Western Roundup celebrations of Bears Perth, local man Jeb Brown took out the title of Mr Bear Perth 2024.
He’ll now head to Southern HiBearnation in Victoria to take compete the title of Mr Australasia Bear Competition. Brown’s win is notable as he’s the first competitor who is transgender to win the prize.
OUTinPerth chatted to Jeb Brown about his experience of being in the competition and how the Bears community has been welcoming and embraced diversity.
The highlight of the Mr Bear Perth competition is a show at Connections Nightclub where each contestant in required to perform on stage, take part in a fashion parade and answer a few questions. But that’s just the final stage, over the weekend contestants took part in many events, and were interviewed by the judges.
You’ve been named that Best Bear in Town, how does it feel?
Honestly, I’m still it’s taking a while to wrap my head around it. To be honest, it was a really awesome process. It was a grueling process, but one that was super enjoyable, which was cool.
You work so hard to put something together, and you come together with your ‘bear brothers’ and you put on a show.
It’s like the moment that it was over and the crowning kind of happened. I’ve lost a day, like I everything was such a blur, but the feeling has has stayed, which I’m pretty grateful for.
What made you want to sign up to this competition? It takes a bit of chutzpah to get up stage and perform.
It does. I’m thankful it wasn’t my first time on the stage at Connie’s. I’ve been with the Rams for a little while now, so I’ve kind of been put through my paces with them which has been good.
That actually played a big part of leading me to where I am now. We had a an international tour in Rome earlier this year, and on the last day of the tournament, I was lucky enough to be asked to coach the all trans match.
Out of 112 global teams playing rugby, all the queer members of those teams were invited to play in one exhibition match. Being part of that, and as a trans man myself, just being surrounded by 60 to 70 queer, trans people from around the world who are putting themselves out on a on such a physical stage but also really embracing the moment in the chance to just freely be themselves. I’ll be honest, that was a bit of a light bulb moment for me.
Being able to be around people who’ve been walking the trans walk for for a much longer time than myself, and in some cases, people who are only just starting out as well. To have that sense of pride in showcasing yourself, and in a weird way, it was kind of rugged. It really made me think, “Man, what are you waiting for?” and “Whose permission are you waiting for?”
It’s sounds like such a rare opportunity because no matter where you live in the world, you’re not going to meet so many trans people at the same time.
It was crazy, when I say all trans – it was trans men and women. Everyone who plays sport from the trans community, we all deal with all the chatter that goes on outside of ourselves around our participation in sport. It was freaking awesome just to see trans men, trans women of every skill, ability, every kind of background, just taking the field and being happy to represent themselves in that way.
That was a really special moment. It was a real light bulb moment that made me think “What are you waiting for?” Get out there.
I’ve been hanging out with the Bears for maybe three years now. It has always felt super welcome at the den nights and I really enjoy the social experience I get there. So I did think, “Now’s time put yourself out there.” It was a good kick in the pants to get up and going, which is cool.
I’ve always found the Bears to be really welcoming and non judgmental space, and also a place where I get to meet people who I don’t see in other places.
Some of my closest friends I’ve made through the Bears. On paper, we shouldn’t even know each other, there’s just so many guys from different, diverse backgrounds.
I love the the fact that the Bears give a social experience to people who don’t have to go clubbing, who don’t have to go to parties, or you don’t have to go to the sauna to meet people. You can just spend a Saturday at Loton Park and and mix and mingle, and who knows who you’re going to meet along the way.
They’ve been so welcoming with me from day one.
What did you do on the big night for your stage performance?
I’m 38 year old who usually thinks I’m still 21, so I danced. I got to put a bit of a Maori spin on things. I’m many things, but I’m Māori first and foremost. That’s kind of how I live my life. Through the cultural lens, no matter what space.
It was a really nice kind that I got to add some some culture into my performance. Then it just got really gay, really camp, really fun, really quick, and the crowd seemed to like it.
The diversity of the contestants this year was awesome. Having a diversity of contestants brought in a diverse group of people into the event. This intersectional meeting of people that you wouldn’t normally come across in your day to day. That was really fun, and the diversity of the acts and the performances made it really worth it.
Unfortunately, I came away with a minor hamstring tear, which is on the mend now, but I got the sash – that was all worth it!
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