New Horizons For Fifty - A Different View of Things

In July, I got to celebrate the 50th anniversary of San Diego LGBTQ+ Pride. The first parade in 1974 had people marching with bags over their head for fear of being outed at work or home and being fired or disowned, but they marched anyway. This year’s golden anniversary parade had over 250 contingents and 250,000+ spectators, marking its way down University and turning South onto 6th toward Balboa Park and into Marston Point for the Gay Pride Festival, aka the “Fruit Loop,” for a festival, with over 50,000 taking part in the two-day festival. Pride in San Diego happens all month long, with other events like She-Fest, the Lighting of the Cathedral at St. Paul’s Episcopal, an interfaith worship service, and the Spirit of Stonewall rally and Flag Raising, on Normal St. This year’s Stonewall Stage featured headliners Todrick Hall, Rico Nasty and none other than world-class percussionist and drummer, Sheila E. Here are ten things I loved about this years festival, whether about the festiva...

As promised on Friday, here is the interview with Haifisch Katzchen, World Pet 2023. I quite enjoyed Haifisch's view on the subject of Pet play and being a world titleholder, and we are lucky to be provided with a wealth of knowledge on the subject of Pet play--it definitely stokes my curiosity and intrigue about the subject. ----- NF4F: Please tell us your Pet persona. Where does your Pet name come from? What are your personality traits? How would we see you interact at a bar, mosh or Pride festival? How did you first become aware of the Pet community? Haifisch: So, I don’t necessarily have a separate pet persona, or name. My scene name is haifisch, which is German for “shark”. I wish I could say there is a profound meaning, but to tell the truth, I was on a Rammstein kick when I entered the community, and their song, Haifisch, always spoke to me. Now over a decade later, it’s nice to have a short and sweet name, even if it comes with difficulties in pronunciation and confusion – ...

World Bear Weekend is coming up August 1-4 in Lexington, Kentucky. This contest and weekend kicked off in 2018 and they currently have four titles that people can try out for--World Bear, World Cub, Ms. World Bear and World Pet. We were privileged to hear from from Heath Hooper and Jonathan Daniels earlier this year. It's time now to hear from David Sugar and Haifisch Katchen , who are completing their title years respectively as World Cub and World Pet. David's interview is below and Haifisch will be released over the weekend. For more information on the event and its history, please visit https://worldbearweekend.com .   NH4F: How did you come to identify as a Leatherbear? Was it like a second coming out or just a step forward in your own evolution as a person? David : The first two contests I competed for were Mr. Maryland Leather in November 2019, where I placed first runner up; then following tradition, I competed at Mid Atlantic Leather in January 2020. I w...

  During the process of interviewing the current Mr. World Bear, Heath Hooper, it made perfect sense to reach out to his husband, Jonathan Daniel, who has also served as an international titleholder (North American Pet 2022) . What followed was one of the most unique experiences I have ever had in all the interviews I have done, and there have been many . This is also the most collaborative interview in the history of New Horizons to date--it's making me reconsider how I approach the idea of an interview. Jonathan is a treasure trove of quotable lines that are quite relevant in regards to the life of a titleholder, as well as the cherished subjects of body positivity and personal empowerment, and he presents a very healthy outlook on the subject of Pet play and the Pet community. I don't think I would have learned as much as I did using the "send questions, wait for answers" format that I use. Get ready to get deep, because this is a five-course meal of an interview. ...

(In full regalia, photo by  Tristan Sutphin ) Heath Hooper is the current Mr. World Bear 2023 . Last September, he competed at World Bear Weekend alongside with our own Mr. LA Leather Bear 2020, Alan Gabriel. He's just a little past the halfway point of his reign, and I wanted to see how he saw the proverbial forest shaping up. Coming from the days of IBR (Int'l Bear Rendezvous), personally, it's been a relief to know that there is a pathway for Bears that find themselves up to the task have a pathway to the proverbial top of the intercontinental Bear pile. They picked things up and ran with them, having most recently with their landmark decision to remove the gender requirement from all titles in their system.  Heath is a great way to return to regular content here at New Horizons For Fifty. On with the interview. Eric: How has your title year gone? Where have you been and what have you done with your time? Heath : My title year and my fiftieth earth year so far has been...