‘Muscle bears’ group on Facebook called out for trying to block African and Asian men

A Facebook group for ‘muscle bears’ has been criticised after attempting to stop African and Asian men from joining.

The public group, which has over 18,000 members, is dedicated to muscular and hairy men, according to a report by San Diego Gay and Lesbian News.

When joining, Facebook users are asked two questions from the group’s administrators, however a third—and now deleted—question discouraged African and Asian men from joining.

“If you are African or Asian do not join this group because [you] will be blocked,” it read.

Members complained about the question, many of whom said the caveat didn’t exist when they initially joined. Roughly 500 have left the group since the question was first flagged.

“As a member, this makes us all appear to be racists by being complicit,” one member, Matt Consola wrote.

“No-one will address the matter. So if you know the admins, I’m asking people to reach out and ask why this has been added.

“And if it’s not removed, I’m asking people to quit and report the group as hate speech.”

Racism, sexual and otherwise, is a still a prevalent issue in the gay community.

Earlier this year at the Better Together Conference a handful of queer people of colour (QPOC) in Australia said that white people needed to care about their community’s issues before being educated on them.