'Wonder Woman' Lynda Carter mixes up 'Fat Bear Week', and gay bears couldn't love her more

Lynda Carter, who's known for her role as Wonder Woman in the original 1970s TV show, discovered Fat Bear week recently, a celebration of huge bears that are ready for hibernation. However, it took a while before she realized what Fat Bear was really about amusing the LGBTQ+ community. Lynda Carter said she had assumed it was a celebration of body positivity within a gay subculture but soon realized it was actually about celebrating fat bears. Literally. “I kept hearing about Fat Bear Week and thought it was a celebration of body positivity within a gay subculture,” wrote Carter on Twitter. “It turns out it is about actual bears! Either way, I am here for it.”

Lynda Carter has been a long-standing supporter of the LGBTIA+ community and now, everyone loves her even more. Twitter couldn't get enough of her mix-up and showered love on the actor. One person wrote, "Wonder Woman said gay rights and fat bear rights in one Tweet." Another wrote, "Lynda "Wonder Woman" Carter knows what *gay bears* are. And is here for it." The LGBTIA+ community lauded Carter for her knowledge of the gay sub-culture.

Hairy gay men are often referred to as a 'Bear' in gay culture. With time, the term was adopted by big hairy muscular gay men. The term was reportedly first used when George Mazzei wrote an article for The Advocate in 1979 called "Who's Who in the Zoo?", characterizing gay men as seven types of animals, including bears. The term was popularized by Richard Bulger, who, along with his then partner Chris Nelson, founded Bear Magazine in 1987, reported The Advocate. There are many subtypes of bears, like a polar bear, which is an older bear with white hair," reported Pride. 

So when Lynda Carter heard about the Fat Bear week, she assumed it was an event organized by the gay community but soon realized that wasn't the case. Fat Bear Week is an annual event where the fattest and most ready-for-hibernation bear is chosen at the Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska. There will be an array of options of huge bears from the park with the people voting to find the 'fat bear.'After many expressed surprise that she knew 'how to speak gay,' she responded, “Listen, they don’t make you Grand Marshal of multiple Pride parades for nothing.”

There are estimated to be 2,200 bears at the national park, a popular place for them to feed before the winter due to the abundance of sockeye salmon. Cheryl Spencer, a ranger at the park, said it's important they eat as much as they can before going into hibernation as they could lose a third of their weight during the process, reported USA Today. The event has been getting bigger each year with this year's 'Fat Bear' event getting 793,000 votes as opposed to last year's record of 650,000 votes. This year's champion is 480 Otis, who edged out big boy 151 Walker, who's also known as the "Baron of Beardonkadonk." This is 480 Otis' fourth title, after winning the inaugural title in 2014 and then winning back-to-back titles in 2016-17.

The Park rangers first identified 460 Otis in 2001 when he was 4-years-old. Bears usually live around 20-30 years and 480 Otis might be old but he's certainly not past it. While many others go chasing after fish, he waits for the fish to come to him. "He's known for sitting in his 'office' on the far side of the fall. He just chills there and waits for the fish to come to him," said Sara Wolman, project and media manager for Katmai Conservancy. "He really did put on the pounds this year."

Not only did Lynda Carter channel the world's attention to the Fat Bear week, but she also shined a light on the world of gay sub-culture with a single tweet and that's no mean feat. Wonder Woman indeed.