In Bangkok, Malaysia’s first Mr Bear winner finds spotlight queer life rarely gets at home

On Monday afternoon, amid the heat and chaos of Thailand’s Songkran festival, Gavin Chow was crowned Mr Bear International 2026 – the first Malaysian to win the title at a pageant that has quickly become part of Thailand’s growing queer festival circuit. Back in Chow’s home country, the climate is very different. Malaysia criminalises same-sex intimacy under federal law, LGBTQ gatherings have faced police raids and the 34-year-old activist’s own national qualifier earlier this year struggled to find a venue willing to host it. “It’s definitely still a very surreal experience for me,” Chow told This Week in Asia in an exclusive interview after the win. “Now that I have won, I’m still trying to figure out the industry and what I can do with the title.” View this post on Instagram Chow’s national costume at the pageant used food and dress to express his cultural identity: a Chinese samfu jacket, Nyonya batik details, a sarong, a tray of traditional kuih cakes and a packet of nasi lemak, Malaysia’s best-known coconut rice dish. He said it was meant to reflect the diverse, hybrid experience of being Malaysian-Chinese on an international queer stage. In LGBTQ slang, a “bear” usually refers to a gay male subculture often associated with bigger, stockier and sometimes hairier men, though the community has long stretched beyond a fixed body type. Bear culture’s appeal has partly come from pushing back against the polished, lean and gym-honed beauty standards that have dominated many gay spaces. Mr Bear International was launched in 2024 as part of Bangkok Songkran Bear Week, an annual gathering built around bear culture, parties, pageantry, body positivity and queer community during Thailand’s new year festival. The 2026 edition was held under the theme “Bear Conscious”, which organisers described as a space for “body positivity, awareness and community”. This year’s contest drew competitors from 15 countries, with the top seven including China, Bulgaria, Malaysia, Laos, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The final results placed Chow first, followed by contestants from the Philippines and Bulgaria. The competitors went through runway categories including national costume, creative black tie, leather harness and swimwear, with the top finalists also facing speech and question-and-answer rounds. Chow said the judges appeared to be looking not only at styling, but at how contestants carried themselves on stage. Bearing risks Chow was clear that the “bear” label, to him, is not just about looks. He said the identity first emerged to give confidence to plus-size queer people who felt sidelined even within gay spaces. But as bear culture has become more visible, he said, it has also picked up its own gatekeepers. “One thing that I have noted, and it’s also the conversation that the contestants were having, is the policing,” Chow said. Because “bear” is now a more mainstream identity within queer culture, he said people have started to police who does or does not qualify. “There was a lot of conversation around this,” he said, adding that contestants had one way or another been criticised or policed on social media. For Chow, the better way to think about it was as part of something bigger. “The bear community, or the identity of bear, should actually be part of a larger body autonomy, human rights movement,” he said. “We are celebrating bigger-sized people and plus-sized people with pride and joy.” He added: “We shouldn’t be in the process of policing others [on] how they should eat more or should eat less in order to become a bear. People get to decide what they want to do with their body.” That argument about bodily autonomy lands sharply coming from Malaysia, where same-sex intimacy remains criminalised under federal law. Section 377B of the penal code provides for up to 20 years in prison and whipping for what the law calls “carnal intercourse against the order of nature”, while section 377D carries up to two years in prison for acts of “gross indecency”. Muslims can also face sharia provisions at state level, although Malaysia’s Federal Court in February 2024 struck down 16 Kelantan sharia offences, including a provision criminalising sodomy, after ruling the state had no power to legislate on matters already covered by federal law. The atmosphere around queer life in Malaysia has also stayed tense, according to activists. LGBTQ Malaysians and rights groups have described growing scrutiny and discrimination under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government, despite his reformist image. In July 2025, Malaysian authorities arrested more than a dozen men in Kelantan in a raid on what police called a “gay party”. Later that year, police in Kuala Lumpur detained 208 people in a raid on an all-male health club, an operation local media quickly dubbed a “gay spa” raid, before most of the Malaysian detainees were released after remand applications were rejected. The Muslim-majority country has also banned books and other material, including films and retail products linked to LGBTQ themes. “The more you try to erase us, the more you try to censor us, it doesn’t mean that we have to be silent.” Gavin Chow Chow said that pressure was not theoretical when organisers tried to stage the Malaysian qualifier of the Mr Bear competition earlier this year. “The local organisers were also having difficulties [finding] venues that are big enough to actually host it,” he said. In the current climate, he added, venue providers understood the risks of being linked to an LGBTQ event. That was partly why the win mattered to him. “The fact that I can represent the bear community and the LGBTQ community and win a title in an international competition, that has to mean something,” he said. Unlike Malaysia, Thailand has become far more publicly accommodating of queer culture, legalising same-sex marriage in January 2025 and turning Bangkok into one of the region’s most visible hubs for LGBTQ pageants and tourism. Abroad first Asked whether queer Malaysians increasingly had to go abroad to be recognised, Chow pushed back on the framing itself. “I think it’s complex,” he said. “I don’t think it’s either-or.” What he saw instead was something very Malaysian: improvisation. “Malaysians have been quite good in being resourceful,” he said. “If there are not enough opportunities locally for us to express ourselves, whether through art or through pageants, we find opportunities.” That, he said, is how he views Malaysians joining international queer pageants. “Just because locally we’re being shut down, it doesn’t mean that we cannot find other opportunities elsewhere,” he said. “This can open up opportunities, pave the way for other people to imagine that this is possible.” View this post on Instagram Last year, Malaysian contestant Khleo Ambrose made the top 12 at Miss International Queen 2025 in Thailand, the world’s best-known transgender pageant, in another example of a Malaysian queer figure finding a stage abroad that would be much harder to replicate at home. “The more you try to erase us, the more you try to censor us, it doesn’t mean that we have to be silent,” Chow said. “They will need to be confronted with the fact that a gay person has actually made Malaysia proud internationally.” Chow, who describes himself as a political activist and community organiser, said he felt he was in a position to take that risk because he had experience responding to public criticism. “I’m joining this with the preparation that there will be backlash,” he said. “I came prepared.” After his win, Chow stayed in Bangkok for press rounds before returning to Malaysia. He said he felt tired and slightly overwhelmed, and was already missing home and his cats. But beyond the title, he said, the week had given him a sense of purpose. He said he was looking forward to seeing friends, enjoying some good food and continuing the journey of “making Malaysia proud”. The victory was also for other queer Malaysians watching from home, he said, adding that he wanted to be “that” for them – a visible example of what was possible.

In Bangkok, Malaysia’s first Mr Bear winner finds spotlight queer life rarely gets at home

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Gavin Chow’s victory highlights the contrast between Bangkok’s queer visibility and the pressures still facing LGBTQ people in Malaysia

Gavin Chow’s victory highlights the contrast between Bangkok’s queer visibility and the pressures still facing LGBTQ people in Malaysia