Richard Burnett
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Richard Burnett, also known as Bugs Burnett, is a Canadian writer, editor, journalist, and
columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Column (periodical), Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the ...
. He is known as an often controversial fixture of the Montreal media, with his writing sometimes attracting attention internationally. His
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...
and blog, "Three Dollar Bill", dealt with pop culture, art, and
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
life and culture across Canada and around the world. "Three Dollar Bill" was the first—and remains the only—syndicated
LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...
column in Canadian publishing history, and it ran for 15 years. In 2017,
CBC Arts CBC Arts () is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's diverse artistic communitie ...
wrote that "If you live in Montreal and you go out at night, you know Richard "Bugs" Burnett. Perhaps that's an understatement. If you live in Montreal and go outside, you know Burnett. Existentially speaking, if Richard Burnett does not attend your event, it might be said that your event never happened."


Career

Burnett began working as a writer in the 1990s for several magazines and newspapers.


"Three Dollar Bill"

His
column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...
and blog, "Three Dollar Bill", dealt with pop culture, art, and
gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...
life and culture across Canada and around the world. He often spoke frankly about topics that were considered
taboo A taboo is a social group's ban, prohibition or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, offensive, sacred or allowed only for certain people.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
. "Three Dollar Bill" was the first—and remains the only—syndicated
LGBTQ+ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The group i ...
column in Canadian publishing history, and it ran for 15 years. In an interview with
CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...
, Brunett said the column was averaging more than 1 million readers at its peak. "Three Dollar Bill" debuted in July 1996 and ran in several alternative newsweeklies. The column first made national news in September 1998 when Winnipeg’s ''Uptown'' magazine dropped the column after one installment ignited a citywide furor over gay sex. ''
Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...
'' columnist Bill Brownstein reported about this incident in his July 26, 2006 column on the 10th anniversary of "Three Dollar Bill".
Over the last decade, his column has been dropped by a Winnipeg weekly after complaints about its graphic content, and underwent an investigation by the
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) is the state police#Canada, provincial police service for the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary is one of three provincial po ...
for being 'pornographic'. Current
Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (PQ; , ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishi ...
leader
André Boisclair André Boisclair (; born April 14, 1966) is a former Canadian politician in Quebec, Canada. He was the leader of the Parti Québécois, a social democratic and sovereigntist party in Quebec. Between January 1996 and March 2003, Boisclair serv ...
is no fan of the man, after Burnett outed him n 1997- not out of malice but because Burnett felt that Boisclair, a PQ cabinet minister at the time, was being hypocritical and hurtful.
Brownstein also wrote that "Burnett has interviewed celebs from diva
Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...
to author
Anne Rice Anne Rice (born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien; October 4, 1941 – December 11, 2021) was an American author of Gothic fiction, erotic literature, and Bible fiction. She is best known for writing ''The Vampire Chronicles''. She later adapted t ...
. He has crossed swords with
B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...
and
Mordecai Richler Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are ''The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (novel), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and ''Barney's Version (novel), Barney's Versi ...
. He has outed
Ricky Martin Enrique Martin Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography incorporati ...
—again for hypocrisy—and outraged
Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...
. And he's had
death threat A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a d ...
s."


Other work

Burnett was one of the original organizers of Montreal’s internationally renowned
Divers/Cité Divers/Cité was an LGBT multidisciplinary arts and music festival taking place each year in the heart of Montreal, since 1993. A week-long avant-garde event in the heart of downtown Montreal and in Montreal's Gay Village area held usually on the ...
festival, was the founding president of the Montreal chapter of the
National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists, is an American professional association dedicated to coverage of LGBTQ+ issues in the media. It is based in Washington, D.C., and the membership consists primarily of journalists, students, educators, ...
, is a regular lecturer and panelist at universities and conferences, and co-starred in the first season of the
Life Network Slice is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel primarily broadcasts programming targeting young adult women, including comedy, reality, lifestyle, and true crime programming. It was launched on J ...
’s reality TV series ''Out in the City''. Burnett was also editor-at-large of
Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
's
alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...
newsweekly ''
Hour An hour (symbol: h; also abbreviated hr) is a unit of time historically reckoned as of a day and defined contemporarily as exactly 3,600 seconds ( SI). There are 60 minutes in an hour, and 24 hours in a day. The hour was initially establis ...
'' for 15 years until the newspaper published its last issue on April 7, 2011. Burnett wrote his ''POP TART'' blog for the ''
Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...
'' from 2011 to 2016, as well as his weekly ''Seven Days, Seven Nights'' arts column from 2014 to 2016. Burnett also got the last-ever sit-down interview with
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
before Brown died on December 25, 2006. Burnett has been writing for the Montreal-based LGBT magazine
Fugues (magazine) ''Fugues'' is a magazine with a focus on gay content, which publishes monthly in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, since April 1984. The magazine is primarily written in French, although some English content is also published as well. It focuses on n ...
, since 1995. As his career has progressed, he has devoted a significant amount of his writing into covering
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
.


Controversies

He is known as an often controversial fixture of the Montreal media, with his writing sometimes attracting attention internationally. Burnett's 2004 ''Hour'' cover story interview with Jamaican dancehall performer
Sizzla Miguel Orlando Collins (born 17 April 1976), known by his stage name Sizzla Kalonji or Sizzla, is a Jamaican reggae musician. He is one of the most commercially and critically successful contemporary reggae artists and is noted for his high num ...
was reported on national newscasts in Canada, and made international headlines—including in Jamaica's national newspaper ''The Jamaica Gleaner''—after Sizzla told Burnett, " omosexualityis wrong! Once we stoop to sodomites and homosexuals, it is wrong! ... Burn all things that are wrong. Burn it... We must get rid of
Sodom and Gomorrah In the Abrahamic religions, Sodom and Gomorrah () were two cities destroyed by God for their wickedness. Sodom and Gomorrah are repeatedly invoked throughout the Hebrew Bible, Deuterocanonical texts, and the New Testament as symbols of sin, di ...
right now." In response to Burnett and British gay activist
Peter Tatchell Peter Gary Tatchell (born 25 January 1952) is an Australian-born British human rights campaigner, best known for his work with LGBT social movements. Tatchell was selected as the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party's Parliament of the United Kingdo ...
's criticisms, Sizzla wrote the 2005 song "Nah Apologize" in which he repeats in the chorus "Rastaman nah apologize to no
batty boy In Jamaican Patois, ''batty boy'' (also ''batty bwoy'', ''batty man'', and ''chi chi bwoy/man'') is a slur often used to refer to a gay or effeminate man. The term batiman (or battyman) is also used in Belize owing to the popularity of Jamaican m ...
!" In 2005, Burnett was quoted about rising new
HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...
infections in a '' POZ'' cover story called "Bite the Bullet" as saying that "If you want to play God, eliberatelyspread HIV and ruin other lives in the process—then do us all a g------ favor and put a f------ bullet through your head instead.” Burnett made more headlines when he criticized the Federation of Gay Games decision to revoke Montreal's 2006 Gay Games after the FGG's acrimonious split with Montreal organizers. "If the Gay Games are the Uganda of the sports world, then the FGG is
Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...
," Burnett wrote. Burnett also riled many Canadians when he critiqued the medals of Vancouver's
2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...
. "The gold and bronze medals look like melted chocolate someone pulled out of their back pocket," Burnett told the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
. "The silver medal looks like it still has foil wrap on it."


Cultural impact

Burnett was named one of Alberta-based ''
Outlooks ''OUTLOOKS'' was a Canadian LGBT magazine, published 10 times annually (monthly excepting combined issues in July/August and December/January). Founded by Roy Heale in 1997 as a newsprint monthly, in 2009 the publication was purchased by Brett T ...
'' magazine's Canadian Heroes of the Year in their June 2009 issue, and was listed by Quebec's French-language gay publication ''
Fugues In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...
'' as one of that province's 100 most influential gay Quebecers. "As Michael Musto is to New York City, Richard Burnett is to Montreal," The ''Montreal Buzz'' stated in April 2010. Throughout his career, Burnett has been known as a prominent figure in Montreal's
nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...
scene. In 2017,
CBC Arts CBC Arts () is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that creates and curates written articles, short documentaries, non-fiction series and interactive projects that represent the excellence of Canada's diverse artistic communitie ...
wrote that "If you live in Montreal and you go out at night, you know Richard "Bugs" Burnett. Perhaps that's an understatement. If you live in Montreal and go outside, you know Burnett. Existentially speaking, if Richard Burnett does not attend your event, it might be said that your event never happened."


Influences

Burnett cites the late Montreal newspaperman
Nick Auf der Maur Nikolaus Erik Auf der Maur (April 10, 1942 – April 7, 1998)Downey, Donn. ''Montreal columnist chronicled cancer fight'', A1. ''The Globe and Mail'', April 9, 1998. was a Canadian journalist and politician from Montreal, Quebec. He was the fa ...
and ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' bestselling author Felice Picano as his two mentors.


References


External links


Three Dollar Bill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burnett, Richard Living people Anglophone Quebec people Canadian columnists Canadian newspaper editors Canadian male journalists Canadian gay writers Gossip columnists Writers from Montreal Canadian LGBTQ journalists Montreal Gazette people LGBTQ culture in Montreal Year of birth missing (living people) 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people