Origin of QueerTwoCents.com

About Me

Born and raised in Central Canada. College educated. Buddhist. Gay rights activist. Happily married to my partner of 24 years. Have lived across Canada (Montreal, London, Toronto, Saskatoon, Calgary). Currently living on the West Coast of Beautiful British Columbia, Canada.

Love all kinds of music, film and cultural events.

Early in 2006, was left disabled as the result of a serious accident; still in the long process of recovery.

Began this webzine as a way to stay in touch with the outside world.

Origin of QueerTwoCents.com

How did I get the nickname, Queer Two Cents?

The origin of Queer Two Cents dates back to when I was in my early 20's. I had a violent interaction with a man who insisted that I was going to hell for being gay. Here, in a nutshell, is how I acquired the nickname, Queer Two Cents:

I was with a group of gay friends, waiting at a bus stop in our oh-so 80's finery, on a Saturday evening. We were chatting and laughing, excited about making our way downtown to a local gay bar where we liked to go dancing on the weekends, and basically minding our own business, so I thought.

Unbeknownst to me, a man standing not too far from our group had been listening to us. He rushed up and started verbally accosting me about how God did not make Adam and Steve, etc. My friends and I were taken aback, but I said to him,"I don't believe in your God or your version of the bible".

We went on back and forth like this for quite some time. In my naivety, I was hoping to bring him around to seeing gay people as human, not as demons or freaks of nature; it did not go very well. Since the man was somewhat elderly, I was about to let it go, when suddenly, he grabbed me, shook me violently and began screaming in my face, "You're nothing but a disease-spreading queer and no one gives a fucking damn about listening to your queer two cents!"

Finally, a bus arrived, and the man rushed to get on it. My friends and I stood there, not quite believing what had just happened. I was really shaken by the experience, but as is often the case when a person is under great stress, I made light of the situation, and spent the rest of the evening punctuating my sentences with the phrase, "Well, that's my queer two cents!" My friends promptly nicknamed me Queer Two Cents, later shortening it to just QTC.

Since then, I've made my Queer Two Cents' opinions count by being active in the fight for civil rights here in Canada. We have come a long way in getting gays and lesbians legally on par with our straight counterparts in Canada, most recently with the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2005. It has been a long struggle; our legal rights may be secured and supported by this country's Charter of Rights, but we still face the enormous challenge of making our presence more visible than ever.

My hope is that with QueerTwoCents.com, I have created a comfortable place for everyone in the global online queer community to come to, not only for entertainment, but also for articles and news stories from around the world. I have a great respect for all of the gay writers (and our straight allies) who work so hard to bring us these stories; I am pleased to let QueerTwoCents.com be a conduit for them.

Shane, aka QTC