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Richard Burnett
Richard Burnett, also known as Bugs Burnett, is a Canadian writer, editor, journalist, and columnist. He is known as an often controversial fixture of the Montreal media, with his writing sometimes attracting attention internationally. His column and blog, "Three Dollar Bill", dealt with pop culture, art, and gay life and culture across Canada and around the world. "Three Dollar Bill" was the first—and remains the only—syndicated LGBTQ+ column in Canadian publishing history, and it ran for 15 years.
In 2017, CBC Arts 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."
Burnett began working as a writer in the 1990s for several magazines and newspapers.
His column and blog, "Three Dollar Bill", dealt with pop culture, art, and gay life and culture across Canada and around the world. He often spoke frankly about topics that were considered taboo. "Three Dollar Bill" was the first—and remains the only—syndicated LGBTQ+ column in Canadian publishing history, and it ran for 15 years. In an interview with CBC, 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 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 for being 'pornographic'. Current Parti Québécois leader André Boisclair is no fan of the man, after Burnett outed him [in 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 to author Anne Rice. He has crossed swords with B.B. King and Mordecai Richler. He has outed Ricky Martin—again for hypocrisy—and outraged Cyndi Lauper. And he's had death threats."
Burnett was one of the original organizers of Montreal’s internationally renowned Divers/Cité festival, was the founding president of the Montreal chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, is a regular lecturer and panelist at universities and conferences, and co-starred in the first season of the Life Network’s reality TV series Out in the City.
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Richard Burnett
Richard Burnett, also known as Bugs Burnett, is a Canadian writer, editor, journalist, and columnist. He is known as an often controversial fixture of the Montreal media, with his writing sometimes attracting attention internationally. His column and blog, "Three Dollar Bill", dealt with pop culture, art, and gay life and culture across Canada and around the world. "Three Dollar Bill" was the first—and remains the only—syndicated LGBTQ+ column in Canadian publishing history, and it ran for 15 years.
In 2017, CBC Arts 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."
Burnett began working as a writer in the 1990s for several magazines and newspapers.
His column and blog, "Three Dollar Bill", dealt with pop culture, art, and gay life and culture across Canada and around the world. He often spoke frankly about topics that were considered taboo. "Three Dollar Bill" was the first—and remains the only—syndicated LGBTQ+ column in Canadian publishing history, and it ran for 15 years. In an interview with CBC, 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 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 for being 'pornographic'. Current Parti Québécois leader André Boisclair is no fan of the man, after Burnett outed him [in 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 to author Anne Rice. He has crossed swords with B.B. King and Mordecai Richler. He has outed Ricky Martin—again for hypocrisy—and outraged Cyndi Lauper. And he's had death threats."
Burnett was one of the original organizers of Montreal’s internationally renowned Divers/Cité festival, was the founding president of the Montreal chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association, is a regular lecturer and panelist at universities and conferences, and co-starred in the first season of the Life Network’s reality TV series Out in the City.