Bugs meets B.B. King photo: Jamie O'Meara

You hear it all the time from straights who think gay folks bend over backwards to help each other out: Oh yeah, that dyke or that fag, they got that position or gig because the person who hired them is gay.

But how is that any different from anybody else?

I just wish the gay community did it better and more often.

I have long said we should model ourselves on Montreal's extraordinary Jewish community - today, after Israel and New York City, home to the largest Holocaust survivor community in the world. For generations, Montreal Jews have recycled their resources to build a spectacularly strong, vibrant and supportive community.

The world may hate you, but at least you can get a decent shot at life with a little help from your friends.

Which is why networking - especially gay networking - is so important. And fittingly, Montreal is getting its first-ever networking event for queer scholars and businesspeople at McGill University next week. Co-hosted by the Quebec Gay Chamber of Commerce, the McGill Queer Grad Caucus and the Concordia Queer Union, Networking First @ McGill is a golden opportunity to press flesh with potential employers, internship providers and a wealth of contacts that may prove useful in the future.

"Eighty per cent of jobs are found through the hidden job market - the other 20 are found in newspapers and on the Internet - and you can only tap into that by networking," explains McGill Career and Placement Service director Gregg Blachford. "Some people think this is taking advantage of people and so are reluctant to do it. They think it's nepotism. But it's not. It's [about] building a reputation and trust among an ever-expanding circle of contacts. It is collaborative and reciprocal because they will need your help one day too."

Gay folks, because of historical workplace discrimination, look out for each other.

"I think every identity - whether it's race, sex, age, what school you went to or whether you're gay - these are factors you can connect with," Blachford says. "So I can connect with someone who is gay because I'm gay and that gives us something else we can talk about."

This is a far cry from the days when being out could cost you your job. But that very threat is what unwittingly forced gays to build supportive communities.

Now if we could only get Canada's gay high rollers to donate wads of cash - like openly gay American philanthropist Tim Gill and showbiz mogul David Geffen - to help build national organizations and community centres across Canada.

Because, at the end of the day, you can network all you want, but it means nothing if you don't recycle.

Networking First @ McGill at Thompson House (3650 McTavish), March 30, 6-8 p.m. Cash bar.

Bitchslap Dept.: The Globe and Mail ran a March 11 business feature about PrideVision TV network owner Bill Craig's divorce woes (read the April 2004 TDB interview with Craig by surfing to www.hour.ca/columns/3dollarbill.aspx?iIDArticle=2872). Except when describing the fledgling network, The Globe wrote, "Critics like gay-culture columnist Richard Burnett [have] begun to pan the station for drifting to a mix of reruns, workout shows and nighttime porn."

When my buddy and former Hour news editor M-J Milloy read that line, he promptly wrote a letter to the editor, pointing out, "I would like it stated for the record that Mr. Burnett does not object to the broadcast of pornography - only its less-than-excellent quality and it cutting to commercial at exactly the wrong moments. I look forward to you publishing a clarification at the earliest possible convenience."

Thanks, M-J!

Hasta la vista, baby: After my Hour cover story on anti-gay reggae dancehall star Sizzla made national headlines and newscasts last August - and then got me vilified in the pages of Jamaica's national newspaper of record, The Gleaner - it came as no surprise to hear Sizzla's current hit song, Nah Apologize. Clearly aimed at folks like British gay activist Peter Tatchell and myself, the incendiary gruff-voiced toaster repeats in the chorus, "Rastaman nah apologize to no batty bwoy."

So I am delighted to report that Jamaican security forces raided Sizzla's Judgement Yard premises in the rough August Town neighbourhood of Kingston on March 17, seizing a cache of illegal firearms including six AK-47 rifles, three sniper rifles, one M-16 rifle with a fitted silencer, two shotguns, one Intratec submachine gun, ammunition and two bullet-proof vests.

After Sizzla and 32 others were detained by police, Jamaican National Security Minister Peter Phillips announced, "We are at war [with criminal gangs]."

Nah Apologize may very well be the last we hear from Sizzla.

Jah Rastafari!

Essential buttplug: If you have never seen 80-year-old blues hero B.B. King perform live, do NOT miss his April 2 gig at Place des Arts. About that other Memphis king, Elvis Presley, whom B.B. met when he worked at Sun Studios in the early 1950s, King once told me, "I liked him because he called me 'Sir.'" See you at the show.

 
 

		Write your comment on this article!

It's how the world works     When asking a group of employees what kind of person they'd like to hire, here's the answer: "People like us". So it's human nature to hire people like yourselves, gays with gays, Chinese with Chinese, Jewish with Jews. It's all the same. Like a lazy slob worker wouldn't hire some young buck that works hard, because it'll make him look bad. If he hires someone like him then he can maintain the status quo and most likely both of them will grow fat together. It works the opposite way too, a get goer will hire someone who likes to work. They'll be less problems in the future with complaining about too much work. Finally who do you work well with? Friends. Who are your friends? People like you. Who are people like you? People of your culture. It's sad but true. This is how the world runs. So let the Gays hire Gays. As long as they can do the job, why not? After all the rest of the other cultures do it... and how you gonna stop them?
Alexander Yu	{37 votes}	March 25th, 2005
Three Dollar Bill & the pink mafia wacks back     Hey, maybe it's me but when I see a picture of B.B. King next to an article written by Richard Burnett I'm kind of hoping that the actual article will have something to do with that pic but nooooooooo, instead I'm treated to a righteous bit on the pink mafia instead. In the business world I believe they call this tactic 'bait n' switch'. Hey, it was a nice article and all of that but the pic next to it had nothing to do with the bulk of the piece. Feeling pretty shortchanged by that actually. <<>> Ah, I wondered just how long it'd be before we'd here about Sizzla in this column again and here as if by magic, his name resurfaces. This horse has been beaten so bad that it's nothing but bones and ash now. We got it the first dozen times already, what exactly is served by harping on this homophobic act now that he's slowing enting obscurity is quite beyond me.
Pedro Eggers		April 24th, 2005
Head Start     Jewish people have had a "head start" in networking for two simple reasons: Since the Middle Ages, throughout the 20th Century, Jews were barred from most Christian businesses-- not to mention schools, stores, hotels, and entire neighbourhoods. In order to survive, they learned to support and assist one another. (This is often perceived as "clannishness".) Secondly, a guiding principle of the Jewish faith is "tsedaka"-- that is, acts of charity and selflessness. It is a sin for a Jewish person to deny anyone need, Jewish or otherwise. Though most ethnic and cultural groups can rightly claim discrimination, few have had to overcome systematic exclusion, nor periodic attempts at anhilation, as often as the "chosen" people.
Stephanie Ein	{15 votes}	March 26th, 2005
Communal Support     Hell, I have to admit the concept of communal networking/recycling has a pretty strong allure. One only need cast a glance at the example set by the Jewish commmunity. After all, is there any group that pools it`s resources more effectively and equitably or espouses a sense of fraternity more than those of Hebrew descent. I think not! The more power to any minority, particularly one as maligned and misunderstood as gays, to unite to further their career aspirations in such a fashion.
Mark St Pierre	{6 votes}	March 26th, 2005
Using every available esource     Finding employment is no easy task...there are literally thousands of people looking for work, and if you don't have the exact qualifications necessary, then it becomes even more difficult to find work. As the saying goes, it isn't what you know, it's who you know. If you are able to network and find your way around by meeting different people, then I say go for it because competition is so tough that anything you can do to get your foot in the door is a bonus.
Nancy Garbish	{11 votes}	March 24th, 2005
It's all about the network...     It's not what you know, it's who you know. But that's not a 'Jewish' thing, it's a human thing. (You have to love how people always single out Jews 'helping each other out' - even in an attempt at a 'compliment' towards the Jewish community, it still smacks of stereotype...) The best way to be successful is to get help doing so - and few can go down the path alone. Whether it's from strong reference letters from people whose opinions matter, or whether it's your uncle's best friend who runs the company, one should always go down every networking avenue to make it to where they want to be. And don't confuse networking with nepotism, or buddyism. Networking takes an effort - you still have to know the people, often working to know them, and you have to prove to them that you're worthy of their attention. I talked myself into my current job through 8 months of going to conventions, getting to know the people who worked in the company, pestering them to give me a job. Networking is almost a skill on its own - knowing how much pressure to apply, knowing when to pester and when to shut up, knowing who to go to and who to stay away from. At the same time, I agree that people in one community should look after one another - and I agree that the Jewish commuity is one that cares about its own and tends to try to make sure that the entire community is looked after - not just in an employment sense, but in a wellbeing sense. The Italian community is much the same, as is the Greek community, and much of the black community. The gay community should follow suit - taking care of each other is important to make sure that any community - especially one in the minority - is healthy.
Ben Kalman	{22 votes}	March 24th, 2005

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