NEWMAKERS_BY RICHARD BURNETT Art and Icons that far. I’m just a writer. And that’s also kind of the way I feel when it comes to my sexual identity. I’m just a human. Am I a queer human ? I don’t even know if that’s right. I’m an unconventional human. METH RÉALITÉ INFORMATION/PRÉVENTION/RESSOURCES/TÉMOIGNAGES LE RETOUR À LA RÉALITÉ APRÈS UNE CONSOMMATION SOUTENUE DE CRYSTAL METH PEUT PARFOIS ÊTRE DIFFICILE. SI TU PENSES AVOIR BESOIN D'AIDE, DES RESSOURCES SONT DISPONIBLES ET ACCESSIBLES POUR TOI À  : METHETREALITE.COM UNE INITIATIVE DE  : LA CLINIQUE QUARTIER LATIN 905 BD RENÉ LÉVESQUE E, MONTRÉAL, QC 514-285-5500 WWW.CLINIQUEQUARTIERLATIN.COM/036 FUGUES.COM NOVEMBRE 2015 I assume you don’t identify as lesbian ? I hate that word. I hate the sound of it. How devastating was your divorce ? It completely shattered not just me, but the world around me. I was absolutely terrified. My world was unrecognizable. Even my body was unrecognizable – I was pregnant … But I rebuilt my family nucleus by accident. People started to arrive, not by invitation, they just turnedup. What is it like to raise your five-year-old daughter ? After all, your family is not like other families. You respond to (your child’s) questions as honestly as possible, but knowing the answers must also be age-appropriate. It comes out in stages. The first question was ‘Why don’t I have a dad ?’It didn’t matter that she had two moms who were divorced. ‘Why don’t I have a dad ?’That was a big absence for her. I worried about this. Then when she was in her pre-school, Father’s Day was comingup and I expressed some concern to her teacher and the teacher said, ‘Don’t worry, darling, I’ve already dealt with it.’So my daughter pipedup, ‘I don’t have a dad.’And a friend in her class said, ‘My dad’s in jail !’So she got trumped ! (Gibb laughs.) It is exhausting being a mom, but I love it. 6 RICHARD BUR- NETT This is Happy (Doubleday Canada) is available in all bookstores. Read Richard Burnett’s POP TART blog for The Montreal Gazette at www.montrealgazette.com/tag/pop-tart Read Burnett’s national queer-issues column Three Dollar Bill online at www.bugsburnett.blogspot.com. CLIXICILE INÉOICALE QUART"-'TIN Illustration  : Sébastien Thibault/agoodson.com 405026EX