In 1985, when Ian Paterson sat down to decide his yearbook quote, he went with his ambition: “My ambition is to attend U of A and obtain my education degree. I plan to eventually settle down in a quiet suburb with a tall, rich, hunky man with a bushy moustache.”
Paterson had already come out as gay in a poem in his high school’s literary magazine, a rare and brave choice for a young man living during the 1980s, during the AIDS crisis when homophobia ran rampant.
But Paterson’s high school nixed the quote. In response, Paterson started a petition and raised 300 signatures to allow him to have his original quote published and accused his school administration of homophobia. Though it made national news and was featured on a current affairs and documentary show, Peterson was ultimately unsuccessful in reinstating his quote. Instead, it read, “I plan to eventually settle down in a quiet suburb with a tall, rich companion.”
Thirty-eight years later, Paterson’s quote is back in the news. Remi Baker, a research assistant with the Edmonton Queer History Project, was going through the City of Edmonton Archives when he discovered the piece about Peterson and his changed quote.
“I made sure to grab a picture and then I brought it to Kris [Wells, Canada research chair for the public understanding of sexual and gender minority youth at MacEwan University] and was like, ‘We need to find out more about this. This is awesome,’” Baker told the CBC.
The Edmonton Queer History Project, where Baker works, is a community project and collaboration with MacEwan University that seeks to find and record stories from Edmonton’s history.
Kristopher Wells, who Baker brought the story to, is the Canada research chair for the public understanding of sexual and gender minority youth at MacEwan University. Wells reached out to the high school that Pateron attended. He discovered that while Paterson received support from the student body, many also didn’t want him at the school
“This was a time long before gay-straight alliances were even a dream in schools, you know, it was quite incredible,” Wells said. “What struck me was just the immense courage he had.”
Baker and Wells posted on TikTok, seeking more information about Paterson’s life, and received responses immediately. They discovered from a friend of Paterson that after high school, he moved to Vancouver and passed away a few years ago. The friend described him as “outgoing, flamboyant, and unapologetically Ian.”
And according to Baker, the friend also said Paterson “eventually did find his hunky man with a bushy moustache.”
Stories like Paterson’s, Wells says, are important to tell because they educate people about how queer people have always existed.
“When people try to censor our stories or our lives, we persist,” he said.
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