Joe Average: No Average Artist

Average lived with HIV/Aids for 40 years

It is sad to find out that LGBTQ+ artist Joe Average died on Christmas Eve. He was 67 years old.

His art was whimsical and colourful

He was well known in the art community for his colourful, upbeat paintings and several murals of his could be found around Vancouver. They were mostly of faces of people, or flowers, or even animals and insects personified with big red lips.

But mostly Average was a symbol of surviving HIV/AIDS. He was HIV-positive at the age of 27, which motivated him to become an artist and advocate for HIV/AIDS awareness and LGBTQ+ rights.

"He had Aids for 40 years and he maintained his healthy attitude by being creative," said Michael Harding, a longtime friend. "Creativity is what kept him alive, and the love of the community."

This was evident in him donating artwork to many charitable causes.

Average's artwork made it onto a Canadian stamp, and on a loonie designed for the Royal Canadian Mint.

Average's work was featured on a stamp

In 2021 he was appointed to the Order of British Columbia, and last year the Order of Canada. 

Vancouver is so lucky to have such a talented and giving artist who did so much for the city and its residents through his art.

In Appreciation of Sue Johanson

Johanson gave no-nonsense advice about sex and relationships

On social media there's a lot of outpouring of appreciation for Sue Johanson, who gave the straight-up talk about sex to young people in the mid-80s for over 20 years. She died yesterday in Thornhill, Ontario yesterday at the age of 93.

I found out about this woman on the TV guide and had to watch her show. I was thankful -- like many other young people -- that she gave us the information we needed to know (or wanted to know) about sex, relationships, and sexual identity.

She enjoyed making O'Brien blush on TV

Here was this grandma figure who took callers' questions with a straight face, didn't judge them and answered them the best she could. Johanson gave tips on how to apply condoms, and birth control, what to do with bad boyfriends and sex toys. 

Her daughter Jane Johanson said: "She never brushed people aside. She treated everyone absolutely the same. She was never judgmental, nor was she condescending or disapproving of any question that came her way... I think everybody felt like they had another mother or another grandmother with Sue."

Johanson trained as a nurse in Winnipeg, and later opened a birth control clinic at a Toronto high school for two decades. 

In 1984 she began hosting a Toronto radio show called Sunday Night Sex Show and later had a TV show. Then viewers in the United States got to know her on Talk Sex with Sue Johanson from 2002 to 2008.

During that time there was a lot of fear around AIDS and she gave the medical facts around it, which is why she was insistent that people use condoms. She also was sympathetic to young gay people who were discovering their identities and Johanson gave them support and resources to make them feel less alone.

Johanson talking to host Jay Leno

"It didn't matter who you were, what your sexual preference was, how you identified, what you might be dealing with in terms of the time of AIDS -- like, she embraced everybody and who they were. And that just... made me so proud. We are so proud of our dear Sue, my mom," Jane Johanson said.

I'm seeing on YouTube she made several appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, making him feel uneasy as she pulled out numerous sex toys and demonstrating how to use them in a no-nonsense way. In one she shows how to test out a vibrator by holding it under your nose. 

While O'Brien may have thought this was entertaining (at his expense), it was informative for millions of viewers who wanted to know more.

"She loved what she did. She cared about people's sexual health, sexual information, and she just wanted to be of assistance to people in that way," Jane Johanson said.

"She just invented a niche for herself and did a beautiful job teaching people about sex and sexual health."

Last year a full-length documentary about her, called Sex with Sue was released. Hope to watch it one day.