The Citizen ignores LGBTQ voices
Since the March 2 article on Travis Shaw’s conviction for luring a child, The Citizen has seemed determined to stick to their portrayal of Shaw as an LGBTQ advocate known for helping establish the Northern Pride Centre (NPC) and “drafting anti-harassment policies” for school districts. I’ve been active in the Prince George LGBTQ community for years. I never encountered Shaw as a board member, organizer or volunteer for any LGBTQ resources, or contributing at all except to promote his career as a drag queen (Foxy De-Rossi).
When I inquired about their sources, The Citizen directed me to their archives on Shaw – largely interviews based on Shaw’s statements alone.
In the LGBTQ community, Shaw is known for grandiose claims and dubious stories about celebrities. So sure, there should be actual records of Shaw engaging in specific roles and events, to back up The Citizen’s claims. And sure, The Citizen should probably be wary of publishing numerous articles based mainly on Shaw’s ambiguous, self-reported achievements.
But vague claims are hard to object to. I objected to specific claims: that Shaw helped establish the Northern Pride Centre, or drafted policy (in the case of School District 57).
I witnessed the founding of the NPC by hard working activists – Shaw was not one of them. I attended meetings and traded emails with people involved in shaping the LGBTQ policies for SD57 – I never saw Shaw. To my knowledge, The Citizen did not reach out to the NPC founding board or school districts (including SD57) to verify these claims.
The Citizen also ignored LGBTQ activists who wrote in to refute them; urging The Citizen to contact NPC founders, read minutes and verify sources.
You can find minutes for SD57 meetings online ( with every mention of LGBTQ policy from 1999- present.
From the original policy suggested Nov. 22, 2011 to discussions on May 29, 2012, numerous representatives, parents, agencies and community members weigh in. You can even find me, in the Nov. 26, 2013 minutes, representing the Gender Team. If Shaw drafted policies for school districts, the records are suspiciously hard to find.
I’ve been personally involved with the Northern Pride Centre (NPC). I marched with other LGBTQ students to demand a space. I was present when the Northern Undergraduate Student Society ( nugss. unbc.ca) granted us a room thanks to the work of NPC founders like Marli Bodhi and Reeanna Bradley. I was an NPC volunteer from 2010-2014, and held three board positions. I never saw Shaw – not on the board, committees or the publicly posted volunteer schedules.
My emails about the article’s claims were met with condescension and dismissal.
Though editor-in-chief Neil Godbout told me Shaw’s interview statements were a reliable “primary source,” other LGBTQ voices apparently do not qualify for that courtesy.
Instead on March 5, Godbout wrote a condescending article about how “sad” it was that we wanted to “whitewash” Shaw out of our community.
Believe me, we couldn’t erase Shaw if we tried – he loves interviews and cameras.
It was Godbout who decided to erase our history, over the testimony of people who were a part of it – to erase us from events we witnessed and work we did. The Citizen’s archives do hold a few articles on Shaw’s actual achievements – for example, mentoring a young drag queen. Why not report on these instead? Godbout eventually admitted to me by email (and has now disclosed publicly) that The Citizen’s claims about Shaw helping establish the NPC came from the sentencing judge. As if this absolves him of proper reporting when the March 2 article was immediately challenged, or an alarming lack of interest in why the judge stated something that has been quickly decried as false. Wouldn’t that be an interesting story?
Ley Fraser, BSc., M.A. NPC Secretary 2011, Volunteer Coordinator and Acting VP, 2013-14 Co-founder and assistant director, Transform: Trans and Non Binary Youth and Family Support With the support and assistance of: Rachel Bates, Co-founder and director, Transform: Trans and Non Binary Youth and Family Support NPC Volunteer, 2010-2014 Krystal Vandenberg, BSW NPC 2013/2014, Librarian 2014-2015, President 2015 – Jan of 2018. Marli Bodhi, BPl Co-founder, NPC Program Director & Volunteer Coordinator (2009-2011) Alex Wagstaffe, B.A. Active NPC Member, 2010-2012