Sue Johanson made it OK for Canadians to talk about sex. Here’s how she’s being remembered

The beloved — and oftentimes funny — sex educator Sue Johanson, who helped destigmatize the joy of sex, has died at 93.

“Sue paved the way for how we talk about sex and sexuality today, unafraid of shattering taboos,” the “Sex With Sue” documentary’s Twitter account posted Thursday.

“Canada lost a national treasure today but Sue’s legacy will continue to make positive change for decades to come. We love you Sue.”

The tweet is among hundreds of others honouring Johanson — from memories of learning how to put a condom on, to quirky late-night talk show skits about the legendary sex educator.

Here’s how folks are remembering Johanson, and who she was.

In memory of Sue Johanson

“Sue once came to my high school, stretched a condom over her head as far as it would go, and said to never let anyone tell us they didn’t fit,” wrote UK-based journalist Jenna Moon. “RIP legend.”

“Sue Johanson was for so many people the first person they ever heard speak frankly about sex on TV or radio without any kind of judgment or moralizing,” wrote another Twitter user, linking to a clip of Johanson on Conan O’Brien’s talk show in 2016. “RIP to a Canadian icon.”

“This is sad news,” another Twitter user posted in response to Johanson’s passing. “My dad and I would listen to her radio show in the car when I was a teenager. It helped us open the door to difficult conversations about sex. I think it also helped my immigrant dad be more open to new ideas and different choices.”

“What a warm and impactful human. Sue Johanson was progressive — a rebel with a cause. When AIDS emerged, sex and death became intertwined. She brought light to the sexual repression,” tweeted Canadian media personality George Stroumboulopoulos.

Who was Sue Johanson?

Johanson made her name in Canada and the United States talking about sex on the radio and TV, but she got her start by setting up a birth control clinic in a Toronto high school in 1970.

In 1974, she started travelling to schools across Ontario to offer sex education and her radio show, “The Sunday Night Sex Show,” hit Toronto airwaves a decade later.

That show, and its American counterpart “Talk Sex with Sue Johanson,” saw people with questions calling in about obscure acts and fetishes in hopes of shocking the matronly nurse, her daughter Jane Johanson said in an interview before the launch of the documentary “Sex with Sue.”

The real appeal, though, was her answers.

“She really cared, earnestly and honestly. It wasn’t pretend she wasn’t putting on an act. She really cared,” Johanson said.

“If people were uncomfortable with something, she tried to put them at ease. If she felt that it was a very sensitive topic that needed to be dealt with carefully and gently, she would sometimes put a call off until the end of the show and talk to people privately.”

Sue wrote three books on sexuality and toured around Canada to give talks at schools to spread the message of destigmatizing sex.

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