Why the name "6PC"?

6PC started out as a private initiative to get to know some fellow consultants abroad. It was originally called Pink Consultants, or PC in short. For decades, in Europe, pink has been the "gay colour" in memory of the pink triangles which gay men and women had to wear in the Nazi concentration camps of WW2. It is now more and more replaced by the rainbow, its colours symbolising diversity.

PC also means Politically Correct and Personal Computer. I thought it was fun to make use of the triple meaning, so the name changed to PCPCPC ~ and the Network was subsequently launched, simply as 3PC.

We never intended to grow big and create a website, but things got a little "out of hand". When the Network reached a higher level of organization and we decided to set up a domain, we found that a 3PC - and a 4PC and a 5PC domain already existed so 6PC seemed to be the easiest option. Early 2002, the domain name www.6PC.info was finally registered.

This is how we got the "6"… which, as you can see, has no real meaning.

In the meantime the "C" had lost its meaning, because by now many other professions had joined (not just consultants).

You may also wonder if the "P" still stands for something… but all these considerations are not relevant. 6PC is a name in itself now, just as 3M no longer really means Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company.

So - the official name is The 6PC Network, or more officially "6PC ~ International Network for Gay Professionals". We have considered adding Lesbian (as we do have and welcome female members!), but to avoid the distraction from focus due to politically correct labelling (with a full, but still incomplete "Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender") we have decided not to adopt such a name.

Having said that, everyone is welcome to join. We even have straight members, who happen to be gay friendly and were interested in joining. No reason for us to change our name to include "Gay Friendly".... if you know what I mean.

Historically, "gay" means happy and has been used for men and women for ages, before the American "PC" mafia decided that short people are vertically challenged and black people can only be addressed as African Americans. How denigrating!

The Network is dubbed "professional" but equally serves personal and social purposes.

Finally, feel free to pronounce 6PC in your own language…

Alfred Verhoeven
Founder