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Xtra is an online magazine and community platform covering LGBTQ2S+ culture, politics and health. We aim to break boundaries, think outside of binaries and build bridges within our communities and beyond.

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Alena Papayanis

Alena Papayanis

Alena Papayanis is a later-in-life-lesbian, professor, Tiktok content creator and freelance writer whose work has been published in The Globe and Mail, HuffPost, Chatelaine, Refinery29, Xtra Magazine and FASHION Magazine.

  • https://www.alenapapayanis.com/
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Is a love that starts out red-hot more likely to be a love that burns out?
Love Like Mine

Is a love that starts out red-hot more likely to be a love that burns out?

When I was ready to dive deeper, she started pulling away. I barely had the skills to handle it

July 25, 2022
I came out later in life. I’ve never felt more free—nor more alone
Identity

I came out later in life. I’ve never felt more free—nor more alone

Before I could find belonging among fellow queers, I first needed to learn how to belong to myself

July 23, 2021
The physics of a failed relationship
Love Like Mine

The physics of a failed relationship

We were like two subatomic particles moving in space, never really able to be in the same place or time

June 22, 2021
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