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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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Mel Woods

Senior editor Mel Woods is an English-speaking Vancouver-based writer, editor and audio producer and a former associate editor with HuffPost Canada. A proud prairie queer and ranch dressing expert, their work has also appeared in Vice, Slate, the Tyee, the CBC, the Globe and Mail and the Walrus.

Here’s how the U.S. government is defining ‘biological sex’
Video

Here’s how the U.S. government is defining ‘biological sex’

ANALYSIS: A new document featuring the administration’s attempt to categorize ‘two sexes’ is needlessly convoluted and contradictory

February 21, 2025
What’s going on with Trump’s cuts to PrEP funding?
Video

What’s going on with Trump’s cuts to PrEP funding?

The president’s freeze on foreign aid has raised many questions about HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in the U.S. and abroad

February 19, 2025
How easy is it to just ‘move to Canada’?
Video

How easy is it to just ‘move to Canada’?

ANALYSIS: While many queer and trans people might consider fleeing the U.S., it’s important to understand the complexities of Canada’s immigration system

February 14, 2025
How to survive the ‘shock and awe’ Trump news cycle
Video

How to survive the ‘shock and awe’ Trump news cycle

Two weeks into his second presidency, it has felt like a nonstop onslaught of news. Here are three ways to cope

February 10, 2025
What happens when we erase trans people and gender from CDC research?
Video

What happens when we erase trans people and gender from CDC research?

ANALYSIS: The Trump administration’s directive to purge CDC research and data from mentions of gender will have broad impacts

February 5, 2025
How Trump’s attack on gender-affirming care for youth could impact trans adults
Video

How Trump’s attack on gender-affirming care for youth could impact trans adults

ANALYSIS: From rejecting WPATH to a chill on doctors, we break down how the president’s executive order might influence care for adults in addition to young people

January 29, 2025
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How Trump’s gender executive order hints at reproductive rights fight
Video

How Trump’s gender executive order hints at reproductive rights fight

ANALYSIS: The focus on a person “at conception” forecasts more federal attacks on reproductive rights to come

January 21, 2025
Trump’s ‘revolution of common sense’ is already decimating  trans rights
Video

Trump’s ‘revolution of common sense’ is already decimating trans rights

ANALYSIS: In one of his first executive orders, the new president called for the erasure of federal recognition of trans people

January 20, 2025
Why did Danielle Smith meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago?
Video

Why did Danielle Smith meet with Trump at Mar-a-Lago?

Social media photos show the Alberta premier cavorting with a variety of conservative figures at Trump’s golf resort

January 13, 2025
Why queer people should worry about Meta’s new hate speech guidelines
Video

Why queer people should worry about Meta’s new hate speech guidelines

ANALYSIS: In promising to allow “discourse about transgenderism,” Zuckerberg and Meta make a clear political choice

January 8, 2025
Justin Trudeau is resigning. What happens next?
Video

Justin Trudeau is resigning. What happens next?

The Canadian prime minister announced that he will step down and have his Liberal Party choose a new leader to lead them into the next election

January 7, 2025
What 2024’s biggest films say about the future of trans cinema
Rainbow Rewind 2024

What 2024’s biggest films say about the future of trans cinema

“Emilia Pérez” is set to dominate awards season. Here’s hoping its success opens doors for other, better trans stories on screen

December 16, 2024
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Second Alberta town votes to ban Pride flags, rainbow crosswalks
Video

Second Alberta town votes to ban Pride flags, rainbow crosswalks

Barrhead residents voted this week in favour of new “neutrality” bylaw

December 3, 2024
Xtra Explains: Parental rights
Xtra Explains

Xtra Explains: Parental rights

What does Canadian law actually say when it comes to the rights of parents and trans kids?

November 21, 2024
Xtra Explains: Social vs. medical transition
Xtra Explains

Xtra Explains: Social vs. medical transition

Media and politicians like to fixate on the medical aspects of transition. But for most trans youth, social transition plays a much bigger part in their lives

November 11, 2024
Could Canadian conservatives copy Trump’s anti-trans messaging?
Video

Could Canadian conservatives copy Trump’s anti-trans messaging?

The president-elect’s final ad push—and subsequent election win—may have Canada’s right looking to lean in on anti-trans messaging

November 7, 2024
Xtra Explains: Detransition
Xtra Explains

Xtra Explains: Detransition

In reality, only around three percent of trans people experience some form of regret

November 6, 2024
UCP AGM signals that more anti-trans laws could be coming for Alberta
Video

UCP AGM signals that more anti-trans laws could be coming for Alberta

Danielle Smith’s party passed resolutions at their AGM this weekend including a bathroom bill and defunding gender-affirming healthcare for all ages

November 4, 2024
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