The best and brightest—even most bewildering—stories from a back catalogue brimming with insight

This year, we loved these tunes from Chappell Roan, 100 gecs, Janelle Monáe and more!

Our culture maven S. Bear Bergman has some terrific suggestions on navigating family drama and crafting your own traditions

Plus drag queen Pattie Gonia’s environmental anthem performed with trans Indigenous singer-songwriter Quinn Christopherson and acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma

ANALYSIS: While the new biopic “Maestro” embraces Bernstein’s queerness, it still leaves questions lingering

Plus Kareem Khubchandani, W.A.W. Parker and a queer theatre series online

“It’s okay to need help. It’s okay to get your heart broken and start over”

Plus a spooky love ballad and goth beach party

REVIEW: Beautifully acted and directed, this lesbian conductor movie has a heroine you can root for

The Wolastoqiyik composer hopes his second album and cross-country tour conjures up queer magic

“Bands like MUNA are a breath of fresh air”

“My path is through my voice,” says the brashly articulate rapper based in Calgary

The series follows Vivek Shraya’s desire to become “brown Madonna” and grapples with “what happens when a star isn’t born”

OPINION: Reaction to Stevens’s tragic tribute to his late partner shows the nuance of queer life in the spotlight

“Why Mariah Carey Matters” is an ode to the Songbird Supreme and the queers who love her

Plus national treasure Walter Borden is onstage in Toronto

Plus new releases from tip/toe, Tinashe, Lola Wild and Eartheater

Plus Danny Ramadan’s new children’s book and more

Music

Xtra’s top LGBTQ2S+ stories of the year

The queer and trans songs we couldn’t get enough of in 2023

Holidays got you blue? Here’s some joy and fight and warm hugs

New tunes from Sleater-Kinney and Kevin Abstract

Leonard Bernstein was a towering genius, a man of multitudes. Addressing his sexuality is no easy feat

Hot thrills from João Dall’Stella and a sexy musical with Baby Tate

Eclectic hip-hop artist Damez gets vulnerable with ‘Hell Now, Heaven Later’

Hot new music from Brittany Howard, DijahSB, Psymon Spine and Kali Uchis

‘Days of Happiness’ is not a Canadian ‘Tár’

Jeremy Dutcher: The Two-Spirit artist singing to a generation of ‘rainbow children’

A love letter to MUNA’s Sapphic pop joy

Rapper Tea Fannie speaks up for trans kids with smooth rhymes

‘How to Fail as a Popstar’ asks us to make space for failure

Sufjan Stevens and the complexity of coming out

New book an ode to the Songbird Supreme and her queer fan base

Crooning country from Mitski and COBRAH’s bisexual anthem top the tune-up this month

Put music from Sister Wife Sex Strike, Venezuelan film ‘Bad Hair’ and a Coyote Joe Stevens musical on your culture calendar