Announcing the launch of ‘Script’

Healthcare simply isn’t working for many queer and trans people.

Exclusive research commissioned by Pink Triangle Press, Xtra’s parent company, shows that, on average, we experience anxiety and depression roughly 50 percent more than non-queer people. When broken down by our various identities, the research finds that overall health outcomes are much worse for some of us. Trans, intersex, asexual, questioning and pansexual people fare especially poorly. 

That research, alongside years worth of input from Xtra readers, were the driving forces behind Script, a new, one-stop destination for credible and accessible LGBTQ2S+ health information. Script is published in both English and French.

Script’s website officially launched this morning along with social media accounts on Bluesky, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. We’ve also started signup for Script’s three newsletters, which will launch in January.

Xtra readers are owed a lot of credit for the birth of Script. In fact, you were the inspiration. 

Since I joined Pink Triangle Press three years ago, readers have repeatedly emailed and communicated clearly in reader surveys that there is a need for more resource-based health information for queer and trans people. That feedback created our guiding principles and helped us decide that we could better fill the void by dedicating an entire product to health.

The launch of Script means the majority of health-related stories will be published on our new website instead of here on Xtra. Ziya Jones, formerly Xtra’s senior editor, health, is moving full-time to Script as managing editor. That means you’ll still be in the same compassionate and trustworthy hands you’ve come to love. 

Not only does Script promise to be timely and relevant for people of all ages. It also aims to reflect the complexity of how factors such as race, class, citizenship status and disability affect the ways people move through the world and the impacts this has on health outcomes.

Key points of our promise to readers include serving as:
 

• A guide and resource LGBTQ2S+ people can use to find answers to questions that are unique to their needs
    
• A space where queer and trans people see themselves and their health perspectives front and centre
    
 
• A publication that advocates for equity in services

Many of you also took part in a nationwide research project earlier this year, exploring the state of healthcare for queer and trans Canadians. That research has been compiled and analyzed for a Pink Paper on health, which is planned for release in January 2026. Led by the advocacy team at Pink Triangle Press team, it’s filled with exclusive insight and recommended solutions for the healthcare challenges many of you face every day. 

Input from the Xtra community has truly made the creation of Script feel special. We hope you’ll join us on the journey.