Rainbow Rewind 2023

Righteous Queens and Shady Bitches 2023

An annual tradition returns: the highs and the lows of the past year, personified

By Xtra Staff

Queer Ink

20 Canadian queer and trans tattooers to check out

New year, new ink? Check out some picks for artists to inspire your next tattoo

By Ashleigh-Rae Thomas, Mel Woods, Phoebe Fuller

Rainbow Rewind 2023

Xtra’s top LGBTQ2S+ stories of the year

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

By Xtra Staff

Rainbow Rewind 2023

How the moral panic around ‘parental rights’ in Canada defined 2023

ANALYSIS: The fight to protect trans and gender-diverse kids is far from over

By Dale Smith

Tech

YouTube is no longer the default site for coming out online, but its legacy lives on

ANALYSIS: What do Troye Sivan, Gigi Gorgeous, Tom Daley and Dodie have in common? They all came out on YouTube. But the platform is no longer as central to queer and trans narratives

By Jon Heggestad

Art & Photography

‘Renegades’ documents the queer history Chloe Sherman helped create

“Renegades: San Francisco, The 1990s” captures a vital and vibrant era of queer and trans life

By Cooper Lee Bombardier

Justice

The legal case for teachers defying anti-trans laws

OPINION: A petition calling on teachers to violate Saskatchewan’s anti-trans Parents’ Bill of Rights could help the cause of striking it down

By Charlotte Dalwood

Sports

Majority of non-binary youth aren’t participating in team sports

First study of its kind looks at some of the reasons why

By Michelle Kay

Activism

Roz Kaveney on a lifetime of fighting for trans rights

The writer, poet and anti-TERF activist reflects on half a century of fighting for trans rights

By Jude Ellison S. Doyle

Sports

Meet the trans NHL organist who’s doing things her way

Anaheim Ducks organist Lindsay Imber is using her visibility to boost inclusion in hockey

By Frankie de la Cretaz

Activism

Activists are teaming up to spotlight trans issues ahead of U.S. election

As anti-LGBTQ2S+ discrimination shakes the U.S. South, a non-profit and team of activists join together to bring visibility to trans lives in South Carolina

By Alina Kim

TV & Film

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

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

By Barry Levitt

Identity

New resource creates guide for trans people changing names or gender markers

Transpapers auto-fills legal forms for Michigan residents changing their legal documents. Every state should have this tool

By Jeff Fuentes Gleghorn

Censorship

A Catholic school board in Ontario is accused of shadow banning LGBTQ2S+ books

“This is how homophobia works. It’s just plain and simple,” says Danny Ramadan, author of one of the targeted books

By Emma Bainbridge

Nightlife

Queer people of colour are still left out of Chicago’s queer neighbourhood

Local drag performers say the area mostly serves affluent white men

By Adam Rhodes

Dangerous Space

Trans kids are people, not property

OPINION: Conservative politicians across Canada have signalled their support for so-called “parental rights.” But children and youth have rights of their own

By Kai Cheng Thom

Sports

For queer and disabled athletes, Danielle Peers ‘changed the conversation’

The non-binary Paralympic wheelchair basketball medalist was just named to Canada’s Order of Sport

By Julia Peterson

Identity

The recent AI yearbook trend made me think about the girlhood I could have had

“I was intrigued by how it might let me have and hold something that had always seemed ephemeral and out of reach”

By Veronica Esposito