Culture

Pride had its moments, but I’m still not ready for ‘normal’

Vancouver Pride arrived toward the end of the 2021 Pride season. But were things good enough yet to be “normal”?

By Mel Woods

Queer Culture Catch-Up

Communing butch voices, dance documentaries and writers on writing

Our recommendations for what’s up and what’s on, beginning Aug. 12

By S. Bear Bergman

TV & Film

From a drag queen street fighter biopic to a trans musical to star-crossed lovers in Kenya

These cinematic portrayals of Black queer life from around the world are as diverse as our community

By Valerie Complex

Xtra Weekly

Topline: The X-tacy of non-binary gender markers

As a non-binary person of trans experience in the U.S., Tre’vell Anderson is looking forward to options beyond “male” and “female” on government-issued ID

By Tre’vell Anderson

The Xtra Long Read

Divergent: The emerging research on the connection between trans identities and neurodivergence

The concept of “neuroqueer” helps a trans writer realize there is no one right way to wire a brain

By Jude Ellison S. Doyle

Tik Talk

The best TikToks by and about queer Olympians

The Tokyo Olympics have made it to TikTok. So have the Games’ queer stars

By Mel Woods

My Safe Space

In the darkness of the pandemic, I found light in a WhatsApp group chat

A writer with borderline personality disorder found a virtual space free from stigma and brimming with humour

By Miranda Newman

Xtra Weekly

Topline: Coming outs and clarifications

Coming out is a process. It’s okay to do a little beta testing first

By Mel Woods

Politics

What an election could mean for Canada’s LGBTQ2S+ communities

Spoiler alert: If past elections are any indication, expect broken promises

By Dale Smith

Sports

Non-binary skateboarder brings joy and pronouns to Olympics

U.S. skateboarder Alana Smith proudly showed off their pronoun pin and they/them board during their event

By Mel Woods

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

By Alena Papayanis

Xtra Weekly

Topline: Things need to get better for everybody, not just some people

It’s hard to watch crackdowns on LGBTQ+ people in China and other countries

By Paul Gallant

Sports

Your big queer and trans guide to the Tokyo Olympics

Despite controversies, coronavirus and cancellations, the Olympics are happening. Here’s what you need to know.

By Mel Woods

Protest and Pleasure

Screw capitalism: For love to actually win, we need a revolution

In the fifth installment of the “Protest and Pleasure” series, why marriage equality isn’t the key to our liberation and how capitalism is bad for sex lives

By Chanelle Gallant

My Safe Space

How queer-friendly Shabbat helped me fully embrace my Jewish heritage

When I bring in Shabbat, I get to do so with other queer Jews—not because I have to, but because I choose to

By Emily Zinkin

HIV/AIDS

Coming of age during the AIDS crisis: A dialogue

Authors Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore and Alexander McClelland discuss how a lost generation of queers came out, grieved and thrived through the height of the epidemic

By Alexander McClelland, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

Music

How on earth does Elle Barbara, a celebrated mother of Montreal’s ballroom scene, make music while doing so much mentoring?

Never mind the inter-house rivalries, vogue still has the power to bring people together

By Jesse Locke

Power

When investigations into the deaths of trans women go unsolved

A veteran journalist explores what the Bruce McArthur case can teach us about other unsolved murder investigations and the policing of sex work

By Nour Abi-Nakhoul