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.

Power

Trans in isolation: Four non-binary and trans folks on the realities of COVID-19

From the courage to come out, to freedom from misgendering, to the pains of quarantine dysphoria

By Eli Cugini, Griffin Wynne, Niko Stratis, Thomas O'Donnell

TV & Film

‘One Day at a Time’ healed my inner queer child

We need queer Latinx heroes like Elena Alvarez to set us free

By Daisy Becerra

Personal Essay

The barbershop is a refuge for Black men—but not if they’re queer

I grew up in the shop, a space for straight Black men to seek support, friendship and community. But for queer men like me, it’s hardly a haven

By Juwan J. Holmes

Ask Kai: Advice for the Apocalypse

I came out as non-binary and the people in my life are struggling to understand. How do I seek acceptance for my identity while advocating for my own needs?

By Kai Cheng Thom

Culture

The Try Guys’ Eugene Lee Yang on his viral coming out

‘It wasn’t me just coming out as gay, it was me coming out as 100 percent myself’

By Jon Higgins

Love Like Mine

Coming out to David Sedaris

How meeting one of my heroes reminded me to love my feminine self

By Avneet Sharma

Love Like Mine

How weekly trips to the theatre with my father helped me come out as gay

He learned that my sexuality didn’t entirely define me

By Joey Moser

Love Like Mine

I came out as trans while in a heterosexual relationship

‘He said he was not attracted to men — even the man who used to be his girlfriend’

By Jonathan U

Coming Out

Queer and here: LGBT Canadian youth come out to immigrant families

LGBT Canadian youth talk about coming out to a family that might have a different point of view

By Jordan Steinhauer

Love Like Mine

How coming out to my wife changed our relationship — for the better

‘She told me I must now embrace the man I was always supposed to be’

By Max Morgan

Bisexuality

Six Canadians talk about why bisexual visibility matters to them

By Xtra Video

Love & Sex

A new Toronto service aims to help LGBT people stay safe while dating

It will allow people to discreetly provide information about where they’re going and who they’re meeting

By Arshy Mann

Love & Sex

When motherhood feels out of reach as a young lesbian

I had been obsessed with procreating since I could stand on two feet. But what happens when that path becomes obscured by who you fall in love with?

By Jessie Randall

Opinion

How my love of an ’80s musical made me the ultimate Xanadude

Seeing Xanadu again 37 years later brought back fond memories of my gay adolescence

By Tony Correia

Opinion

What it’s like to talk to your doctor about sexual health when you’re bisexual

There’s a misconception that bi people are just going through a phase — but what if our doctors believe it too?

By Kate Sloan

Power

This LGBT group just made history in Vancouver’s Vaisakhi parade

‘There is nothing homophobic in the Sikh culture or the Sikh bible,’ says Sher founder

By Derek Brown

Power

Battleground Barbados: LGBT activists face off against North American homophobes in the Caribbean

LGBT Bajans face regular harassment and discrimination on the island. And some fear that it’s about to get worse

By Arshy Mann

Power

‘How many months can we stay alive?’: Meet the Iranian-Indian couple abandoned by Canada

Alireza and Kiran are struggling to survive in Turkey after Canada halted their resettlement to prioritize Syrian refugees

By Dylan C Robertson