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.

Queering Death

Queer death doulas are bringing pleasure and eroticism to end of life

Just as they do in life, kink and eroticism can play a role in death

By Zena Sharman

Books

‘Boyslut’ offers enlightened smut that shakes up the queer memoir shelf

Bisexual sex columnist Zachary Zane’s memoir says “fuck you” to sexual shame and “fuck me” to just about everyone else

By Kevin Hurren

Ask Kai: Quickies

How can I ask someone to fulfill my mommy fantasy?

When it comes to kinky sex, it’s best to test the waters first

By Xtra Video

Love & Sex

How a story about spanking helped me find myself

For queer and trans readers, erotica can provide a roadmap for realizing our truest selves

By Andy Bandyopadhyay

Identity

12 LGBTQ2S+ emojis we need now

New emojis are added to the Emojipedia yearly, but we still have some suggestions

By Mel Woods

Ask an Expert

How to get started with dominance and submission

Rope bondage expert Midori on playful, lighthearted, compassionate kink

By Andy Bandyopadhyay

Power

The best clapbacks to the ‘no kink at Pride’ discourse

Leather, kink, bare asses and a titty or two are a fundamental part of Pride

By Mel Woods

Books

‘Kink’ anthology explores desire, BDSM and pleasure across the sexual spectrum

Kink is rarely portrayed to its fullest, queerest potential in popular culture. Editors R.O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell decided to remedy that

By Ilana Masad

Opinion

How do we talk about consent in gay social spaces?

Talking about consent in these environments can be challenging, but it’s the only way we’ll learn to be conscious of each other’s limits

By Aeryn Pfaff

Opinion

How piss play helped me get over childhood shame

My relationship with piss has always been fraught with negative associations. Now it’s one of my greatest forms of intimacy

By Katie Sly

Opinion

Japanese rope bondage taught me that kink bonds last forever

A kink partnership never really ends — you take the skills you learned into new relationships

By Katie Sly

Opinion

A client wanted me to hold a knife to his throat (Part 2)

He’s given me more details for this role-play than any of my other clients, but the more precisely laid out the scene, the more ways it can go wrong

By Devon Delacroix

Opinion

What just happened to kink social network FetLife is a bad sign for web freedom

Moral policing determines what’s bought and sold online

By Niko Bell

Opinion

How I became an unsuspecting Master (Part 4)

Suddenly, I notice a small serrated kitchen knife in his left hand

By Devon Delacroix

Opinion

How I became an unsuspecting Master (Part 3)

Given the wad of cash he threw down, I should probably stick around for a couple of hours

By Devon Delacroix

Arts

Out in Toronto: Jan 12–18, 2017

Choice events in the city this week

By Jeremy Willard

Opinion

Muscle worship at Tawan Bar (Part 2)

Am I into sthenolagnia?

By Mike Miksche

Opinion

How I became an unsuspecting Master (Part 1)

He already knew my name when he sent me a drink at the bar

By Devon Delacroix