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.

Marriage Equality

Queer Indians vow to continue fighting after Supreme Court denies same-sex marriage

The ruling is a major setback after LGBTQ+ Indians have notched big victories over the past decade

By Rob Salerno

Xtra News Flash

Nashville shooting blame game, censoring ‘Rainbowland,’ media progress in India, Twitter’s hateful cash haul and ‘Wizards of Waverly Place’ queer rumours confirmed

5 queer and trans news stories we’re watching: March 29

By Maddy Mahoney

Books

In this debut story collection from Anuja Varghese, horror and shame commingle with joy and transformation

REVIEW: With “Chrysalis,” Anuja Varghese’s protagonists reject fairy-tale lives, embracing the unexpected

By H Felix Chau Bradley

Xtra News Flash

Oscars make history, rural Pride networks, India and same-sex marriage, Scream VI is super gay and queer Juno winners

5 queer and trans news stories we’re watching the week of March 13

By Eve Cable

History

Indian activists embrace the power of queer archiving to rebalance history

In a world where only the loudest and most powerful voices get heard, the preservation of historical documents give voice to the unrepresented

By Pawan Dhall

Education

Free school for trans people opens in Pakistan, offers technical skills and education

Nearly all of the school’s instructors are also trans

By Ursula Muñoz S.

Identity

India sees historic firsts for LGBTQ+ rights

On the heels of two Supreme Court petitions arguing to legalize same-sex marriage, Delhi just got its first trans representative

By Maddy Mahoney

Activism

This fundraiser is helping queer and trans flood victims in Pakistan

A GoFundMe is trying to fill the gap left by mainstream non-profits

By Sara Hashemi

Power

Pakistan’s trans community fears loss of protections as senator launches attack on trans rights bill

The landmark 2018 bill, which provides discrimination protections, is under attack by the country’s largest religious party

By Diamond Yao

Love Like Mine

All I wanted was to make my family happy, until I found what made me happy

PERSONAL ESSAY: An epic love story between an Iraqi Arab and a Punjabi Sikh

By Hasan Namir

Health

India is facing a massive shortage of life-saving HIV drugs

Activists and doctors are raising the alarm as 500,000 Indians are left without treatment

By Mzwandile Poncana

HIV/AIDS

These 39 countries are still criminalizing people for transmitting HIV during sex

A new report finds that more than 270 people have been arrested for HIV transmission since 2019

By Nico Lang

Marriage Equality

10 same-sex marriage battlegrounds around the globe

The U.S. Supreme Court may be threatening to reverse progress on LGBTQ2S+ rights, but countries the world over are pushing marriage equality forward

By Rob Salerno

Justice

U.N. calls to repeal laws criminalizing lesbian sex in historic declaration

Victory by a Sri Lankan activist may impact 43 countries which outlaw sexual relations between women

By Nico Lang

Identity

The transmasculine community searching for a place in Bangladesh

The possibility of being Bangladeshi and transmasculine without any models to look up to frightened writer Mikail Khan. What they say trans folks need in the country to thrive

By Mikail Khan