''Xtra Magazine'' (formerly ''DailyXtra'' and ''Xtra!'') is an LGBTQ-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
. The publication is a continuation of the company's former print titles ''Xtra!'', '' Xtra Ottawa'', and ''
Xtra Vancouver
''Xtra Vancouver'' (), formerly ''Xtra! West'', was a gay bi-weekly newspaper, published by Pink Triangle Press in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Printed on newsprint in tabloid format from its establishment in 1993, Pink Triangle Press ...
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and par ...
'', January 14, 2015.
History
''Xtra'' was founded in Toronto on February 19, 1984 (with a March cover date) by Pink Triangle Press, a not-for-profit organization. It was introduced as a four-page tabloid, as a way to broaden PTP's Toronto readership. Pink Triangle Press had previously published '' The Body Politic''. From 1990 to 2000, ''Xtra'' published a quarterly literary supplement, '' The Church-Wellesley Review'', for work by LGBTQ2 fiction and poetry writers.
In 1993, ''Xtra'' expanded, adding ''
Xtra! West
''Xtra Vancouver'' (), formerly ''Xtra! West'', was a gay bi-weekly newspaper, published by Pink Triangle Press in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Printed on newsprint in tabloid format from its establishment in 1993, Pink Triangle Press ...
'' in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
and ''
Capital Xtra!
''Xtra Ottawa'' (formerly ''Capital Xtra'') was a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community newspaper published in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was launched in 1993. Unlike its biweekly sister publications '' Xtra'' in Toronto and '' Xtra Va ...
'' in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the c ...
. The three ''Xtra'' papers also produced an annual ''Ultimate Pride Guide'' and an annual lesbian and gay business directory called ''Index''. ''Xtra'' and ''Xtra! West'' were published biweekly, while ''Capital Xtra!'' was initially published as a monthly with its publication frequency later expanding to every three weeks.
The Vancouver and Ottawa publications were renamed ''Xtra Vancouver'' and ''Xtra Ottawa'' in the late 2000s, while the Toronto edition retained the name ''Xtra''.
The final print issues of ''Xtra Vancouver'' and ''Xtra Ottawa'' appeared on February 12, 2015, while the Toronto edition's final print issue was published on the newspaper's 31st anniversary, February 19, 2015."Gay publisher Xtra to embrace digital, close print" ''Xtra'', January 14, 2015. The publications continued online as a digital publication, initially under the name ''Daily Xtra'' before reverting to the ''Xtra'' name.
Contributors
Past contributors to the publications have included Sandra Alland,
Richard Burnett
Richard Burnett, also known as Bugs Burnett, is a Canadian writer, editor, journalist, and columnist. He is known as an often controversial fixture of the Montreal media, with his writing sometimes attracting attention internationally. His column ...
Gerald Hannon
Gerald Hannon (July 10, 1944 – May 9, 2022) was a Canadian journalist whose work appeared in major Canadian magazines and newspapers.Robert Aldrich and Garry Wotherspoon, eds., ''Who's Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History''. Routledge, 2 ...
,
Matthew Hays
Matthew Hays is a Canadian film critic, writer, film festival programmer and academic. He won a Lambda Literary Award for his 2007 book '' The View from Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers''.
Hays teaches film studies, journalism ...
,
Greg Kearney
Greg Kearney is a Canadian writer. He was a humour columnist for ''Xtra!'' from 1999 to 2005, and published his debut short story collection ''Mommy Daddy Baby'' in 2004.
Born in Kenora, Ontario,Todd Klinck, Greg Kramer, R. W. Gray, Raziel Reid, Irshad Manji,
Alex Munter
Alexander Mathias Munter (born April 29, 1968) is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), and a former elected official and business owner in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Advocacy
Thro ...
squirt.org
Squirt.org, launched by Pink Triangle Press in 1999, is a Canadian website which describes itself as a place "where men meet other men for sex, cruising, hookups, dating, fun and friendship". The website, based in Toronto, is available worldwide ...
, an online guide to cruising. The Press sold Cruiseline in March 2011.
See also
*
List of newspapers in Canada
This list of newspapers in Canada is a list of newspapers printed and distributed in Canada. Daily newspapers
Local weeklies
Alberta
* Airdrie – '' Airdrie Echo''
* Bashaw – '' Bashaw Star''
* Bassano – '' Bassano Times''
* Beaumont â ...