Daily Xtra


Xtra is an LGBTQ2-focused digital publication and former print newspaper published by Pink Triangle Press in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The publication is a continuation of the company's former print titles Xtra!, Xtra Ottawa and Xtra Vancouver, which were discontinued in 2015.

History

Xtra was founded in Toronto on February 19, 1984 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 in Vancouver and Capital Xtra! in Ottawa. 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. Xtra now operates as a digital publication.

Contributors

Past contributors to the publications have included Sandra Alland, Richard Burnett, Brenda Cossman, James Dubro, Gerald Hannon, Matthew Hays, Greg Kearney, Todd Klinck, Greg Kramer, R. W. Gray, Raziel Reid, Irshad Manji, Alex Munter, Rachel Giese, Brian Francis, and Jeffrey Round.

Other ventures

Pink Triangle Press also operates squirt.org, an online guide to cruising. The Press sold Cruiseline in March 2011.