"If I could have one thing from the outside to warm me up, I would have a loved one. What better warmth is there but the warmth from those you love?"

BREAKING: We've found 40+ cases of agents using banned chokeholds & other moves that can cut off breathing People have had seizures. They passed out. “I felt like I was going to die” said 16-yr-old citizen Admin won't say whether any agents have been punished www.propublica.org/article/vide...

I’m not exaggerating when I say that I’ve been thinking about this essay by @razorfemme.bsky.social since she filed the first draft. www.script.health/article/agin...

We’re here, we’re queer, and we feel pretty bad! @razorfemme.bsky.social’s first instalment of her new column 'The Struggle Is Real', ‘Can the mainstream mental healthcare system protect its queer clients?’ is now live on Script: www.script.health/article/arti...

My first piece for the newly launched queer health magazine @scripthealth.bsky.social takes a look at post-nonmonogamy. So happy to have been invited to contribute. More to come!

This month, after almost a year of development, we launched a whole new publication! @scripthealth.bsky.social is a brand new platform dedicated to covering LGBTQ2S+ health in a period where our rights and healthcare access are under extreme threat. www.script.health

Alberta just introduced Bill 9, which exists for one and only one purpose: deleting the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as it pertains to trans kids, denying them the right to life and stripping their healthcare away. This is cruel, anti-democratic and anti-constitutional.

La semaine dernière, Eris Nyx et Jeremy Kalicum, deux membres de DULF (Front de libération des usagers de drogues ou ‘Drug User Liberation Front’), ont été reconnu•e•s coupables d’accusations de trafic de drogue. La bataille juridique n'est pas terminée.

Last week, two members of the Drug User Liberation Front were found guilty of drug trafficking charges in the B.C. Supreme Court. In a collab between Xtra and our new sister site @scripthealth.bsky.social, @ziyajones.bsky.social breaks down what you need to know

Introducing Script, your one-stop shop for LGBTQ2S+ health information xtramagazine.com/inside-xtra/...

Sorting files called, like, "HowtoSquirt_CE" furiously on a Google drive, listening to Fatboy Slim remix feeling like a hamster on a damn wheel.......they made this job in a lab for me

New from 404 Media: the Discord hack is every users' worst nightmare. Yesterday the hackers started posting Discord users' selfies, identity documents, email addresses, phone numbers, more. I watched in real time. This is risk of tech storing ID for age verification www.404media.co/the-discord-...

Here's the latest on Canadians aboard Freedom Flotilla vessel the Conscience, who were taken by Israeli forces early this morning. So far, political leaders have been silent. I also reached out to Canada's ambassador to Israel, who has not yet responded.

These Supreme Court oral arguments on conversion therapy are going to be painful. No matter what is said, know that trying to force someone to be what they're not is psychological torture with measurable negative consequences, and anyone trying to defend such efforts is a bigoted monster.

RIP Business Insider

Hi! I'll soon be looking to work with bilingual (Fr/Eng) freelance writers, editors, FCers + copy editors on content related to LGBTQ2S+ health. Is this you? If so, say hi below and tell me what you do. A call for pitches coming later (please don't pitch for now!) and work would start around fall

Some detainees claim guards are doling out discipline for questioning rules — including standing in the hot Florida sun for extended periods. Officials deny the charge. (reporting via WLRN)

Wrote about why Quebec's new prison policy isn't what we need to keep incarcerated women safe in the province, the state of QC provincial prisons and what this policy tells us about the nature of anti-trans discourse in the province, too. xtramagazine.com/health/quebe...

There are six trans people incarcerated in QC provincial prisons. Six. That's 0.1 % of the incarcerated population. This is a highly politicized move that will have an outsize impact on a tiny # of people. This doesn't bode well for other comité des sages "findings." www.ctvnews.ca/montreal/art...

Superbe résumé d’un enjeu perpétuellement frustrant: le gouvernement canadien refuse de décriminaliser le VIH. merci @ziyajones.bsky.social ! youtube.com/shorts/a2XzI... and admirably concise 2min20seconds on a topic that has concerned and frustrated activists for over 25 years! @xtramagazine.com

What is often misunderstood and misrepresented, gender-affirming care is not exclusive to transgender people; it encompasses a variety of actions that many people engage in daily, explain @xtramagazine.com editors @melwoods.me and @ziyajones.bsky.social on Unravelled.

Here it is xtramagazine.com/culture/musi...

From the New York Times, a 5 part podcast ignoring their own role in fomenting a moral panic targeting trans youth.

The Québec government’s “comité des sages” report about gender identity is out. Xtra did some analysis about the formation of the committee back in the day: vm.tiktok.com/ZMSMvLBdF/

CMA launches legal challenge to Alberta law limiting access to treatment for #transgender youth. Bill 26 bars docs from prescribing puberty blockers, hormone therapies to those under 16, by @kkirkup.bsky.social @alannasmith.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... @theglobeandmail.com

Republicans in Utah commissioned an investigation into gender-affirming care for trans youth after banning it in 2023. They're now rejecting the findings of that investigation which showed access to care reduced suicides and improved "positive mental health and psychosocial functioning outcomes."

The biggest mistake I see in discussions of trans people's healthcare is the idea that hormones and the like are some special service just for us when really all kinds of people access the same health care for all kinds of reasons but they are *withheld* from us because we are trans

The bill wouldn't just cause millions to lose their health insurance, it would also: *ban Medicaid coverage of non-abortion care at Planned Parenthood *ban Medicaid coverage of ANY gender-affirming care (yes, adults) *block marketplace insurance plans from covering abortion or gender-affirming care

An "I told you so" moment no one wanted. Advocates have insisted that it "won't stop with youth" and here we are. www.them.us/story/gop-ho...

GOOD MORNING! Did you know the first two (!!) episodes of our podcast Get Queer—which dives into the history and impact of LGBTQ2S+ representation in reality TV—are available NOW on all the podcast places. Subscribe! Tell all your friends! get-queer.simplecast.com/episodes/cas...

This fun @ziyajones.bsky.social look at the state of the family-style chain restaurant includes a quick and fascinating history of the concept (starting with HoJo's nearly a century ago), and contemporary visits to both Jack Astor's and -my personal fave- East Side Mario's. (Eh bada-boom bada-bing!)

NEW: The rate of sepsis in Houston surged 63% after Texas banned abortion. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where hospital leaders empowered doctors to intervene before patients’ conditions worsened, it rose just 29%.

Six months ago Nour and I were like, “What if I wrote a totally earnest restaurant review of Jack Astors and East Side Mario’s as a way to explore the death of the family style chain and corporate restaurant culture haha.” Well…I’ve done it and you can read it here: maisonneuve.org/article/2025...

⚧️ Young and trans in Canada @xtramagazine.com (with @chatelainemag.bsky.social Finalist for Best Feature Article: Long at the 2025 Digital Publishing Awards Congrats to @ziyajones.bsky.social and the Xtra/Chatelaine team! 🔗 zurl.co/7A4I9 ##DigitalPublishingAwards

Not for nothing: all noms are for trans writers, covering trans (and other) issues. We rightly critique trans coverage and the ways trans journalists are denied resources, authority. But worth noting that when we get those things, we produce great work. Let us cook! xtramagazine.com/inside-xtra/...

Our story about trans youth was nominated for best feature at the @canadamediaawards.bsky.social ! Very thankful to both @xtramagazine.com and @ericalenti.com at Chatelaine for the chance to work on this story last year. xtramagazine.com/health/trans...

Xtra is a finalist for three (!!) #DigitalPublishingAwards this year from @canadamediaawards.bsky.social I'm particularly thrilled by these nominations because they all highlight the immense value in having trans people tell trans stories in this current moment. xtramagazine.com/inside-xtra/...

While this report presents itself as an apolitical “review of evidence and best practices,” it deserves the same scrutiny and careful fact-checking as any government-produced document. Journalists should quote it only with appropriate context and after thorough vetting.

Anyways I will point again to all the trans journalist who have been covering health, policy and politics for approx one million years bsky.app/starter-pack...

ha haaaaaaa 🙃 WHEN WILL IT END

Big news: We're launching a podcast! Announcing Get Queer, a new LGBTQ2S+ pop culture podcast from Xtra Magazine, hosted by @melwoods.me This season dives into the history of how reality TV has shaped queer identity. New episodes drop weekly starting May 8 ✨ xtramagazine.com/get-queer-po...

HHS says its new report on gender-affirming care proves that science doesn't support the care & that its risks are too great. But the report doesn't really support that blanket statement. It found “sparse” to no evidence of harm and evidence about the benefits of gender-affirming care.

The moment Mohsen Mahdawi was released from ICE custody in Vermont.

On the front page of @newyorker.com today writing about trans passports, bureaucracy, Trump 2.0, Hunter Schafer, Sam Nordquist, and why validity is not the best strategy in the battle for bodily autonomy. www.newyorker.com/news/the-led...

CBC is projecting a Liberal government led by Prime Minister Mark Carney. Here's what he said on the campaign trail about LGBTQ2S+ rights: xtramagazine.com/video/mark-c...

We are so done for

It’s not just biased—generative AI is importing old stereotypes into new languages and cultures. My latest for @wired.com: www.wired.com/story/ai-bia...

On April 23rd, @liberalca.bsky.social , @ndp.ca & @canadiangreens.bsky.social reps join our 🏳️‍🌈Proud to Vote🏳️‍🌈Town Hall on issues that matter to 2SLGBTQIA+ people. In an election largely devoid of queer & trans issues, this Townhall is a unique opportunity to hear from party reps on our issues.

Look there’s obviously a lot more important things to say about legislation that aims to forcibly detain people for months on end but: isn’t this the government that was like, Mandatory vaccines are 1984?

“Above-guideline rent increase are granted in many circumstances, including after a landlord has finished upgrades to their building. For some tenants, that means they are essentially subsidizing their own future displacement.” www.westendphoenix.com/stories/it-s...