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28-544: 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 , which was discontinued in 1987. From 1990 to 2000, Xtra published a quarterly literary supplement, The Church-Wellesley Review , for work by LGBTQ2 fiction and poetry writers. The company also launched

56-538: A house in Kensington Market , where the bookstore and magazine operated out of a shed in his backyard. The store moved to its Yonge Street location in 1981 and relocated to Church Street in 2016. In 1979, Moldenhauer opened a second location in Boston, Massachusetts. A fire destroyed the Boston building in 1982, but the store reopened in a different location a few weeks later. Norman Laurila, an employee of Glad Day in

84-690: A kitchen and bar, Glad Day expanded programming in 2017 to include a weekly drag brunch on Sundays. The event has become a mainstay of the bookstore, attracting large crowds and promoting new uses for the space. The business frequently donates books to organizations such as the Pride Library at the University of Western Ontario . Like its counterpart in Vancouver, Little Sister's , Glad Day's materials have been frequently confiscated by Canada Customs during importation as "obscene materials", culminating in

112-488: A smaller selection of books on active display, although it maintains additional inventory in storage that can be ordered or requested. In late May 2024, the store announced that it was at risk of eviction due to financial difficulties rooted in its loss of business income during the COVID-19 pandemic . A $ 100,000 emergency fundraising campaign surpassed its goal within days. Bar Bük, the bookstore and café that employs Sabi in

140-691: A space for queer issues and voices to be heard. The Body Politic focused on issues related to Gay and Lesbian sex, Queer culture, and other issues relating to the LGBT community at the time. Although The Body Politic was often criticized for talking about taboo topics such as queer sex and relations, queer media continued to grow. Xtra! , an LGBTQ focused magazine expanded in 1993 by launching its sister editions, Xtra! West , based in Vancouver, and Capital Xtra! , based in Ottawa. All three of these publications remained in print until 2015, when Pink Triangle Press discontinued

168-520: A telephone dating personals service, Cruiseline, which later evolved into the contemporary web-based Squirt.org . 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!

196-456: Is an independent bookstore and restaurant located in Toronto, Ontario, specializing in LGBT literature. Previously located above a storefront at 598A Yonge Street for much of its history, the store moved to its current location at 499 Church Street, in the heart of the city's Church and Wellesley neighbourhood, in 2016. The store's name and logo are based on a painting by William Blake . Since

224-693: The Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play in 2017. As well, actor and writer Diane Flacks was nominated for a Dora award for outstanding performance in the play Body Politic. Writers associated with the magazine included Gerald Hannon , Rick Bébout, Chris Bearchell, Hugh Brewster , Stan Persky , Michael Lynch , Stephen O. Murray , John Greyson , David Rayside , Herbert Spiers, Ian Young , Ed Jackson, Sue Golding , Robin Hardy , Richard Summerbell , Thomas Waugh , John Alan Lee and Gary Kinsman . Glad Day Bookshop Glad Day Bookshop

252-698: The Ontario Superior Court of Justice case R. v. Glad Day Bookshops Inc. in 2003. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada , the store announced various plans to support LGBTQ artists and performers during the pandemic and the associated shutdown of most venues that they depend on for income, including a crowdfunded Emergency Survival Fund to provide loans and grants, and GD TV, a Zoom-based online channel for LGBTQ artists, writers, musicians, dancers and drag queens to livestream readings and performances. When retail stores were allowed to reopen for curbside pickup,

280-404: The 1970s, moved with his partner Richard Labonté and friend George Leigh in 1979 to Los Angeles, where the trio established the influential LGBT bookstore A Different Light . Moldenhauer sold the Toronto location to John Scythes in 1991, but retained ownership of the Boston store and continued to be involved in the Toronto store's operations. After the Boston store's landlord decided to convert

308-462: The Toronto office thereafter. 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. The publications continued online as a digital publication, initially under the name Daily Xtra before reverting to the Xtra Magazine name. Past contributors to

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336-631: The We Demand protest of August 28, 1971. At a September meeting of the Toronto Gay Alliance, Moldenhauer first proposed the idea of launching a gay-focused publication. Names considered for the magazine included Mandala and Radical Pervert . In 1973, the publication ran into difficulty with the Toronto Star , which refused to print an advertisement for the magazine because of its policy of refusing to accept ads relating to sexual activity. While

364-556: The Yonge Street store, and would enable the store to add new revenue streams including a coffee shop and licensed alcohol service at evening events. In July, the store announced that it was taking over Byzantium, a bar whose managers had opted to shut down around the same time. The space was renovated to become a flexible space that can be reconfigured from a bookstore into a venue for cultural performances and event gatherings as needed, and now serves food and drinks. The new location keeps

392-552: The building into condominiums, Moldenhauer closed the store in 2000 when he and manager John Mitzel faced difficulty finding a suitable new location. From 1998 to early 2005, the science fiction bookstore Bakka-Phoenix was located on the main floor of the same building as Glad Day's Toronto store. After This Ain't the Rosedale Library left its Church Street location to move to Kensington Market in 2008, that store's former landlords offered Glad Day first dibs on taking over

420-511: The closure of New York City's Oscar Wilde Bookshop in early 2009, Glad Day is now the oldest surviving LGBTIQ bookstore in the world. Opened in 1970 by Jearld Moldenhauer , it was the city's and Canada's first bookstore targeted to the gay community. The bookstore originally operated out of Moldenhauer's 65 Kendal Avenue apartment located in The Annex , which also served as the original offices of The Body Politic . Moldenhauer later moved to

448-659: The magazine barred from the city council's press gallery, following a cover story on the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence which Piccininni deemed disrespectful to Roman Catholicism . In this era, the magazine also became noted for its coverage of the emergence of HIV and AIDS . The magazine ceased publication in 1987, following Pink Triangle Press's launch of the tabloid Xtra! in 1984. Xtra! expanded in 1993 to launch sister editions Xtra! West in Vancouver and Capital Xtra! in Ottawa . All three publications remained in print until 2015, when Pink Triangle Press discontinued

476-426: The magazine ran into minor legal difficulties when an installment of cartoonist Rand Holmes ' Harold Hedd strip depicted an act of fellatio . The Body Politic was twice charged with publishing obscene material, in 1977 for Gerald Hannon 's article "Men Loving Boys Loving Men", and in 1982 for "Lust with a Very Proper Stranger", an article on fisting . The 1977 raid sparked international protests, especially to

504-544: The magazine won an Ontario Press Council ruling that the Star 's refusal of the ad had been discriminatory, the Star retaliated by discontinuing The Body Politic 's printing contract with its commercial printing subsidiary Newsweb Enterprises. The magazine's editorial collective also created the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives in 1973. The collective was incorporated as Pink Triangle Press in 1975. In that same year,

532-528: The play was awarded with the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play. The magazine was first published on November 1, 1971, by an informal collective, operating out of the home of Glad Day Bookshop owner Jearld Moldenhauer . Many members of the collective had been associated with the underground publication Guerilla , which had been relatively gay-friendly but alienated some of its LGBT contributors when it altered Moldenhauer's article about

560-703: The police's seizure of the magazine's subscriber list— Harvey Milk was one of the organizers of a protest at the Canadian consulate in San Francisco against the action. The magazine was ultimately acquitted in both trials, although materials seized by police in the Hannon trial were not returned to the magazine until 1985. In 1977 and 1978, the magazine was involved in the production of Gay News and Views , an LGBT magazine series on Toronto cable. In 1982, Toronto City Councillor Joe Piccininni failed in an attempt to have

588-464: The print publications of the magazines, however, Daily Xtra continues to publish as an online magazine. The Body Politic was ranked as the 17th most influential magazine in Canadian publishing history by Masthead, and in May 2016 the Canadian actor and playwright Nick Green premiered his historical play, Body Politic . This play discussed the role of the magazine in the early Gay Liberation Movement. In 2017,

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616-513: The print publications, but remain in operation today as the online magazine Daily Xtra . In 2008, The Body Politic was ranked as the 17th most influential magazine in Canadian publishing history by Masthead, the trade magazine of the Canadian magazine publishing industry. Body Politic , a historical play by Nick Green about the magazine and its role in the early gay liberation movement, premiered at Buddies in Bad Times in May 2016, and won

644-421: The publications have included Lily Alexandre , 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 , Peter Knegt , and Jeffrey Round . Body Politic (magazine) The Body Politic was a Canadian monthly magazine, which

672-554: The space, although due to high rent, the store opted not to move. In late 2011, Scythes announced that he was putting the store up for sale due to declining revenues; the store was ultimately purchased by a collective of 22 community members, spearheaded by teacher Michael Erickson and also including former Xtra! managing editor Marcus McCann, former Pride Toronto executive director Fatima Amarshi, community activists Doug Kerr, Jill Andrew and Mike Went, lawyer El-Farouk Khaki and performer Troy Jackson. Under its new ownership,

700-446: The store took steps to revitalize its role as a cultural hub, adding an event space to host author readings, performances and community group meetings, and conducting a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo in 2013 to fund and launch an online bookstore for LGBT titles. In June 2016, the store launched another Indiegogo campaign to help fund a planned move to a new location on Church Street, which would be more wheelchair-accessible than

728-512: The television series Sort Of , was partially inspired by Glad Day. In 2015, the bookstore launched the Naked Heart Festival, an annual festival of LGBTQ literature. Workshops, panels, readings, and other events associated with the festival take place at the bookstore and other community spaces in the Church and Wellesley village . As the bookstore settled in to its new location featuring

756-428: 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 . In 2010, due to the changing business climate for print publications, PTP closed the Ottawa offices, with the Ottawa edition of the publication published out of

784-497: Was published from 1971 to 1987. It was one of Canada's first significant gay publications, and played a prominent role in the development of the LGBT community in Canada. The Body Politic was a queer, activism-based Canadian monthly magazine that published from 1971 to 1987. It was one of the first significant gay publications in Canada, and played a large role in amplifying the Gay Liberation Movement and creating

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