From politics to pop culture, these are our most-read stories of the year<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Readers have spoken, and this year\u2019s most-read stories here at Xtra <\/em>were a solid mix of politics, pop culture and sex\u2014and we wouldn\u2019t have it any other way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The news cycle was not a cheery experience this year. And we always hope we can help make sense of the mess, while also providing some levity, smart analysis and exploration into the sexual culture. Based on what you read this year, we\u2019re giving ourselves a pat on the back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It was an election year in Canada; Trump took over the presidency to the south of us; some of our favourite pop divas released new music and the hot gay hockey show took viewers, and the media, by storm. As always, readers ate up Kevin O\u2019Keeffe\u2019s Drag Race <\/em>content (full disclosure: this list features the most-read Drag Race<\/em> story of the year, but a handful more pieces on Drag Race<\/em> Season 17 and All Stars<\/em> Season 10 appear in the complete most-read long list). Readers were keen to dive deep into where <\/em>queer folks were cruising and hooking up, and they really wanted to know what Chappell Roan was talking about when she sang that she was moving to Saskatchewan. Let\u2019s dive in!\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the spring of 2025, Canada was gearing up for an election. Justin Trudeau had resigned. Mark Carney had taken over the Liberal leadership. Amidst the \u201cFuck Trudeau\u201d flags and \u201cbanker daddy Carney\u201d memes, we were facing Conservatives\u2019 attacks on trans people in several provinces and a real possibility of a federal government led by Pierre Poilievre. The NDP was quiet. The Greens had an out queer man co-leading. LGBTQ2S+ people wanted to know where their rights, lives and identities and rights were headed under the contending parties\u2019 leadership. They were searching for answers, and we were providing them<\/a>, making this piece the most-read article on Xtra<\/em> of the calendar year.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Know what else people were searching for this year? Hot shirtless gay hockey player lovers. But our piece on Heated Rivalry<\/em>, the gay hockey romance show Crave adapted from a book of the same name, was much more than that. Ground was broken in Canadian television and Kevin Hurren went straight to the sources<\/a>, writer-director-producer Jacob Tierney and co-stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, to talk about what exactly was happening. While other MLM movie and television adaptations tend to be overly sentimental and lacking in, well, heat, Heated Rivalry <\/em>sets itself apart with its candid depictions of gay sex. And viewers were all for it, making this our second most-read story of 2025 within only three weeks of publication.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n A month before our top article was posted, Carney had just stepped into the prime minister role, and people wanted to know where he stood on queer and trans issues<\/a>. So many people, in fact, that our piece answering this question surged up the ranking. After winning the leadership race by a landslide, senior editor Mel Woods suggested that Carney should affirm his stance on queer and trans issues, pronto. And when he finally did say something, Woods\u2019s ensuing analysis<\/a> went on to be our most-viewed video of the year too.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n1. Where Canada\u2019s political parties really stand on queer and trans issues<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Heated Rivalry<\/em> is the steamy hockey romance we deserve<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Where does Mark Carney stand on queer and trans issues?\u00a0<\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n