Pink Triangle Press

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Pink Triangle Press
Type	Non-Profit
Founded	October 1971
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario
Key people	*President & Executive Director: Ken Popert Publisher & Editor at large: David Walberg Chief Operating Officer: Andrew Chang
Industry	Newspaper
Products	Newspapers, Website, Television
Subsidiaries	Xtra!, OUTtv
Website	xtra.ca

Pink Triangle Press is a Canadian non-profit organization which publishes the gay magazines Xtra!, Xtra! West and Capital Xtra!. It also operates an online guide to cruising, or sex in semi-public locations, for men seeking sex with men, and is a minority shareholder in Canada's HARDtv and OUTtv digital cable channels.

1 History
2 Other Investments
3 Subsidiaries
4 Extrernal Link

[edit] History

Its name comes from the symbols placed on suspected homosexual men in Nazi concentration camps.

Pink Triangle Press traces its history (though not its name) to 1971 in Toronto, when a group of volunteers began producing a paper containing news and opinions on gay liberation called The Body Politic (TBP). By 1976 TBP was being published monthly, and in the early 1980s it claimed a circulation of over 9,000 nationally, and boasted contributions from writers all over the world.

Pink Triangle Press was incorporated in 1975, its name chosen as a symbol of history and commitment.

In 1978 the Press was charged with "publishing immoral, indecent and scurrilous material" because of an issue of The Body Politic which included Gerald Hannon's now-infamous article "Men Loving Boys Loving Men".

The Press was brought up on similar charges again in May 1982, this time for "Lust With a Very Proper Stranger", an article on fisting. The Press won both cases.

They launched Xtra! in 1984, and ceased publication of The Body Politic in 1987. Xtra! West in Vancouver and Capital Xtra! in Ottawa followed in 1993.

[edit] Other Investments

In July 2004, Pink Triangle Press became a minority partner in PrideVision when the channel was sold by Headline Media Group to William Craig. PrideVision was subsequently split into the separate channels OUTtv and HARD on PrideVision (now HARDtv). On July 19, 2006, it was announced that Shavick Entertainment, a producer of gay-themed programming such as Dante's Cove, will acquire a 52 per cent majority interest in OUTtv and HARD on PrideVision from William Craig (former 80.2% owner), while Pink Triangle Press' share will increase to 38 per cent (9.9% prior to Shavick's acquisition).

Previous to PrideVision being sold, Pink Triangle Press became partners with television producer Les Tomlin, forming Bumper2Bumper Media Inc. which produces Bump!, the world's first gay travel show, initially airing on PrideVision and now in its second season on OUTtv. Bump! also airs on Here TV in the US, Pink TV in France and Belgium and on EGO TV in Israel.

As well, Pink Triangle Press was a partner in Evanov Radio Group's license application for Rainbow Radio, a new radio station to serve Toronto's LGBT community. PTP's agreement with Evanov was discontinued in late 2005 after PTP expressed reservations about the depth of Evanov's commitment to serving LGBT audiences.

Pink Triangle Press also operates a gay telephone personals service under the Cruiseline banner in all three cities where the Xtra! papers publish, as well as eight other major Canadian centres across the country.

In June 2006 Pink Triangle Press acquired Boston-based publication The Guide, an international gay travel magazine in existence for more than 20 years.