Body Politic (magazine)

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For a state or subordinate civil authority, see Body politic.

The Body Politic was a Canadian monthly magazine, which was published from 1971 to 1987. It was Canada's first significant gay publication.

The magazine was first published on November 1, 1971 by an informal collective. The collective was incorporated as Pink Triangle Press in 1975.

Writers associated with the magazine included Gerald Hannon, Stan Persky, John Greyson and Gary Kinsman.

The Body Politic was sometimes controversial. It was charged with publishing obscene material twice, in 1977 for Hannon's article "Men Loving Boys Loving Men", and in 1982 for "Lust with a Very Proper Stranger", an article on fisting. The magazine was acquitted in both trials. Materials seized by police in the Hannon trial were not returned to the magazine until 1985.

The magazine ceased publication in 1987, following PTP's launch of the tabloid Xtra! in 1984. In 2008, it was ranked as the 17^th most influential magazine in Canadian publishing history by Masthead, the trade magazine of the Canadian magazine publishing industry.^[1]

The magazine also created the Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives in 1973.