Rites (magazine)

Rites was a Canadian magazine, published for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities in Canada from 1984 to 1992.

The magazine was published in Toronto, Ontario by Rites Publishing and was produced by a non-profit collective. Founding members of the Rites collective were Peter Birt, Romaine Brooks, Lyn Freese, Gary Kinsman, Anne Nixon, Heather Ramsay, and Doug Wilson. Many of the founding members had previously been associated with Pink Ink, a monthly national publication for lesbians and gay men of which five issues were published between July 1983 and January 1984.

Over its almost eight years of operation, additional Rites collective members included (in the order in which they joined): Mary Louise Adams, Stuart Blackley, Susan Wilkes, Scott Ferguson, Celest Natale, Doug Stewart, Ruthann Tucker, Robert Champagne, Becki Ross, Michael Nicholson, Shawn Syms, Mark Michaud, Anne Vespry, Rebecca Frank, Regan McClure, Lynn Iding and Rachael Aitcheson.

A total of 76 issues of Rites were published – from Vol. 1 No.1 (May 1984) to Vol. 8 No. 6 (January/February 1992). Rites was published 10 times a year, until Vol. 8 No. 4 (September/October 1991) when the frequency of publication changed to 6 times a year.

Two thousand copies of each issue were printed and distributed through paid subscriptions and distribution to retail outlets across Canada and the United States. The readership of Rites was 60% lesbian and lesbian/gay-positive women, and 40% gay and lesbian/gay-positive men.

An expressly political magazine, Rites was published to further lesbian and gay liberation, feminism and progressive social change. The Rites collective saw the magazine as part of building an active lesbian and gay liberation movement. Rites was committed to cross-Canada coverage and the equal involvement of lesbians and gay men in all aspects of the magazine's production.

...
Wikipedia