Gay Parent Magazine Blog

By Angeline Acain

Sadly, the LGBTQ community has lost a valuable asset. Kristi Parker, Publisher, Editor and owner of Liberty Press passed away of a stroke on March 10, 2018, she was 49. Liberty Press covered the local LGBTQ news and events of Kansas. A free magazine distributed in Kansas, Parker had been publishing for nearly twenty-five years, launching the first issue of Liberty Press in 1994. With her passing, Liberty Press has ceased to publish.

As a fellow member of the LGBTQ media, I met Kristi in June 2011 when we were part of a press trip in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was able to invite my partner Susan and daughter Jiana on the press trip since the magazine I publish, Gay Parent Magazine, focuses on LGBTQ parenting. My family and I got to know Kristi when we invited her to go kayaking on the Allegheny River during our press trip. We learned she was raising a son named Jack with her ex.

Learning that she was a parent, I thought it would be a great idea to feature her and Jack in Gay Parent Magazine. Our September-October 2014 issue #96 features an article on Kristi and Jack (written by Beverly Prince-Sayward). The article focuses on how Kristi started Liberty Press because of a need to create a LGBTQ community in her hometown of Kansas. This need blossomed after she took a road trip and experienced New York City’s vibrant LGBTQ pride. In a quote from the article Kristi says, “The event was amazing for me. There were so many gay people! I was energized. I attended the Dyke March the night before the big march and ran into Leslie Feinberg and Minnie Bruce Pratt. I spent the whole next day at Central Park watching people and the stage full of inspirational speakers and famous people and bands. We were there for like 14 hours!” Kristi published the first issue of Liberty Press August 1994.

The article also focuses on Kristi meeting her ex Vinnie, their eventual separation, and co-parenting of their son Jack who is on the Autism spectrum. A quote from the article in Gay Parent Magazine describes Kristi’s feelings about parenting: Overall, Kristi has felt that Jack’s special needs have not been too difficult for her to handle. He is her love and her joy and even his quirkiness brings little surprising enjoyments throughout the day. “Just recently Jack was at dinner at a restaurant with Vinnie and he kept almost spilling his drink. Vinnie asked if he needed a sippy cup. He was really put off and said, ‘I think you’re insulting my manhood!’”

Especially in these trying political times, the passing of Kristi Parker and the discontinuance of Liberty Press is a great loss not just for Kansas but also for the entire LGBTQ community. Visit the Facebook page for Liberty Press at https://www.facebook.com/LibertyPressKS.

Kristi in front of the Stonewall Inn when she was on her road trip to New York City.

Early photo of Kristi and Jack.

Kristi Parker, Publisher, Editor and owner of Liberty Press.

Photo of LGBTQ media press trip in Pittsburgh in 2011. Kristi is kneeling on the right. The author Angeline Acain is standing to the right of Kristi.

Kristi and Jack.

Gay Parent Magazine received adorable photos from single mom, Lu Lu, along with the following statement from her,

“This is my son Noel. I finally closed on his adoption May 26, 2016. I am a single lesbian and I always wanted children. Noel has been a blessing and has brought so much happiness to my life. I want to share this story with other single women who think it isn’t possible to adopt a child alone…It is possible and there are so many children who are waiting to be loved in their forever home. Adopt and save a child’s life. This one saved mine. I love you Noel.”

Attached are adorable photos of Lu Lu’s son Noel holding signs related to his foster care and adoption and a sweet photo of mother and son together. Click on the photos to view larger.

The first book in Japan on the subject of LGBT parenting was recently published (see cover on left). Compiled and written by Asahi Shimbun reporter Mariko Sugiyama, the book is titled Same sex couples and their children: The American Gayby boom. The book features 20 families that were formed through foster care and adoption or artificial insemination. Also featured is information on changes in public opinion since the rise of the “gayby boom”, the current state of same sex parenting in Japan, and the future of unconventional families.

Included in the featured families are Lance and Stuart Chen-Hayes and their son Kalani. The Chen-Hayes were first featured as the cover family on Gay Parent Magazine’s March-April 2004 issue #33 and later in an update feature for our July-August 2008 issue #59 cover story. Gay Parent Magazine editor and publisher Angeline Acain was also featured along with her daughter. See inserts below.

For the third year in 2016, the group, LGBT Youth Japan, met with Gay Parent Magazine’s publisher and editor Angeline Acain in New York City. The group is a Tokyo based organization educating Japanese youth about the LGBT support systems employed by other countries. Their goal is to help guide Japan towards becoming a society whose members embrace diversity and “can accept and love each other for who they really are inside.” The group was in New York City on a 10-day study tour meeting with a variety of LGBT organizations and businesses and included Gay Parent Magazine in their itinerary.

See a posting of Gay Parent Magazine’s first meeting with LGBT Youth Japan http://blog.gayparentmag.com/gay-parent-mag-happenings/gay-parent-magazine-part-of-japan-youth-study-tour