LPI Media

Last updated
LPI Media
Company type Private company [1]
Industry Publishing, periodicals [2]
Successor Here Media
Headquarters Los Angeles, California, United States [2]
Key people
 Judy Wieder, Corporate Executive Vice President & Editorial Director;
Joe Landry, Vice President & Director Publishing;
Stephen Murray, Director of Corporate Marketing;
Jeff Lettiere, Director Circulation, The Advocate [2]
Products Out
The Advocate
HIV Plus
Out Traveler [3]
Alyson Books
Specialty Publications
RevenueIncrease2.svg US$ 29.0 million (2005) [1]

LPI Media (formerly Liberation Publications Inc.) [4] was the largest gay and lesbian publisher in the United States. [5] The company targeted LGBTQ communities and published such magazines, books, and websites, with its magazines alone having more than 8.2 million copies distributed each year. [1] The Advocate and Out magazines were the two largest circulation LGBT magazines in the United States, each with corresponding websites, Advocate.com and OUT.com. [1]

Contents

Additional publications included Out Traveler, [3] HIV Plus, and LGBT-penned titles through Alyson Books making it the "largest publisher of gay and lesbian print publications" and thus the largest print voice of the LGBT communities, including transgender and to a lesser degree bisexual people. [1]

They were also parent owners of Specialty Publications, which produces adult (pornographic) publications MEN , formerly Advocate Men, FreshMen, Unzipped, and [2]. Specialty Publications was one of the largest gay adult erotica web and video production companies in the world. [6]

History

Liberation Publications began with a police raid at the Black Cat bar in Los Angeles in 1966, prompting a handful of gay men to start a mimeographed sheet newsletter for the gay community. This grew into The Advocate magazine the following year and remained the only US LGBTQ magazine for nearly 25 years. [7] [8]

In February 2000, Liberation acquired Out Publishing Inc., which publishes Out and HIV Plus magazines. [9] Then president and chief executive of Liberation, James Franklin, said the deal would "move the print properties into the electronic arena" and added that the Internet was popular with gay and lesbian readers because of "the closet factor." [9] PlanetOut attempted in March 2000 to merge with LPI, but this was called off in March 2001.

Out Traveler, a magazine spin-off of Out, launched in 2003. [3]

In November 2005, LPI merged with Planet Out, which mainly has developed online properties to become the world's largest media company targeting LGBT communities. LPI's "solid accounts list of fashion, retail and consumer packaged goods advertisers" was cited among its strong selling points. [1] Criticism of the merger centered on two aspects: that a consolidation of national media outlets of a minority community is unlikely to add diversity of voices; and that the publications were established and supported in an effort to secure human rights for gays and lesbians but now are instead delivering a market share to corporations.

In April 2008, press reports said that the magazines published by LPI as well as the porn magazines published by Specialty Publications were to be sold by PlanetOut to Regent Releasing, which owns here!, a cable television network catering to LGBT audiences. [10] [11] A SEC filing indicates that the agreement was completed in August 2008, with Here Media Inc. the new owner of LPI, Specialty Publications, and LPI's book company, Alyson Publications. [12]

The Advocate

Out

HIV Plus

HIV Plus magazine is based in Los Angeles and was founded by Anne-Christine d'Adesky in 1998. Instead of subscriptions, the "national magazine [is] distributed at doctors' offices and organizations offering services for people with AIDS" including AIDS service organizations, HIV community-based groups, and physicians' offices as well as other qualifying groups and organizations. It offers "the latest stories on research, economics, and treatment". [13] HIV Plus provides "news that raises awareness of HIV-related cultural and policy developments in the United States and throughout the world", including issues of "cultural stereotypes about incarceration, drug use, and HIV."

I was the AIDS and Health Editor at OUT Magazine for a couple of years, and I found that the scientific information I needed to report was getting increasingly complex. While there was a small group of long-time activists who had amassed a lot of technical expertise, the vast majority of my readers didn't have this background, and many of them needed to be making treatment decisions for themselves. So I started HIV Plus in 1998, to address this gap. During my tenure as editor, I tried to provide state-of-the-art science reporting that was accessible at different levels, so that anyone who cared could become engaged, and have some say in the ongoing dialogue. - Anne-Christine d'Adesky [14]

Writers and contributors include contributing fitness editor Sam Jensen Page and columnist LeRoy Whitfield, whose "Native Tongue" column ran in HIV Plus magazine starting in May 2004 and was "one of the magazine's most popular features." [15]

Alyson Publications

Alyson Books is a publisher founded in Boston, Massachusetts by Sasha Alyson which specializes in feminist and LGBT fiction and nonfiction. Notable books and authors published by Alyson include the Dykes to Watch Out For cartoon series, by Alison Bechdel; Daddy's Roommate by Michael Willhoite; Melting Point, Doing it for Daddy, Macho Sluts , and Doc and Fluff by Patrick Califia; Young, Gay and Proud ; Latter Days , a novelization by T. Fabris for the 2003 major motion picture of the same name; The Femme Mystique and Pillow Talk, edited by Lesléa Newman; Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology; Love, Bourbon Street: Reflections of New Orleans, winner of the 2006 Lambda Literary Award for Anthology; [16] Bi Any Other Name: Bisexual People Speak Out , edited by Loraine Hutchins and Lani Kaʻahumanu; and The Bisexual's Guide to the Universe, winner of the 2006 Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual category. [16]

Specialty Publications

LPI Media was the parent company of Specialty Publications, a publisher of adult gay erotic and pornographic publications. Their Men magazine (formerly Advocate Men) has been the top-selling gay male erotic magazine for over 25 years, [6] and tends to portray men aged 25 to 40. Freshmen is an erotic magazine published monthly since 1991. It is geared toward gay and bisexual men. [17] Freshmen has long been the best-seller in its genre and features top-line male porn models from Bel Ami, Falcon, and others; it specializes in young but not twinkish men, primarily 18 to 25 but some to age 30. Other items, such as calendars and playing cards, are also published using the same label.

"Freshman of the Year" contests are held, with many fledgling porn stars going on to greater success including Sebastian Bonnet, Roman Heart, Dick McKay, Zack Randall, [18] Marcus Allen, [19] and Billy Brandt. [20]

Specialty Publications also produced Unzipped and [2], making it one of the largest gay adult erotica web and video production companies in the world.

Related Research Articles

<i>Out</i> (magazine) American LGBTQ magazine

Out is an American LGBTQ news, fashion, entertainment, and lifestyle magazine, with the highest circulation of any LGBTQ monthly publication in the United States. It presents itself in an editorial manner similar to Details, Esquire, and GQ. Out was owned by Robert Hardman of Boston, its original investor, until 2000. It then changed hands among LPI Media, PlanetOut Inc., Here Media, and Pride Media. In June 2022, Pride Media was acquired by Equal Entertainment LLC, taking on the name Equal Pride.

<i>The Advocate</i> (magazine) Bi-monthly American magazine covering LGBT-interest topics

The Advocate is an American LGBT magazine, printed bi-monthly and available by subscription. The Advocate brand also includes a website. Both magazine and website have an editorial focus on news, politics, opinion, and arts and entertainment of interest to lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) people. The magazine, established in 1967, is the oldest and largest LGBT publication in the United States and the only surviving one of its kind that was founded before the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan, an uprising that was a major milestone in the LGBT rights movement. On June 9, 2022, Pride Media was acquired by Equal Entertainment LLC.

The Lambda 10 Project is an American national clearinghouse of information about LGBT issues in American fraternities and sororities. The organization works "to heighten the visibility of LGBTQ Greek members and offers educational resources related to sexual orientation and the fraternity and sorority experience.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bareback (sexual act)</span> Sexual penetration without the use of a condom

Bareback sex is physical sexual activity, especially sexual penetration, without the use of a condom. The topic primarily concerns anal sex between men without the use of a condom, and may be distinguished from unprotected sex because bareback sex denotes the deliberate act of forgoing condom use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alyson Books</span> American publishing house

Alyson Books, formerly known as Alyson Publications, was a book publishing house which specialized in LGBT fiction and non-fiction. Former publisher Don Weise described it as "the world's oldest and largest publisher of LGBT literature" and "the home of award-winning books in the areas of memoir, history, humor, commercial fiction, mystery, and erotica, among many others".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBT marketing</span>

LGBT marketing is the act of marketing to LGBT customers, either with dedicated ads or general ads, or through sponsorships of LGBT organizations and events, or the targeted use of any other element of the marketing mix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PlanetOut Inc.</span> American online media company

PlanetOut, Inc. is an online media company or entertainment company exclusively targeting the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) demographic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center</span> LGBT community organization in New York City

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Joël Gustave Nana Ngongang (1982–2015), frequently known as Joel Nana, was a leading African LGBT human rights advocate and HIV/AIDS activist. Nana's career as a human rights advocate spanned numerous African countries, including Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, in addition to his native Cameroon. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Partners for Rights and Development (Paridev) a boutique consulting firm on human rights, development and health in Africa at the time of his death. Prior to that position, he was the founding Executive Director of the African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (AMSHeR) an African thought and led coalition of LGBT/MSM organizations working to address the vulnerability of MSM to HIV. Mr Nana worked in various national and international organizations, including the Africa Research and Policy Associate at the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (IGLHRC), as a Fellow at Behind the Mask, a Johannesburg-based non-profit media organisation publishing a news website concerning gay and lesbian affairs in Africa, he wrote on numerous topics in the area of African LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues and was a frequent media commentator. Nana died on October 15, 2015, after a brief illness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Anderson-Minshall</span> American journalist (born 1968)

Diane Anderson-Minshall is an American journalist and author best known for writing about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender subjects. She is the first female CEO of Pride Media. She is also the editorial director of The Advocate and Chill magazines, the editor-in-chief of HIV Plus magazine, while still contributing editor to OutTraveler. Diane co-authored the 2014 memoir Queerly Beloved about her relationship with her husband Jacob Anderson-Minshall throughout his gender transition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GayNZ.com</span> LGBT community website for New Zealand

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Here Media Inc. is an LGBT-oriented media company. Headquartered in Los Angeles, the company produces and distributes niche content focused on LGBT consumers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rea Carey</span> American LGBT rights activist

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<i>Out Traveler</i>

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 Hemscott Americas (28 December 2007). "LPI Media Inc. Company Profile". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 2007-12-28.
  3. 1 2 3 "Homepage". Out Traveler. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  4. ↑ "The Four Questions". Magazine Publishers of America. 2007. Archived from the original on December 11, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  5. ↑ "PlanetOut and Publisher of the Advocate Sign Letter of Intent to Merge and Form Powerful New Media Company". Business Library. March 22, 2000. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Lewis, Mary Grace; Sobel, Ariel (4 August 2018). "18 Dead LGBT Magazines Worth Remembering". Advocate. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  7. ↑ Wieder, Judy (November 12, 2022). "Happy birthday to us - letter from the editor in chief". BNET Research Center. Archived from the original on January 8, 2008. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  8. ↑ Fost, Dan (7 September 2000). "PlanetOut Expands Its Universe: Gay media gets big as Web firm acquires print magazines". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on April 17, 2001. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  9. 1 2 Kuczynski, Alex (23 March 2000). "THE MEDIA BUSINESS; Merger to Link Gay Print and Internet Outlets". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  10. ↑ Sass, Erik (2008-04-14). "PlanetOut Is Out Of Publishing (And $26 Million)". MediaDailyNews. Archived from the original on 2009-06-09.
  11. ↑ Bajko, Matthew (2008-04-10). "Breaking news: PlanetOut to sell off magazines". Bay Area Reporter. Archived from the original on 2009-06-09.
  12. ↑ "Planetout Inc · 8-K · For 8/13/08". Fran Finnegan & Company. 2008-08-13. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
  13. ↑ "HIV/AIDS Online Magazines". Valleyaidsinfo.org. Archived from the original on 2013-11-03. Retrieved 2013-11-02.
  14. ↑ "Awards of Courage". amfAR. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  15. ↑ "LeRoy Whitfield, 36, Dies; Wrote of AIDS Battle". The New York Times. October 16, 2005. Archived from the original on May 29, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  16. 1 2 "Homepage". Lambda Literary Foundation. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
  17. ↑ "Freshmen magazine launches national tour". Gay. September 15, 2006. Archived from the original on November 6, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  18. ↑ "WORD UP!: JD Ferguson Presents the Porn Stars: Zack Randall". Papermag. 2007-05-25. Archived from the original on 2009-09-03. Retrieved 2013-12-05.
  19. ↑ http://www.23hq.com/silent_monster/photo/1410975 . Retrieved 2013-11-02.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  20. ↑ "Actors - Billy Brandt". eBay. Archived from the original on August 14, 2007. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
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