Arthur Padilla has a professional nonprofit background in diversity, equity, and inclusion rooted in LGBTQIA+ social services, advocacy, and mental health services. Surviving homelessness and mental health struggles as a teenager with humility and conscientious action, he focused tirelessly on combating HIV/AIDS stigma and misinformation in the 1980s, mental health services in the 1990s-2000s, and homelessness through the 2010s. In 2013 his life was altered when his partner of four years revealed her Transgender identity to him, inspiring his creation of Kris Medford to act as a guide through the forthcoming journey of examing life, love, self-acceptance, and all that comes up along the path. As part of that journey, he recognized his unspoken desire to have a role model to reflect his struggle and be a symbol of empowerment, and he has dreamt of Kris Medford ever since. In the past few years, he has spent considerable time getting to know these parts of himself; his alter ego, expression of his own gender confusion, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The exploration of Arthur's personal identity issues, as seen through Kris' eyes, led to the emergence of her story, inspiring him to consider the playground of possibilities that is gender expression.
