Exclusive Interview with Philadelphia Gay News during Pennsylvania
Primary
PHILADELPHIA, April 3, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In an exclusive
and wide-ranging interview with the Philadelphia Gay News, Senator Hillary
Clinton discusses the option of issuing an executive order or signing
statement to end the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the ban on
openly gay servicemembers.
The interview touches on issues not yet raised in the presidential
nomination process. She discusses IRS filings by LGBT couples, equality in
immigration policy, services for LGBT youth and seniors, and whether the
federal Department of Education should give local school districts and
teachers direction on presenting positive LGBT lesson plans. She is also
the first candidate to address the government-sponsored arrest, torture and
murder of gay men in Iran, Iraq, Egypt and other countries in the Middle
East, Africa and Asia.
Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, said, "Senator
Obama's lack of dialogue with the local gay press is disappointing. The
local gay press often is to the LGBT community what churches are to the
black community."
Despite concerted efforts, Senator Barack Obama has not granted a
formal interview to the Philadelphia Gay News. PGN, now in its 32nd year
and the nation's most-honored LGBT newspaper, is taking the unusual step of
displaying Obama's lack of communication to the local LGBT press, leaving
blank space on the newspaper's front page where Obama's interview would
have appeared, illustrating his lack of accessibility to the local gay
press. Obama has not granted a formal interview to any local gay press in
1,522 days, when he spoke to the Windy City Times during his Senate race in
2004.
PGN requested an equal chance to interview Senator Obama as with
Senator Clinton, given same questions and time limits. PGN has learned that
several of his advisors, including his strongest political supporter in
Pennsylvania, Senator Bob Casey, two of his superdelegates and a major
Pennsylvania financial backer supported the newspaper's invitation. Obama's
scant respect for the local gay press was discussed at last week's National
Gay Newspaper Guild meeting in Boston and at a recent LGBT Obama fundraiser
in New York, where the candidate again was personally encouraged to speak
to the LGBT press.
PGN offered equal time to Republican candidate Senator John McCain.
McCain's campaign declined the invitation respectfully. "It's a sad day
when we are treated with more respect from the Republican candidate, John
McCain, than a Democratic senator," said Segal. "With McCain, his top press
representative called us back within three hours. It took seven weeks for
Obama's representative to acknowledge."
The question is now this: Is the Senator playing it safe, or just being
managed? Space for his interview will remain available in PGN until the
Pennsylvania primary on April 22. "We hope he takes us up on the offer,"
said Segal.
SOURCE Philadelphia Gay News
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Related links:
http://www.epgn.com
CONTACT:
Mark Segal, Publisher, Philadelphia Gay News,
+1-215-625-8501 ext. 206, mark@epgn.com
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