Clinton Interview In Hand, Philly Gay Paper Complains About Obama
Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York has granted "an exclusive and wide-ranging interview" with the Philadelphia Gay News ahead of the Pennsylvania primary, but the paper is complaining of a snub by her rival, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.
Without revealing her answers to the questions, the Philadelphia Gay News says Clinton's interview touches directly on an executive order rescinding the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the ban on openly gay servicemembers. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was put into place by Clinton's husband as a compromise between his desire to lift the ban entirely on gay servicemembers and conservatives in Congress at the time who wanted to write the prohibition into law.
The Clinton interview also deals with other gay and lesbian issues, such as equality in immigration policy, services for gay youth and seniors, and whether the federal Department of Education should give local school districts and teachers direction on presenting positive gay lesson plans, the paper says in a statement.
Obama has not granted a similar interview despite "concerted efforts," the newspaper says, adding that it took the "unusual step of displaying Obama's lack of communication to the local [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] 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."
Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, says, "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."
The paper also tried to secure an interview with presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona, which was declined "respectfully," the 32-year-old publication says.
"It's a sad day when we are treated with more respect from the Republican candidate, JohnMcCain, than a Democratic senator," says Segal. "With McCain, his top press representative called us back within three hours. It took seven weeks for Obama's representative to acknowledge."
The paper says it is willing to publish an Obama interview up until the April 22 primary.
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Without revealing her answers to the questions, the Philadelphia Gay News says Clinton's interview touches directly on an executive order rescinding the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, the ban on openly gay servicemembers. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was put into place by Clinton's husband as a compromise between his desire to lift the ban entirely on gay servicemembers and conservatives in Congress at the time who wanted to write the prohibition into law.
The Clinton interview also deals with other gay and lesbian issues, such as equality in immigration policy, services for gay youth and seniors, and whether the federal Department of Education should give local school districts and teachers direction on presenting positive gay lesson plans, the paper says in a statement.
Obama has not granted a similar interview despite "concerted efforts," the newspaper says, adding that it took the "unusual step of displaying Obama's lack of communication to the local [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] 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."
Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, says, "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."
The paper also tried to secure an interview with presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona, which was declined "respectfully," the 32-year-old publication says.
"It's a sad day when we are treated with more respect from the Republican candidate, JohnMcCain, than a Democratic senator," says Segal. "With McCain, his top press representative called us back within three hours. It took seven weeks for Obama's representative to acknowledge."
The paper says it is willing to publish an Obama interview up until the April 22 primary.
Watch more breaking news now on our video feed:
Bookmark http://onthehillblog.blogspot.com/ and drop back in for more news from the nation's capital.
Labels: Barack Obama, DADT, Don't Ask, gay, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, lesbian, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Gay News
posted by Scott Nance at
8:53 PM
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