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Windy City Times
Clinton
Talks with Penn. Gay Paper
From the Web, April
4, 2008
As the Democratic presidential
primary in Pennsylvania nears (April 22) , Sen. Hillary Clinton talked with
the Philadelphia Gay News (Click on
www.epgn.com) in a discussion that covered
a multitude of topics.
Clinton told the newspaper that, if elected president, she would champion gay
rights. She also discussed “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” immigration and education
with the newspaper. In addition, Clinton talked about “the government-sponsored
arrest, torture and murder of gay men in Iran, Iraq, Egypt and other countries
in the Middle East, Africa and Asia,” making her the first candidate to do so, a
press release stated.
Also in the release, PGN Publisher Mark Segal criticized the other Democratic
candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, for not talking with the local LGBT press, saying,
“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 campaign team of the Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain,
“respectfully” declined to talk with PGN, according to the press release.
Philadelphia's Gay
People HATE Barack Obama
Ha ha ha, zing times a billion! The
Philly gay community and its pwecious newspaper gave Barack Obama a hilarious
snub this morning after he declined to sit down for an interview. Look at all
that blank space, a symbol of Obama's virulent homophobia! What is wrong with
him? Well Philadelphia magazine interviewed Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark
Segal today to discuss the major front page rejection of Obama, and he said
Obama hasn't talked to the gay press since 2004 — a record among humans.
Here's Segal, the King of Gay Newspapers:
We don't put ads on our front page, so we didn't lose any money by doing so.
Although, no publisher wants a blank space in their paper! Or as we call it, you
know, creative white space! [laughs] We wanted to make it clear from the very
start that we had done our research. And I think what is shocking is that the
campaign has not been able to refute our facts. It has been 1,522 days since
he's spoken to local gay press. [...]
That goes back to 2004. That's not acceptable. I am the former president of the
National Gay Newspaper Guild, and last week, during a break in the meeting,
former publishers and editors were sitting around the table, and half of them
were Obama supporters. And we all started discussing the fact that practically
every one of them has gone after Obama for an interview — and they've all gotten
the runaround!
I've been doing this for 31 years. There is nobody in the gay press that has
been doing it as long as I have. And PGN has a reputation for doing interviews
with politicians — including people like Frank Rizzo! We've interviewed
everyone, with the exception of the one who refused: Senator Santorum. Which I
find kind of comical. Because I don't want to put Senator Obama on the same
level as Santorum! I find that offensive. (Abridged)
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