Clinton Asked About Executive Order Ending 'Don't Ask Don't Tell'

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

Mark Segal, Publisher, Philadelphia Gay News, +1-215-625-8501 ext. 206,
mark@epgn.com