Democratic presidential frontrunner Barack Obama sat for a wide ranging interview with The Advocate in which he talks about repealing Don't Ask, Don't Tell, his commitment to GLBT civil rights, and speaking about gay issues to non-gay audiences.

The interview comes at an interesting time. Obama has been criticized by a few gay journalists and activists who complain that Obama had conducted one interview with the gay media during the campaign. Mark Segal, publisher of Philadelphia Gay News made a splash with a bitter editorial against Obama and a glowing interview with Hillary Clinton. Segal neglected to mention that he is a strong supporter of Clinton and has contributed $1,000 to her campaign.

Obama kicks off the interview by speaking to the criticism:

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I guess my point would be that the fact that I'm raising issues accordant to the LGBT community in a general audience rather than just treating you like a special interest that is sort of off in its own little box - that, I think, is more indicative of my commitment. Because ultimately what that shows is that I'm not afraid to advocate on your behalf outside of church, so to speak. It's easy to preach to the choir; what I think is harder is to speak to a broader audience about why these issues are important to all Americans.

Read Obama's interview with The Advocate.

Check back for analysis of the interview by Bilerico contributors.

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