The Advocate just published its interview with Barack Obama:
http://www.gay.com/...
Obama does a good job in clearly stating his support for LGBT equality: supporting the repeals of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and the Defense of Marriage Act, the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (preferably with gender identity protection), and of equal benefits for federal employees.
Obama perhaps sounds a bit defensive on not giving more interviews to the queer press (though he was responding to a charge by the publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, who has given money to Hillary Clinton). It would be nice if he were bolder on same sex marriage, but understandable that he might avoid that hot potato. And it would have been good if he had shown some regret about having homophobe Donnie McClurkin perform during his South Carolina tour, providing a forum for McClurkin's anti-gay rants.
But overall, I think Obama did well with the interview. It is clear that he does not view the LGBT community as radioactive, as candidates have in the past, but rather as a constituency as deserving of equal treatment as any other.
As a gay man who went to Occidental with Obama, it was great to hear Obama mention that he was mentored on LGBT rights by Prof. Lawrence Goldyn. Goldyn was one of the few out professors at Oxy back then-- not only out, but Goldyn had written his doctoral thesis on homophobia in the legal system.
Back in the late '70's and early '80's, before the era of high school gay-straight alliances, one started college having never heard anything about homosexuality or gender identity in school. Back then at Oxy, posters for gay awareness week and for support group meetings would be defaced and torn down. A gay student was beaten in his dormitory. It was uncommon for a straight student to profess any interest in LGBT issues. Yet in my first year at Oxy, in 1978, some straight students wore buttons opposing the Briggs Initiative. And out gay and lesbian professors began educating students like Obama.
Each successive generation since the 1969 Stonewall riots is getting more comfortable with their LGBT peers, and less likely to view them as an undesirable other. Those of Obama's and my generation were some of the first to learn from out professors. That the next generation of leaders will come from high schools that have Gay-Straight Alliances gives me great hope for the future.