The Advocate to go monthly...

The Advocate will go from being a twice-weekly publication to a monthly one, the new editor Jon Barrett confirmed at the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association's LGBT Media Summit in Washington, D.C.

"I don't think there is a need for a biweekly magazine anymore with the Web," Barrett said. "We will have more room for bigger stories and we're going to get better writers....You will see more news in the magazine."

Barrett's first issue is the one currently on newsstands that features a cover story about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Here is an excerpt that is relevant to the debate that's been going on this week on this blog:

His promises to gay people -- full repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act, a reversal of "don't ask, don't tell," immigration rights for same-sex couples, a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and passage of the Matthew Shepard Act, which adds sexual orientation and gender identity to federal hate-crimes laws -- go further than any presidential nominee in history.

His stance on marriage is the one crashingly false note in his message to gay voters. It is difficult to understand his position as anything but calculated dissembling. Rick Garcia of Equality Illinois says, "I wish he was being brave and bold and doing the right thing, but it's his campaign's and his determination that it would not be helpful or beneficial when running for president of the United States at this particular time. I don't think he can risk any position other than the one he's taken."

Tracy Baim of Windy City Times observes that in Obama's most recent book, "he talks about a lesbian asking his position on marriage. He says, 'I might be on the wrong side of history....' Anybody who says that is self-aware enough to know that they in fact are on the wrong side of history."

Baim remembers pushing Obama in an interview to explain what she calls his "basic hypocrisy" on the issue: "I could sense someone who was trying to be practical and not treat it emotionally. I sat there and said, 'I don't have the same rights as you.' And he said, 'You're not going to get them right away, but here's what is possible.' That kind of equivocation can drive an activist crazy, but his job as a politician is to be practical."

Here is a LINK to the complete cover story by Michael Joseph Gross.