GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE January 30, 2009

www.GayPeoplesChronicle.com

Portland mayor won't resign after sex scandal

by William McCall

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Portland, Ore.-The mayor of Portland, Oregon said January 25 that he would not resign despite calls for him to do so after he admitted he lied and asked an 18-year-old to lie about their sexual relationship.

"Tomorrow, I go back [to] work as your mayor. I know I have let you down and made mistakes. I ask your forgiveness," Mayor Sam Adams said in a statement. "I believe I have a lot to offer the city I love during this time of important challenges."

Adams, who made Portland the nation's largest city with an out mayor when he was sworn in on January 1, publicly apologized last week for lying early in his campaign about the relationship with an 18-year-old man in 2005.

The scandal has resulted in an investigation by the Oregon attorney general and has divided the city and its gay and lesbian community. The police union and four Portland newspapers-including the LGBT weekly Just Out-have called for his resignation, but Adams has found strong support to remain, including a January 23 rally on his behalf at City Hall that drew more than 400 people.

In his statement, Adams said he would "work harder than I ever have in my life" to help see the city through the tough economic times.

Two of the leading business associations in Portland had taken a wait-andsee stance.

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Steve Holwerda, chairman of the Portland Business Alliance, said in a statement the board had differing views on whether Adams should resign but they agreed it was a critical time for the city and some of its major development projects.

"Whether or not he stays in office should be based on whether he can lead our city effectively and with the integrity that all our citizens deserve," Holwerda said.

But the board of the Portland Area Business Association went further and said Adams should remain in office, but added, "pending the outcome of official investigation."

The young man, Beau Breedlove, was a legislative intern when he met the mayor at age 17. He and the mayor both say their sexual relationship started after his 18th birthday, in June 2005.

Breedlove, now 21, told the daily Oregonian that the relationship was consensual.

"I do not see any relationship that I ever had with Sam as me being taken advantage of," Breedlove told the newspaper. "I do not feel like I was ever a victim."

When Adams confirmed the relationship this past week, he said it was inappropriate because of the age difference; Adams is now 45.

He also said he lied early in his mayoral campaign and asked Breedlove to lie as well because rumors at the time falsely suggested the relationship involved at minor.

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Registry

Continued from page 1

is "not a monolithic community" and that not all of its members oppose the registry.

Tactical disagreements

Since registry opponents did not collect enough petition signatures to force a referendum, any repeal will now need to be done by ballot initiative, which has no deadline for signatures to be submitted.

The black pastors in Matthews' group were joined in their opposition by white suburban evangelical

churches and loose-knit groups of antiLGBT citizens, mostly living on the west side of the city.

Should Forbes succeed in convincing the black pastors to end their oppo-

members believe that the moratorium on canvassing is a mistake. Asking not to be identified, they said it is a waste of valuable time, and is setting the campaign back in a ballot fight they think will inevitably occur.

That group has been considering the possibility of declaring independence from a campaign they see as losing

momentum.

The subgroup is led by people in-

'I'm a civil rights lawyer

sition to the registry, it is still unclear and I realized that I had

what the others will do.

That uncertainty is the cause of a split in Cleveland Families Count, the

campaign organizing to defend the reg-

istry.

A small subgroup, led by Doerfer

and Bowman, decided to have a twoweek break from canvassing neighborhoods. Volunteers have instead been calling supporters for contributions.

According to Doerfer, they have pledges for around $1,600, of which around $500 has come in.

She said the break in canvassing will give a chance for the dialogue to work. "We were not specifically asked to stop canvassing," Doerfer said, calling the cessation an act of "good faith, trusting the dialogue."

"There are no guarantees the [registry opponents] will stop," Doerfer said, "and it's likely they won't stop. The pastors have been in the media saying they are collecting signatures."

Doerfer believes that if the black pastors drop out as leaders, however, the campaign will "lose steam.”

"Also, it will push into the public who else is working on this," Doerfer said. "We will learn who they are and who we are dealing with."

But other Cleveland Families Count

never had a gay or lesbian civil rights case, and it is because there

are no rights.'

volved with Heights Families for Equality, which created the Cleveland Heights registry by initiative. They also believe that Cleveland neighborhoods should be canvassed whether there is a registry fight or not because future progress could depend on knowing where LGBT-supportive citizens are.

"We're meeting next week to see what the next steps are," Doerfer said of the two factions. "I suspect we will start canvassing again."

"We all want the same thing," Doerfer said, "and as with any organization there are points of disagreement as to how to obtain what we want." "'Gay' is on the radar in Cleveland, and that is good," Doerfer said.

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