Spring Break
Adams must leave damage behind and resign
Bill Bradford
Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: Forum
Sam Adams, it breaks my heart to tell you this, but it is time to face the music and do the right thing: you need to resign.
And you need to do it now, before you face the recall election in six months.
On the off chance that someone in the Pacific Northwest has been playing Bear Grylls somewhere in the deep forests of the Cascades, let's rehash your story:
Last spring, Portland displayed an amazing capacity for open-mindedness and progressive thinking when it elected you, a gay man, mayor. It made Portland the largest city in America with an openly gay mayor. It was a sign that "change" was indeed happening, even for those at the margins of society, and a hopeful sign for people like myself, a disability activist.
Sure, there were the usual attempted political smears along the way. Ironically, they were not from some homophobic neo-con, but from another openly gay candidate: real estate developer Bob Ball. Ball claimed that you had a sexual encounter with an underage legislative intern, Beau Breedlove, back in 2005. It was a charge you vehemently denied, claiming that your relationship with Breedlove was purely platonic.
But then, after a dogged and intensive investigation by "Willamette Week," you decided to come clean and admit that you did indeed have a sexual tryst with Breedlove. Your defense was that you waited until Breedlove was 18, and therefore it was consensual and legal. (It is probably no coincidence that you buried the lead and made the announcement on the same day as President Obama's historic inauguration.)
After further pressure, you confessed that you may have kissed the young man and had dinner dates in the few weeks leading up to his 18th birthday. Breedlove confirmed this most recent version of the story.
The latest confession bothers me, but not for the reasons most people have voiced.
I obviously don't care that you had sex with another man and neither did the majority of Portland voters. In Oregon, at least, sexual orientation is nobody's business.
And you need to do it now, before you face the recall election in six months.
On the off chance that someone in the Pacific Northwest has been playing Bear Grylls somewhere in the deep forests of the Cascades, let's rehash your story:
Last spring, Portland displayed an amazing capacity for open-mindedness and progressive thinking when it elected you, a gay man, mayor. It made Portland the largest city in America with an openly gay mayor. It was a sign that "change" was indeed happening, even for those at the margins of society, and a hopeful sign for people like myself, a disability activist.
Sure, there were the usual attempted political smears along the way. Ironically, they were not from some homophobic neo-con, but from another openly gay candidate: real estate developer Bob Ball. Ball claimed that you had a sexual encounter with an underage legislative intern, Beau Breedlove, back in 2005. It was a charge you vehemently denied, claiming that your relationship with Breedlove was purely platonic.
But then, after a dogged and intensive investigation by "Willamette Week," you decided to come clean and admit that you did indeed have a sexual tryst with Breedlove. Your defense was that you waited until Breedlove was 18, and therefore it was consensual and legal. (It is probably no coincidence that you buried the lead and made the announcement on the same day as President Obama's historic inauguration.)
After further pressure, you confessed that you may have kissed the young man and had dinner dates in the few weeks leading up to his 18th birthday. Breedlove confirmed this most recent version of the story.
The latest confession bothers me, but not for the reasons most people have voiced.
I obviously don't care that you had sex with another man and neither did the majority of Portland voters. In Oregon, at least, sexual orientation is nobody's business.
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