Portland, Oregon's New Gay Mayor Sam Adams: Victory Speech

Earlier this morning I posted about Sam Adams, Portland, Oregon's newly elected gay mayor.

His victory speech, AFTER THE JUMP...

Sam Adams victory speech

(via Portland Elects Openly Gay Mayor Sam Adams [tr]

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Portland Elects Openly Gay Mayor Sam Adams

Sam Adams, an openly gay man whose family lived on "food stamps and public housing" as he grew up, has been elected Portland, Oregon's mayor. As such, he'll be the first openly gay mayor of a top-40 U.S. city.

The Oregonian reports: " The city commissioner soundly defeated 12 other candidates Tuesday to assume the top office in the city and one of the tallest bully pulpits in the Pacific Northwest. He captured 58 percent of the vote to avoid a November runoff against travel agency owner Sho Dozono. Adams, 44, won by stressing specifics: He promised to work with school leaders to cut the dropout rate, make Portland a leader in environmentally friendly businesses and use the Portland Streetcar and better planning to spur urban renewal."

You may recall I posted about Adams last September as he was being targeted by Bob Ball, a gay Portland real estate developer who also had an interest in the mayor's office, in an ugly, unsubstantiated smear campaign involving an underage intern. Adams, obviously, survived that attack.

Adams takes over for outgoing mayor Tom Potter in seven months.

A very brief clip from the local news, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Chelsea Clinton to Hit Lesbian Bar with Sophie B Hawkins?

Barring any unforeseen changes in the Clinton campaign schedule, it looks as if Chelsea will be continuing the gay bar crawl she began at Portland's Red Dress Party and extended to Center City in Philadelphia when she returns to Portland before Oregon's primary.

Williamette Week's Byron Beck reports: "Just got word there is a very strong possibility that my new friend Chelsea Clinton is heading back to Portland for a very special appearance on Tuesday, May 13. Chelsea will be collecting ballots alongside out and very proud recording artist Sophie B. Hawkins."

Previously
Chelsea Clinton's Ass Grabbed in Philadelphia Gay Bar Crawl [tr]
Chelsea Clinton Hobnobs with the Muscle Marys [tr]

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Chelsea Clinton Hobnobs with the Muscle Marys

Monday, I mentioned that Chelsea Clinton had stopped in at Portland's drag 'Red Dress Party' fundraiser. Here's another shot showing the former first daughter at the fete amidst a band of jungle red Oregon Glamazons.

When we posted yesterday's photo we received an email from San Francisco photographer Jerry Pritikin, noting that it's not the first time a candidate's child has mingled with the gays in the heat of campaign season.

Pritikin sent along this photo he shot of Jimmy Carter's son "Chip" in 1976 at the San Francisco Gay Memorial Day Tricycle Race. Note the signs in the background announcing his dad's appearance at a downtown SF location on June 2nd.

Red Dress Party [just out via Pam's House Blend]

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Chelsea Clinton Parties with 2,000 Gay Men at Drag Fundraiser

While in Portland, Chelsea Clinton made sure the gays got some attention, stopping in at the annual Red Dress Party, at which attendees must wear the required garment. It was probably, refreshingly, the first stop in recent weeks where she knew she wouldn't be asked about the blue dress.

Byron Beck writes: "Not to be confused with that other annual "Red Dress" fundraiser, this is the "Red Dress Party," a mondo-alcohol-fueled dance party where nearly 2,000 gay men in various states of red dress undress (and several nearly naked straight men as well as one very colorfully decorated naked woman) invade a warehouse in Northeast Portland and dance their collective asses off to pounding disco music and the incredible Storm Large and her Balls (they were beyond fabulous). Large, a bigtime Obama supporter even dedicated one of her more infamous songs, Ladylike, to Chelsea's mama. According to my sources Ms. Clinton moved heaven and earth (well, she just trimmed some of her other meetings in Oregon Saturday that included stops in Eugene and Portland State University) so that she could make the par-ty."

Adds Beck: "This small shindig was started years ago as a way for gay guys to wear girlie gowns and get stinkin’ drunk. But this much-loved party has evolved over the years. Now one of the most colorful fundraisers out there (last year the group gave away more than $25,000 to local nonprofits supporting queer youth or helping people with AIDS), it attracts over 1,500-plus attendees, including straight men and women, state legislators and anybody else who likes to rock on with their frock on."

Party Girl: Chelsea Clinton Cuts Loose With 2,000 Gay Men in Red Dresses
[williamette week]

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News: T.R. Knight, Seal, Dame Edna, Portland, Dominic Monaghan

Barack Obama wins 'Democrats Abroad' primary 65.6% to Hillary Clinton's 32.7%. DailyKos: "That's 11 in a row for Obama (including the Virgin Islands)! There are 7 pledged delegate-equivalents to be awarded, in addition to 4 superdelegate-equivalents."

4 am Drunk driver in Portland somehow drives onto underground MAX mass transit system, drives for a mile before being stopped.

UEFA Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo 'dazzled' by laser beam at Lyon's Stade Gerland: "Red Devils boss Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed the club has contacted European football's governing body with a view to having the matter looked at more closely in the form of television pictures from the Champions League tie. 'We reported the matter to Uefa before the game,' Ferguson said. 'We noticed it in the warm-up and [Uefa] are aware of it.'

Gay Irish poet Cathal O Searcaigh cut from curriculum over teen sex scandal: "Education Minister Mary Hanafin said yesterday that there were "difficulties" with the inclusion of his poems on the exam curriculum. She said the issue will be examined by the body which decides which poems should be on the curriculum, the National Council on Curriculum Development. Mr O Searcaigh is the subject of a controversial documentary 'Fairytale in Kathmandu', in which the gay writer admits having sex with some of the male teenagers being financially supported by him in Nepal. Yesterday he announced he is to distance himself from any future distribution of charitable funds in Nepal."

If that's T.R. Knights 'dick in a box', I'm impressed!

More on State Representative Jason Bartlett, who came out of the closet and is now the first openly gay African American state legislator: "It does feel kind of weird to be the first African American state legislator in the United States to come out but it is what it is. It's all about being comfortable with yourself. I mean, certainly, I am not the first gay African American legislator but I am the first to come out and say I am gay."

Actress Emily Perry, who played Dame Edna Everage's 'bridesmaid' Madge Allsop for many years, has died at the age of 100: "Perry appeared on Dame Edna's ITV star-studded shows and travelled the world as part of comic Barry Humphries' stage spectaculars. Humphries told the BBC: 'It is a great loss to me, she was a close friend.' The actress appeared in the Dame Edna Experience, a comedy chat show which attracted a whole host of UK and Hollywood names, from 1987 to 1989. As New Zealander Madge Allsop she never uttered a word, and her main function was to affix badges to star guests - and bear the brunt of Dame Edna's savage comments."

San Francisco holds vigil for slain gay junior high student Lawrence King.

Heidi Klum and Seal get catty.

AfterElton talks to gay Survivor: Micronesia contestant Chet Welch, who also happens to be the most successful Miss America pageant coach: "I've always been open in my area. I've always been even though I grew up in a rural farming area of Pennsylvania. Truthfully, I've never had an issue in my life about being gay. If people had an issue, I wasn't really aware of it, or if they did, I figured that was their problem not mine. I do hope in some way I'm able to encourage other people that way, as well as I was hoping to show people that might have homophobia or issues with it in some way that it's not what it's sometimes portrayed to be."

Dominic Monaghan joins Hugh Jackman in X-Men: Wolverine as 'Beak'.

Survey of 100 gay porn actors finds lack of education and information about on-set HIV risk: "Almost 30% of gay adult industry performers in the survey were either HIV positive or didn't know their status. While most were comfortable working with HIV positive performers, many were concerned about the lack of discussion surrounding HIV and STDs on set . Over 80% of performers strongly agreed or somewhat agreed that condom-using studios provided adequate safety measures to protect them from HIV, but little more than half of the respondents felt that the they were being protected adequately from non-HIV risks like hepatitis, HPV or syphilis."

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Gay Man Accused of Smearing Another in Portland Mayoral Race

Bob Ball, a gay real estate developer from Portland, Oregon who is seen as a would-be politician and reportedly has an interest in running in the city's mayoral race, has been accused of launching a nasty smear campaign against the leading candidate for the top job who is another openly gay man — City Commissioner Sam Adams.

It appears that Ball has decided to use the recent gay political scandals (such as Mark Foley and underage pages) as fodder for an unsubstantiated smear job against his potential opponent. Ball has apparently twisted a mentoring relationship that Adams had with a 17-year-old intern in the Oregon house to make it appear something untoward was going on.

The Oregonian reports: "The problem: The story Ball told about Adams and a 17-year-old legislative intern isn't true, according to both Adams and the young man. Adams acknowledges trying to be a mentor, including exchanging numerous phone calls and text messages with the young man over several months in summer 2005. But both men said that they have never been anything more than friends. Ball said he was doing a public service in speaking with [Portland City Commissioner Randy] Leonard, implying that as a reserve police officer he felt a responsibility to report suspected child abuse. Oregon law requires people in positions of responsibility -- public or private -- to report child abuse to police or welfare workers. Those he told, including Leonard and former Mayor Vera Katz, said they took it as an attempt at political assassination."

The charges have led Adams to write an open letter to the citizens of Portland.

Writes Adams: "I have in the past, and I will in the future, respond to people who reach out to me for help and advice. This is especially true when it comes to young people. Growing up in Newport and Eugene, Oregon I remember when I was a teenager and I had nobody who I felt I could talk to at a time I desperately needed someone to give me advice and perspective about coming to terms with being gay. I came through it. Not everyone does. Gay youth suicide rates, homelessness and depression are still too high. And adequate services have been lacking: Reasons why I co-founded Portland's Q Center, served on the Boards of Cascade AIDS Project, Basic Right Oregon and lobbied the state legislature in support of statewide non-discrimination laws. I didn't get into public life to allow my instinct to help others to be snuffed out by fear of sleazy misrepresentations or political manipulation. I understand the need for good judgment, and I keep within the bounds of propriety -- as I did in this case."

Beau Breedlove, the 17-year-old intern who is now 20, continues to say there is and never was any kind of romantic relationship between him and Adams. Ball has issued a statement in response to the local media frenzy regarding the accusations, concluding "Any story here is not about me."

The Portland Mercury blog frames the debate. Adams told the paper: "If this had come from the right wing—and it probably will now—that would have been one thing. But to come from another gay man is something more hurtful. It plays into the worst, deep-seeded fears society has about gay men: You can’t trust them with your young."

Mayoral Race Off to Brutal Beginning [williamette week]
Gay on gay political smearing? [oregon live blog]
Fallout from rumors stirs City Hall politics [the oregonian]
An Open Letter to Portlanders [sam adams site]

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News: Stare Decisis, Jake and Reese, Chile Lake, The View

The bus driver who threw two teenage lesbians off the bus for kissing in Portland will be disciplined, the transit authority announced. TriMet General Manager Fred Hansen: "Removing the girls from the bus was not consistent with our policy. I want to reiterate that we welcome all riders on our system. TriMet sincerely apologizes to the girls and their families for this incident."

Who's got a hankering for flesh and coffee table books?

"Stare decisis" promises laid aside as Roberts' Supreme Court begins overturning precedents: "It was the second time the Roberts court had overturned a precedent, and the first in a decision with a divided vote. It surely will not be the last."

Report: Mario Cantone and Ross Matthews (Ross the intern) under consideration to fill Rosie O'Donnell's spot on The View.

Shameful: Missing soldier's wife faces deportation. (via americablog)

The imaginary relationship between Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon has come to a close.

Glacial lake in Chile disappears suddenly: " Park rangers at Bernardo O'Higgins National Park said they found a 100-feet-deep crater in late May were the lake had been in March. Several large pieces of ice that used to float atop the water also were spotted...One theory is the water disappeared through cracks in the lake bottom into underground fissures. But experts do not know why the cracks would have appeared because there have been no earthquakes reported in the area recently, Romero said. A river that flowed out of the lake was reduced to a trickle."

Bush vetoes stem cell measure...again: "'Destroying human life in the hopes of saving human life is not ethical,' Mr. Bush said in a brief ceremony in the East Room of the White House. He called the United States 'a nation founded on the principle that all human life is sacred.'" Meanwhile, 14 U.S. troops have been killed overseas in the last 48 hours in Bush's illegitimate war. How's that for sacred?

"Gay Life" celebrates composer David Del Tredici's identity as a gay man.

Homophobic Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov looks set to be reappointed for a fifth term.

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Gay Teen Girls Kicked Off Bus for Kissing in Portland

Two teenage Portland girls are considering filing a complaint after a bus driver kicked them off the bus for kissing and hugging:

"Maika Rich and Jocelyn O'Neal, both 14, admit they were kissing while on the No. 12 bus traveling on Barbur Boulevard at about 5 p.m. on June 8. They were headed to the Sexual Minority Youth Recreation Center. They say a female passenger complained to the driver about the kissing and that the driver told them to 'knock it off' and also called them 'sickos.' Rich says she then gave O'Neal a hug because it appeared she was upset about the exchange. They say at that point the driver stopped the bus and ordered them off. The girls say they are used to being picked on at school but felt defenseless against an adult. Maika Rich's mother, Ronnda Zezula, says she doesn't think the driver would have treated two gay adults or a heterosexual couple in the same manner."

Kudos to Ronnda Zezula for defending Maika and having such a progessive attitude about her 14-year-old daughter. Some parents would have given her the Zach treatment.

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Gus van Sant Pleads Not Guilty to Drunk Driving Charge

Attorneys for director Gus van Sant, who was arrested just before Christmas in Portland on a charge of driving under the influence, have pleaded "not guilty" in a Multnomah County court.

Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Brian Schmautz testified, according to the AP: "Van Sant, 54, was arrested the night of Dec. 21 near the city center. Police said he registered a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, more than double Oregon's limit of 0.08 percent...An officer saw that Van Sant's headlights weren't on. Van Sant had bloodshot eyes and slurred speech, smelled of alcohol and failed sobriety tests."

Van Sant was ordered to an alcohol diversion hearing set for February 9th, which could eventually expunge the charges from his record.

You may have missed...
Gus Van Sant Arrested for DUI in Portland [tr]
The Anti-Breakfast Club [tr]

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Gus Van Sant Arrested for DUI in Portland

Director Gus van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Elephant, My Own Private Idaho, Drugstore Cowboy) was arrested in Portland at around 4am on Thursday for driving under the influence. No further details are available. Everyone be careful out there this holiday season — there may be a bit too much holiday cheer on the roads. (news report)

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