Gay Mayor offers Apology But No Resignation

(Spokane, Washington) Spokane Mayor Jim West returning from a leave of absence, following revelations he offered city jobs to men he met in a gay chat room, has apologized for what he calls “poor judgment in my private life.”

But, he dismissed a demand from local business leaders to resign amid allegations of abuse of power over the affair. [...]

West, a former sheriff’s deputy and Republican leader of the state Senate before he was elected mayor in 2003, built his political career on conservative issues including a condemnation of gay rights.

After Gov. Booth Gardner signed a surprise executive order banning discrimination in state jobs based on sexual orientation, West and 14 other Republicans introduced a bill in January 1986 to bar gays and lesbians from working in schools, day-care centers and some state agencies. The bill, which called for firing state workers whose sexual identities became known, failed.

In 1986, West voted to bar the state from distributing pamphlets telling people how to protect themselves from AIDS during sex.

West opposed gay rights bills introduced in 1985 and 1987.

In 1989, West opposed expanding a needle exchange program from Pierce County to the entire state.

In 1990, West proposed that teen sex be criminalized.

In 1998, West voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

In 2003, West, as Senate majority leader, bottled up a gay-rights bill in committee and it died.

As incoming mayor in November 2003, West opposed giving benefits to domestic partners of City Hall workers, citing cost. The Spokane City Council in April approved domestic partner benefits in a 5-2 vote, enough to withstand any mayoral veto. (source)

I like to think of myself as a very forgiving guy. I’m someone who would help anyone in trouble. I can understand how someone can be closeted and not wanting to let anyone know that he’s gay. I can understand how that person can be in office and perhaps not endorse a measure that his colleagues endorse that deals with gay rights. After all, you are living a secret and if you support a gay rights bill, what will people think?

What I don’t understand is how someone who is a closeted gay will go out of his way to make life for other gay citizens more difficult through his actions. This mayor has a lot of explaining to do to the gay community. I honestly don’t think there’s anything he can say that will make his actions excusable and forgivable.

I think it’s better for us that he resign in disgrace, and I think our community has every right to cheer that on. If any friend of mine did this, that friendship would be over in a heartbeat. Your actions define who and what you are. Mayor West is nothing more than a self-serving, self-loathing hypocrite.

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