Just Out Editorial Board Asks Portland Mayor Sam Adams To Resign From Office

1 Poe // Jan 21, 2009 at 1:54 pm

Sad, but it’s the right call.

2 ... // Jan 21, 2009 at 1:55 pm

Who comprises the editorial board?

3 gerryblakney // Jan 21, 2009 at 1:58 pm

Boo to Just Out. That is all I care to say right now. Boo.

4 Jonny Woo Foxx // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:01 pm

Amen. Thank you, Marty and the rest of the Just Out staff.

5 Tara // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:03 pm

That is just sad.

Really? You want to do this NOW?

6 Dave // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:03 pm

Agreed — it is the correct call for the right reasons.
Dave

7 Geoff Watland // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:05 pm

This is ridiculous. Sam did lie and I don’t condone that, but he lied to the Oregonian and WW who were acting more like tabloids than real journalists. Consensual sex acts are no one’s business and he never should have been asked about them in the first place. Now that some busybodies have made his private life into such a huge issue he’s come clean. He’s admitted wrong doing and he’s apologized. He didn’t do anything illegal, he didn’t lie under oath like Clinton. We need to move on and show a little compassion.

8 Stephen Marc Beaudoin // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:07 pm

The editorial board comprises the four-person editorial team of the newsmagazine: publisher Marty Davis, news editors Stephen Marc Beaudoin and Jaymee Cuti, and arts & culture editor Jim Radosta.

9 Heather // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:09 pm

Thank You Just Out for the well written Editorial. I believe that the Just Out staff have spent a great deal of time investigating this issue, and hearing the opinions of their readership. I appreciate that effort and that Just Out is willing to take a stand. For what it is worth, I agree Sam needs to resign.

10 Tom // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:09 pm

Marty’s judgmental and obsessive prudery shines through again.

Just when you thought that a gay newspaper would be the understanding one as to why an idolized gay politician would be so panicked he would lie when it comes to accusations that will make homophobes shout “pedophile”. Just when you think that a gay newspaper would understand that people shouldn’t be asked about private matters to begin with and not join in the “gotcha” games when they don’t admit every sex act they ever performed.

11 Jen // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:10 pm

Sam Adams lied, he over lied. He alluded to the fact that he was above using a mentoring relationship for sex, etc. If he hadn’t gone so far into that realm I would have more sympathy. He should be treated as if a straight man decided to screw his young female intern and be ousted or resign. He has embarrassed the gay community by his holier than thou attitude. Out with the scum.

12 Tom // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:11 pm

My apologies to Marty- it’s probably not JUST her obsessive prudery, it’s probably Stephen’s obsession with the gay community looking normal and conformist enough.

13 Chris // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:11 pm

It’s not just a question of a lie, it’s a question of an act with a minor. Given he lied to us about the whole fiasco in the beginning, do we really believe that the kid was 18 when it happened? His credibility has been ruined.

14 TP // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:12 pm

Wow, JustOut, I am tragically disappointed to hear this from you. I think the scandal here (if there is one) is that Adams felt (and it seems appropriately so) that this situation would get blown out of proportion and would not be recognized as two consenting people. I’m hopeful that Adams will politely ignore your advice (and similar advice from other publications) and that this will blow over quickly so we can get back to making Adams’ great ideas happen in this city.

15 Altaira // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:13 pm

Um, today, the 21st, is Wednesday.

16 CLS // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:18 pm

What rubbish! Both were consenting adults and the press had no business knowing who he dated or didn’t. He had no obligation to tell the media snoopers what he was doing. And “the public” has no right to private information about anyone’s sexual habits unless it involves some serious crime against another. That wasn’t the case. Media snoops think they have a right to have every question they ask answered. They don’t. It was Adams right to avoid the question or even give a false answer since the question itself is illegitimate. Shame on Just Out.

17 Bear Boy // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:22 pm

Gawd…..
They used to say that Washington DC was tops in political evil, scandal, and deceit.
I think Portland Oregon has topped that.
This is one ugly scene.
I’m so fukkin pissed to be a queer in this city right now. Thanks Sam for setting us back 20 years.
Marty…..you and your staff have shown courage to ask for the resignation. I know it killed all of you…..so hard.
This a huge tragedy.

18 Esther // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:28 pm

You need to let a lie-detector test decide whether Sam needs to resign. If he broke the law (had relations with Beau at age 17), and not just ignored ethics (lying, making a mockery of what mentoring should be), he must leave his post. Despite what good he might have done for Portland. There’s no getting around that.
If, on the other hand, he was just really stupid and self-centered (and not illegal) in what he did with Beau, then he needs to stay and make amends for lying to people and making others (Ball, the GLBT community, Portland) look so bad when they were on the right side of the law all along. And he needs to be the best Mayor for the city they can possibly have. People will get over the lying. But only if he isn’t STILL lying.
Oh what tangled webs people weave…
What a sorry day for those who did look to Sam as a role model, and who put so much faith and trust in his ability to do right by Portland. He could probably regain it given the chance, and perhaps everyone benefits in the end. But only if he’s telling the truth now.

19 Mark // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:31 pm

We all agree that Sam Adams shoudl resign.

Shame for any gay defending Sam Adams just because he’s gay.

20 Jeb // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:33 pm

Wait a minute… Sam Adams is GAY?

21 Chris // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:33 pm

Portland has never leaded strong, smart leadership like we need it right now. Sam remains our best bet in providing that.

I think everyone calling for his head should be asked to provide a list of every unusual sexual situation they’ve been in over the last twenty years for publication in Just Out.

Should he have had better judgement? Sure. Should he have told the truth. Yes. But would most of us have had the courage to speak the truth in his shoes? No.

We should all take a breath and give him the chance to regain our trust. He can still be one of Portland’s great leaders. And all this puritanical granstanding is turning my stomach.

22 ICPXXXIV // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:35 pm

This has a certain Clinton\Lewinski feel to it….

23 pdxatheist // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:43 pm

I don’t defend him because he’s gay; I defend him because he’s human. Who wouldn’t be tempted to lie in the face of such prurient prudery? What happened was truly nobody’s business but the two consenting adults’.

The lie is unfortunate but understandable. I think the only legitimate reason to discuss his resignation is if this will seriously hamper his ability to be an effective mayor of our city. Will the people of Portland suffer because of this incident? I think that’s the true question, and I don’t really see anyone talking about that.

I can forgive the lie, because I’ve lied and I don’t think that makes me an unworthy human being, and I accept his apology. As far as I know the relationship took place with a consenting adult, so there’s nothing to forgive there. What really counts is whether or not this renders him unable to be an effective leader, and I think that depends in large part on the actions of those around him and the willingness (or unwillingness) of the community and those with whom he must work to get past this.

I disagree with the editorial board’s recommendation; I believe it is too early to make a recommendation like that, based on the reasons above. When I voted for Adams for mayor I was under no illusions that I was voting for First Prize in a Most Ethical Human Being competition. I wanted a competent, compassionate, progressive mayor, and I believe that is what we still have.

24 jonny // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:43 pm

i am amazed that Just Out and every other newspaper would call for a resignation so early in the game. It is a bit sensationalist and makes you all look more like a tabloid. I understand that people feel hurt because Sam lied. So many people have egg on their faces and boooo hoooo. Perhaps waiting for an official investigation before condemning a person that you once touted as the man of the year would be a better move.

25 Doug // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:45 pm

Wait why is a newspaper calling for anything? More importantly why don’t they call for something more important.

26 Terry // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:46 pm

I COMPLETELY disagree… I agree that he lied and it was wrong. I think he can get past this and will. I also believe that his sex life never should have made it into the public eye… Wrong call Just Out.

27 Brenda Dixon-Smith // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:47 pm

Sam — while it was just dumb to lie, I have a great deal of empathy. I get “yeah, right” responses from 100% of the people who hear the story of how Debbie and I began our relationship. NOBODY believes the truth. I was the dean and she was an almnus but people are convinced we began the relationship when she was a student. Hang in there and don’t resigin and don’t tell any more lies. See you at the ball.

28 M. // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:47 pm

So ask Sam resign then what we do have Sho, or Ball??? NO THANKS!

So when a newspaper lies and then apologizes do we ask for them to close up and cease to be?

Just Out can’t even be called more than a gay blog. I give up on you.

29 Richard Ludt // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:47 pm

Dear Mr. Mayor,
I think it is clear you are a politician and being a politician sometimes
involves having to lie to play the game. If you’d have spoken the truth at that time, the smearing and rumour of underage impropriety would have taken the stage, not the facts.

You were single…he was not underage.
It’s none of our business.

Do I think one should sleep with one’s intern?
No. There is clearly a position of power there.
Is it against the law? I don’t think so.

I would prefer it if we lived in a country where we could be frank and open 100% of the time without it being twisted and turned around to meet someone else’s agenda.

I support you Sam. I’m disappointed and sad that this is the thing people want
to focus on. I wish you had made a different choice about getting involved with him period.
BUT….
I hope you will have such an amazing career in office that it will overshadow
this and you will leave office with a legacy of all the good things you were able to accomplish- with a tiny footnote about being a human being.
Who made a mistake.

In Europe it would likely go unmentioned but for the ‘Gay’ story interest.
This country sells sex and youth at every opportunity but is ridiculously prudish
when it comes to the reality of human behavior. How many older men have slept with their secretaries through the centuries? It happens. I don’t particularly agree with the power dynamic or ethics of it, but come on, it’s human behavior.

Please know I will be supporting you in this way in EVERY conversation that comes up about this.
Let’s hope that this topic of conversation lasts but for a short time.

Best to you Sam
Richard Ludt LMT

30 a straight guy // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:48 pm

Your Board are (collectively anyway) idiots. Setting aside for the moment whether the “scandal” has any actual merit, if the gay community truly wants equality then stop setting up every gay in a the public spotlight as a “poster boys (or grrl)” for gays. Everyone makes mistakes, and vilifying Sam Adams because he “set us back 20 years” (being he IS the embodiment of the gay community, right?) is not only inaccurate and stupid, it hurts your community more than anything Sam did. News flash: how people think about the gay community isn’t going to change based on one person’s actions unless they already hated gays anyway. Or is your blog an attempt to “mainstream” the gay community by showing that you can be just as reactionary and mob-like as straight people?

31 Faithful Queer // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:49 pm

I am deeply sadden to see Just Out request that Sam Adams resign as Portland Mayor, after only being in office for a few weeks. Mayor Adams has served the city well over these many years and from what I know about him he truly cares and works damn hard for Portland.

That being said, I must agree with Just Out and the many other voices that request that Mayor Adams step aside. Not only did he lie about his relationship but he asked others to lie for him. And on several interviews with WW, the Oregonian and TV news stations, Mayor Adams tried to come across as a victim of a smear campaign. But now we know the truth, at least most of it, and in fact it was Mayor Adams who was smearing others by lying in the first place.

Not only do I now worry about being able to trust Mayor Adams, but I am concerned about the negative effect he has done upon the gay community. It’s still early in the news coverage, but I think a backlash is waiting to happen against the gay community because of Mayor Adams failure to be honest. I just hope the rest of us, and there are many who continue to be truthful about their lives, even when it is no one elses business, I just hope we will stand together and show the other side of the gay community. We all know the liars, cheaters and abusers, but there are many amazing queer people out there with many mistakes behind them, but are at least willing to fess up to them without being ‘outed’.

Again, I am sorry to say that I agree with Just Out and believe Mayor Adams needs to finally accept the truth. No matter what he does or says now, people are going to pick through it all to see if he is lying again. We don’t need that cloud hanging over Portland.

This is a lesson we can all learn from, the truth shall always prevail.

32 Filemon Gemil // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:56 pm

Editorial Board:

Backstabbers!

And no, that is not a thinly veiled sexual reference.

33 Howie Bierbaum // Jan 21, 2009 at 2:56 pm

Wow, what a quick rush to judgment, Just Out!

While you and others hide behind “he lied to us” to justify his resignation, I believe the real reason is you and your ilk don’t like the notion of a 42 year old having sex with an 18 year old. At least be honest and put that out there!

Sam made a mistake when he lied about having sex with another consenting adult, but I understand why he did what he did. Mayoral hopeful Bob Ball was starting a whisper campaign about Sam’s affair and it was truly embarrassing.

But if Just Out’s “editorial board” was less reactionary and actually delved into queer history they would realize that Rep. Barney Frank has a sex scandal in 1988 with a male prostitute. He survived the incident and went on to serve the nation quite admirably in Congress to this day.

Slow down, “editorial board”, get off the tabloid bandwagon and stop eating your own! Portland’s queer community deserves a more thoughtful voice!

Afterall, which one of us hasn’t lied about our sex life anyway?

34 Dave // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:02 pm

LOL. Look at you queers defend this perv.

And then you wonder why that drug dealer Matthew Shepard was killed.

35 Jodi Bon Jodi // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:02 pm

Boooo to you Just Out. I am sad that you were as short sighted as all other mainstream newspapers and quickly jumped to demonization of a public figure for being a human.

Poor form JO, poor form…

36 SupportSam // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:03 pm

Sam Adams should have some support until all of this blows over…

37 Terry // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:09 pm

Dave, that statement says so much more about you and how disgusting you are than the gay community.

38 Jinx // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:11 pm

He lied about something is none of my business in the first place. I’m surprised and disappointed in you Just Out.

39 jacob // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:13 pm

Shame on just out! Rally with me in support of Sam, city hall, 5 PM.

40 Leo Sunshine // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:17 pm

BOO to Just Out!

INAUGURAL SPEECH….”What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them — that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply.”

“The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works — whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”

Ok. Sam lied about dating an 18 year old AFTER meeting the guys parents at his 18th birthday party. When I was 17 “I” pursued and instigated a relationship with a 29 year old and of course we lied about it! Everyone lies about sex and dating because it’s no one else’s business. Story over. Get back to composting and gardening before I call Gnomeland Security.

41 Joe // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:17 pm

Deeply disappointed in you, JO.

Sam works SO incredibly hard for the city of Portland and is an asset to the gay community, improprietous [personal] relationship or none.
Allowing this scandal some time would have been more appropriate. Please calm yourselves in the meantime and try not to write any other quick summary judgments.

Read this, please, members of the editorial staff. I think you’re caught up in one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moral_panic

42 Saddened by Just Out // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:18 pm

Wow, really Marty? What a rush to judgement.

Was it really wise of a financially unstable publication to take a stand that will divide our community? Oh well, at least you made it to 25 years.

43 Sarah Dougher // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:21 pm

A cowardly position. But why should I expect more?

44 Q_cyclist // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:26 pm

I am sorry, Just Out. This is a rush to judgment. If Sam did have sex when Beau was 17, he needs to resign and be prosecuted. But, this is was an issue that should not have come up and Sam should have known a lot better. Maybe Sam should volunteer four hours a week at a gay organization and that would make me feel a little bit better about this.

That said, I was at Scandal’s recently and had my PBR placed on a coaster that was an advertisement for your blog. He was very young, very skinny, (I think shirtless), and had very seductive eyes. If you are going to ask for Sam to resign, please find a more classy way to advertise your blog and go back to all the establishments you gave them to and ask for them back.

45 Devan // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:33 pm

I’m disappointed in JustOut for buying into the mob mentality.

How has everyone so quickly forgotten what a loss it would be for Portland were Adams to resign? Yes, it was a major lapse in judgment for him to orchestrate such a large-scale lie about it, when what he should have said was “it’s none of your business.” But I can understand how he may have felt a little self-righteous about the whole thing, and why he felt at the time it was best to lie just to make it go away.

Just because it should have gone away if he’d been honest up front doesn’t mean it would have. It’s disappointing that he lied, but also understandable; he’s the right mayor for Portland whether or not he made a very human error in his personal life.

What’s ridiculous is the issue of whether their relationship was sexual before or after Breedlove’s 18th birthday. How much more arbitrary do you get? The law is designed to protect children from being victimized, and Breedlove was no more or less vulnerable two weeks before his birthday than a day after. And legally, yes, it makes the difference between whether or not Adams broke the law, but on a MISDEMEANOR. If the teenager is over 16, then the crime is Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor, and there’s no way that’s what this is about.

Sam made a big mistake. He apologized, and he has a long road ahead of him to regain Portland’s trust. But let’s all be rational and adult enough to let attempt that road. Willamette Week and other media outlets have a vested interest in hyping their story, and creating a furor over the story they broke. Don’t join the lynch mob, citizens of Portland, I know you’re better than that, even if JustOut clearly is not.

46 Nico Bella // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:36 pm

Dear Just Out,
You disappoint me greatly.
For you citizens that DO accept Sam’s apology and wish to stand up for him.
Please join together with me next Tuesday January 27th @ Noon is support of OUR Mayor.

Brought to you by impassioned citizens who are not pleased with the lie, accept the apology and believe in second chances. Citizens who ABOVE ALL refuse to allow scandal mongering to govern our city.

47 you lost my readership, officially // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:37 pm

i am appalled that you, especially, marty davis, and all of you on the Just Out board have declared yourselves so clearly conservative. im not surprised, mind you, but i am appalled.
this isn’t about “honesty,” this is about crucifying another brilliant queer under the guise of some false argument about ethics that no politician has ever followed and never will.
how many straight people fuck up in office and never get called on it, let alone harassed and dragged through the mud by a snoopy weekly? not until way after the fact anyway.
for the record, i don’t think he did fuck up. i think he got laid, consensually, maybe built a relationship, and then felt trapped by the oppressive weight of being a homo in a culture that still doesn’t fucking get it.
what choice did Sam Adams have but to lie, and what, when he was harassed by the Willamette Week, choice did he have other than to tell the truth? the outcome would have been the same regardless.
Straight portland can’t hack a gay mayor, your queer politics suck,
and so do yours, Just Out.
your readership just shrank by another radical queer who finally is walking away from your conservative gay agenda.

48 Chris Baunach // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:39 pm

Sam Adams made a terrible mistake in lying. However, I don’t believe his choice of consenting sexual partners is anybody’s business.

49 NoPoGreely // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:41 pm

How dare you abuse your perceived role as spokespeople for Portland’s LGBT community this way? Marty Davis and Stephen Marc Beaudoin, you are cowardly embarrassments to the queer community. Your lack of integrity – paying your rent with sex ads, titillating people with stories of your drunken escapades and peccadilloes, then self-righteously condemning Sam Adams – is stupefying.

As a gay man with a sense of history, politics, and purpose, your hypocritical piety makes me sick to my stomach. I will be making a point of notifying your advertisers that their support of Just Out reflects badly on them, supports irresponsible “journalism”, and is unnecessary for me to continue supporting them. In the age of Facebook and the rest, Just Out is as irrelevant as it is irresponsible. Supporting Just Out does nothing but prop up a clearly irresponsible perceived figurehead – Marty Davis – whose gross lack of judgment is in serious need of being deposed.

Go ahead, Marty. Get all self-righteous on everyone again. We’re sick of you, we’re sick of Just Out, and we’re not going to be quiet about it.

50 I Support Sam // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:41 pm

City Hall
Tuesday January 27th, 2009
@ Noon

http://www.myspace.com/isupportsamadams

51 Very Self-Important Person // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:42 pm

In an equally meaningless gesture, I’d like to call for the resignation of Marty Davis.

52 Jedidiah Chavez // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:42 pm

As a former Just Out staffer, I have a deep respect for the publication. However, I am shocked that the paper took this stance. I think that this was a poor decision that does not properly represent the community. Journalistic integrity should inform the NEWS but certainly not an opinion that is handed down to the rest of the community. I have worked for many queer organizations in town and Sam has always proven to be a compassionate leader who truly cares for the queers. How quick we turn on our own.

How many of us could stand up to a magnifying glass directed at our personal lives?

53 John Thomas // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:43 pm

Sleeping with a subordinate half your age is never OK, ever. Period. No excuses. Involving others to participate in a conspiracy to cover it up is equally reprehensible. There is such a thing as right and wrong, despite what some of the precious snowflakes out there failed to learn from their parents.

Also, I’d like to thank Sam for giving every idiotic Lars Larson wannabe more ad hominem ammunition every time I try to argue a point of policy that aligns with Adam’s views- he just set equal treatment for gays and lesbians back two decades, along with transportation and countless other urban planning issues.

54 Chuck // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:46 pm

As a gay man living in Portland, I cannot believe the number of other “queers” in town who are “rushing” to defend Adams ONLY BECAUSE he is gay. Disgusting. The man inappropriately groomed a 17 year old boy for sexual contact, then admits having had sex with the boy once he turned 18 — however, he lied about the relationship when questioned about it repeatedly by fellow politicians and the press. Now, he wants us to believe he actually WAITED until the boy’s 18th birthday to sleep with him. This boy was placed into Adams’ care as part of a mentorship program. Adams abused his position of authority to seduce the boy. He is a sexual predator who has given the gay community a black eye, and he has betrayed the people of Portland. This isn’t a “mistake.” This is a concerted effort on the part of a sexual predator to victimize a teenage boy more than half his age. It makes me wonder how many of the people defending Adams are doing so only because of the illegal sexual ghosts in their own closets.

55 Chris // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:49 pm

Why do I not here anyone even thinking about the fact that this person may have been underage? Again, can we really believe that there is any truth to the current statement he was 18, when he’s lied about the situation from day one? And let’s turn the tables: if it were a straight male in the position of mayor having this scenario with a girl would we adamantly be standing up for that person or calling for their ouster?

Yes we all fall under pressure, each and every one of us! But that does not give us any excuse to act in a wrongful manner or defend any wrongful thing we have done. We can’t go around blaming pressure for our actions, but instead we need to stand up, own up, and suffer the consequences. It’s as simple as “I’ve done something wrong and now I must do what is right.”

We don’t need to sacrifice values and morals simply to get more queers into office or representing us publicly.

56 Saddened by Just Out // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:49 pm

John Thomas, have you been following the story? Beau was NEVER a subordinate of Sam Adams. He happened to be an intern for a state rep in Salem. He may as well have been a barista, or bus driver, or cashier.

57 Very Self-Important Person // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:52 pm

Also, Breedlove was NOT a subordinate to Adams as everybody seems to believe.

He was an intern in Salem, and not in a Mentorship program under Adams. The “mentoring” idea was Adams’ excuse for spending time with the boy. Get your facts right before you throw your stones.

58 you lost my readership, officially // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:57 pm

i don’t think anyone is defending him “because he’s gay,” i think people are defending him because we are sick of straight people focusing on irrelevant nonsense to justify removing queers from positions of power.

no straight guy gets removed from office for fucking someone half his age.

59 DebbieS // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:57 pm

whatever happened living up to the slogan, “Keep Portland Weird?” So! ‘Just Out’ is now high and mighty about Mayor Sam Adams alleged lying! I don’t get it at all. (I’m straight, my mom was a lesbian. I’ve had gay friends and a lesbian physician.) But excuse me ‘Just Out’ is pure filth. This rag is available to children and teenagers, like Beau, in our public libraries! Just why do you draw the line at lying? You certainly did not draw the line in an article (March 17 2006 p. 11) I came across about local politicians in which the description of the sex act known as “tea bagging” was published. In the same article about local politicians! Oh please. I say keep the mayor, get rid of ‘Just Out.’

60 al // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:58 pm

there are several issues here.

sex, in and of itself is not the issue, but how the situation was handled and the fact that trust has been eroded. a leader cant lead effectively without it.

The problems are:
the lie
the abuse of power and the potential liability he has placed upon the city and the taxpayers
the smearing of this potential opponent for his personal gain
the shady job offer to the reporter who was covering the story.
Sam has been good for the city and is a fine public servant. However, his handling of this situation shows poor leadership, poor judgment and calls into question his decision making process.

61 Doug // Jan 21, 2009 at 3:59 pm

There is a lot of talk about defending Sam because he is gay, but I see a lot of the opposite happening. i.e. a gay news paper jumping to the conclusion that he should resign. This seems like an act of distancing yourself more then a valid call of resignation.

62 Jimmy // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:06 pm

I DISAGREE SAM SHOULD STAY IN OFFICE.

The media had no business asking him a question regarding his personal sexual life. His response to the questions in my view was proper and if I were in his position may have done the same thing.

The media (Justout included) is making this non issue a three ring circus at the expense of the City and Sam. The police union joins in and let me tell you about lies that they are infamous for. James Chasse Jr. murdred by PPB, they lied but now there is video tape from the jail that proves they lied under oath. They are still on the job.

I am quite surprised that Just Out and the other media outlets are not bright enough to see that the inquiry was out of bounds.

I would dare any of you to stand before the media and explain blow by blow what and who you had done.

Let’s remember all political types say things that are untrue for whatever reasons. Does mission accomplished and WMD mean anything to you.

I would love to have anyone of you that have NEVER lied to step up and cast the first stone. Want to bet that I will have to wait a lifetime for that person to step up, who has lied on their application for employment, omitted something negative that might prevent you from getting the position.

The age issue is also BS, my lover and I were 10 years apart when we met, he was 18 at the time twenty years later we are still together.

The gay community should stand behind Sam until everything is said and done. If it is PROVEN that he violated a significant law then a decision should be made.

By the way I do not know Sam and have only seen him once at Scandal’s and do not agree with all of his agenda, but I hate it when everyone jumps on someone without all of the facts.

63 why is this even an issue? // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:10 pm

Maybe Sam did make a mistake, and lying certainly doesn’t tend to sit well with the public. However, we’re all forgetting one important thing: nobody’s sex life is your business! Seriously, folks. Having sex with another consenting adult is not going to affect his work as mayor, and CERTAINLY does not call for resignation, that’s just ridiculous. It makes me sad that the media even cares about this. That goes for any and all politician “sex scandals;” I’m not just saying this because he’s queer or because of his politics or anything like that. Are you just reacting because of the age difference? Are mayors not allowed to have sex? Seriously, guys, grow up. As far as I’m concerned, Sam’s mistake was in not refusing to talk about his sex life in the first place, because it’s not the public’s business.

64 Nodrog // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:19 pm

WRONG call, in my opinion. Sam is just as qualified to run Portland as he was prior to this story breaking. If anything, he’s even MORE qualified because now that he knows the microscope is on him he’s very, very unlikely to try to lie or act unethically in the duties of his job. I think he needs sympathy for being human, for making a very poor choice, and forgiveness. Let him get on with the job we elected him to do. He’s still got my support and I hope he does not resign.

65 epicfsdude // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:21 pm

Okay, so would any of you hire a person who lies on the record?..

Would you date someone who lies to you and keeps it up?..If you then later found out that he/she was lying to you would you continue the relationship?…

I thought Sam could give alot to the city, and had given alot, but heck this really is a big deal…

I just can’t get past the point that he had a paid political consultant coach Beau on the lies…

Sam knew better from his years in public service, but I think he thought he was above the moral code on this…as in the lies….

Just think people…come on…please…

And think how much all these investigations are gonna cost you taxpayers, huh?

66 jonny // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:22 pm

wait a minute: breedlove was never adams intern, but an intern in salem, where they met at a dinner

wait a minute: the sex was consensual and breedlove was of age

wait a minute: most of the shit sliggers that the wweek interviewed were ex lovers of either adams or breedlove.

wtf people: let our city officials do their jobs, investigate, then make a decision

Adams has a 20 year history of doing great things for Portland and the Gay community, it is sad to see everyone make such quick decisions!

67 pdxatheist // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:23 pm

I support Sam, and I also support JustOut’s right to make any recommendation they see fit, however misguided I may believe it to be.

I will continue to patronize JustOut, and won’t become involved in the hysteria that seems to be rapidly enveloping this issue. So many chickens running around yelling ‘the sky is falling!’ on both sides of this argument.

68 pan sammons // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:23 pm

It’s hard for me to believe that you are calling for his resignation just one day after the story hit the papers. This feels like a witch hunt. It’s bad enough that there are so many people making instant judgements, but to have Just Out doing it too…is just too much. Unless it’s illegal, sex should be a private matter.

69 Gerald // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:30 pm

I’m really disappointed that the lynch mob is out in such full force. Sam made a mistake and apologized. Does no one remember being 18?! If Beau is anything like most of us, he was a more than willing participant, so sex shouldn’t be an issue. I don’t think anyone is putting themselves in Sam’s shoes, or they may judge a bit more slowly!

70 Michael West // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:34 pm

What Happen to my Question JUST OUT? Was it to dangerously close to the truth and was there fear of retaliation from the Top?

71 solomon burbridge // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:34 pm

You do not speak for me or any of my friends, JO. Your editorial staff are a bunch of self righteous jerks that have NO SENSE of the community they supposedly represent. I’d boycott your rag, but I stopped reading it long ago due to its lack of relevance.

72 Katzenberg // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:36 pm

Resignation? Seriously?! Aren’t there more pressing issues in the city? More pressing issues in the queer community? Just Out is coming across as a stone thrower. Grow up.

73 Ben // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:42 pm

How disappointing!
There’s no need for him to step down and how dare you call for such action! If anything, you along with every other publication asking for Sam to step down is causing a bigger and unncecessary rift! If anything we should be more understanding of what social pressures Sam must have been dealing with when he made the mistake of lying about his relationship to the young man. Shame on you JustOut!

74 Cosmonaut // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:54 pm

It’s an issue if he tried to buy off a reporter, no matter what he was trying to cover up.

75 Evan Stewart // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:54 pm

Hey Advertisers! Read Here:
As of today, Just Out has lost most of Portland’s GLBT community’s respect by simply rushing to judge this very serious matter. So save your advertising money because nobody with integrity is going to ever read this bias, conservative reject paper any longer.

76 Bruce // Jan 21, 2009 at 4:59 pm

Are you kidding me?

Your decision to ask for the resignation of Sam Adams is without merit and unjust. If Adams had broken the law, then yes, by all means he should resign. But it hasn’t been determined at this point that he has, so why rush to burn the guy at the stake?

Sam Adams had errors in judgment in handling the situation from the start. He’s human and prone to make errors in life, we all are..

The bigger question remains is this – SO WHAT? What two consenting adults do in private is their business. Am I disappointed in the guy? You bet! Do I think he needs to be tossed to curb? NO WAY! He’s worked too hard for this town and the GLBT community in Portland to simply ask him resign so that the unpleasantness of the situation and pending investigation can be avoided.

For Just Out to join the bandwagon so early in the process speaks volumes to the quality of your publication and so called “editorial board”. It only further supports the growing opinion within the GLBT community on Just Outs dwindling relevancy in our community – you are so yesterday.

Further, it’s absolutely hypocritical of Just Out to place judgment on someone so quickly regarding whom he chooses to have a consenting physical relationship with – all the while taking in ad revenue from the sex and dating ads, etc. that adorn of your rag. You can’t have it both ways Marty!

77 Pepper // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:00 pm

Don’t you think he would have won the election if he spoke freely about it?
Don’t you think this is just an amazingly juicy bit of meat that everyone has to sink their teeth into, get their ya-ya’s out and continue the backstabbing and in-fighting the queer community is known to do?
Did the fact he lied REALLY surprise you? Does it really get you?
Did he have good reason to be quiet about it?! Good reason being its none of anyones business how consenting adults have sex…
But what if he lied about that? Isn’t that the next juicy bit we are just salivating for? More sensational gossip to feel let down and victimized by? To continue buying into this heteronormative idea of what adult/consent/legal means?

Would this be as big of an issue if B. wasn’t as attractive? I dunno just saying…

Did the fact he had sex with B. really bother you?
Or is your pride hurt? Do you feel let down? Jealous? Angry? Irritated?
Sure, that’s valid.
And so is Sam and B’s. privacy.

Our golden boy fell off the pedestal we put him on. And JustOut, I have to say I feel you were too quick to judge. Too quick to point the finger too quick to sink your teeth in because your feelings are hurt.

I say give Sam the chance to rebuild and work it out
I say give Sam the chance to pass through these flames with better forethought and willingness instead of act out of fear and insecurity like I see so many of us doing with this…

78 pdxmom // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:12 pm

Bye, Just Out. I picked up a copy of the paper at New Seasons a little while back and read the editorial about how hard finances are going to be. Well, I don’t see them getting any better now, and I won’t do anything to prolong the paper’s existence. Nor do I plan to pick up another copy of the paper, at least not under the current Editorial Board.

Shame on you. May the paper’s demise be swift.

I’ve been disappointed with the paper since the current regime started to sound more reactionary, judgmental, and self-righteous. I miss the days of the 1980s with Jay and others – back when I was a quite regular reader, very occasional freelancer, and sometimes distributor.

You don’t represent this queer woman. If I had a shoe handy, I’d throw it.

79 Cody // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:15 pm

I have to say as a 22 year old that everyone’s argument that Sam took advantage of Beau is wrong on many levels. Think about it for a second Beau graduated high school a year early and was an intern at 17. He is obviously an intelligent person. He knew very well what he was doing and in no way needed to be convinced into it. I know when I was 18 I was also a bright young man and would have been able to make the same decisions. I think people tend to forget how intelligent they really were at 18 because they can only see they’re own children at that age and have the worries of parents. So if the root issue here is Sam lying about something that happened between two consenting adults in their private lives then people need to take a step back and really look at what’s going on. Also on top of all this is the fact that Beau wasn’t even an intern for Sam or officially being mentored by him. So this isn’t a question of ethics it’s a question of seeing the fact that this was brought up as a political tactic for someone else to get ahead. And does that really make them any better?

80 Travis // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:17 pm

How do you earn redemption? Is it possible?

I’m sad that an effective and smart public official whose higher ideals totally sync-up with Portland is about to be discarded. All over a piece of tale. (Why is that often the case?)

But, I’m also hurt and mad about being lied to.

But, if no crime has been committed (possible), is there a way to redemption? Is there a way to keep elected leadership that appeared to be good for Portland’s future?

???

81 horrified // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:17 pm

I care not if Mayor Adams had a sexual relationship with the young man. Be he 17 or 18. As creepy as that relationship was.

That being said, Mayor Adams has in fact lied under his own admission of guilt. It should never be acceptable for Americans to have to stand for a public official lying.

I feel Just Out and publisher Marty Davis have done the correct action in asking Mayor Adams to resign his position. Yes, everybody lies at one time or another. But this is a case of lying that deserves consequence.

82 Mikey // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:25 pm

Wrong move…

Sam’s actions were only not to invite the public and media into his personal relationship, it’s none of our business whom he or anyone else sleeps with as long as it’s legal and consenting and it was both.

Beau himself has put out a statement appologizing for the lack of clarity on the issue and states that he and Sam are still good friends.

Leave Sam alone and let him get to work, he and we have better things to do and discuss!

83 Ericka H. // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:25 pm

Have you people no sense of compassion or empathy whatsoever, ESPECIALLY if you are gay? IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING or am I in some kind of bad dream? The immediate crucifiction and lynch-mob mentality of this all is truly frightening. I am very unimpressed with your black and white mentality on this, especially when gays have been victims of it for years. This exhibits much more shame for Just Out and the supporters of this hard line than anything Sam did in the privacy of his own bedroom, with another consenting adult. GIVE ME A BREAK. I am so disheartened and saddened by those of you with nary a sense of humanity. I hope if feels nice and righteous up there on your moral high horse, if not very cold….

84 David in PDX // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:30 pm

It was an answer the shouldn’t have been extended to a question that shouldn’t have been asked. Are we ever going to detach from the inquisitional torch and pitchfork behavior of the Pope and the Taliban when it comes to consensual sex? When I was 17 & 18 most of my lovers were at LEAST 10 years older than I, and I was pleased to learn what I learned.

Anyone with the kind of sex life and record of flat-out truth being sought here would either be the most un-intelligent, un-imaginative person on earth, or dead.

85 lawrence dow // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:31 pm

As one of thousands of native gay Oregonians (5th generation here-pre 1850) that were forced out of Oregon and Portland in the 1960’s and 1970’s to find Freedom in San Francisco, I say “Shame on You”, you must have little knowledge of the discrimination that we suffered and the fights we waged for gay rights there in the 70’s. When we were denied jobs openly , denied a place to live, openly; denied the basics of survival. The first gay Mayor is elected and you want to cave into the Rose City Republican sexual standards that still must prevail there. Your call for Sam Adams to resign is disgusting and cowardly to me and will not play well in the national gay press.

86 pdxmom // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:33 pm

I just received a call from a friend who heard that “the gay community in Portland” is uniformly calling for Sam’s resignation. I hope that anyone, especially from the media, reading this editorial also read the commentary. Just Out does NOT speak for any “gay community in Portland” – and indeed, may find themselves speaking for little more than themselves.

The decline in revenues and readership predated Sam Adams’ error. Some can be blamed on the economy; more can possibly be laid at the feet of the Editorial Board itself.

You don’t speak for me, Just Out.

Sam – stay tenacious. Keep going.

87 Playing God. // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:36 pm

Has anyone, ever been more-helpful, more-supportive, or more-encouraging to gay Portlanders than Sam Adams? If you can name somebody who has worked harder for us than Sam, I’d love to hear his/her name. Should he resign as Mayor of Portland … I don’t know. What I DO know is that JUST OUT just pissed all over the best friend gay Portland has ever had.

He lied, he admitted it, he apologized. You couldn’t bring yourselves to simply stay out of the fray and support a friend when he was down?!? Did you have-to kick him again?

When your friends dissert you, you have nothing else. Hey Marty: Don’t you remember what you said about Sam at the Just Out 25th Anniversary Party? And now you throw him under the bus this hastily? Shame on you. As THE gay publication in Portland, you just put the final nail in Sam’s mayoral coffin. He had a chance of surviving this scandal until you disserted him.

88 Dave // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:37 pm

FAG LOGIC:

An gay adult having sex with a teenager = OK

A person donating to support Prop 8 = Execution

And then people wonder why most people bash fags.

89 Schroeder's Friend // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:37 pm

So much for backing our own, again Marty Davis and crew votes against one of our own. Bill Clinton was in the same boat, and was an effective politician after the fact. I’ll back Sam. That’s what I’ll tell your ad rep too. Marty Davis, I believe you are trying to bolster your numbers. Let’s see if things might heal, if you’ll quit picking the scab.

90 ppnfrsh // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:41 pm

People are acting as if they’ve never encountered an elected official who’s lied before. He just got caught. If Breedlove was truly 18 at the time they had sex, then it’s none of our business and the media shouldn’t have been digging in the first place. If he was a minor, that’s a different story. I’m not a huge fan of Adams as it is, but geez people. Leave the personal life out of politics. He lied, that’s bad. But unless Breedlove was a minor, no one should have asked him in the first place.

91 John O // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:46 pm

“Nah, I never did it, I would never…, oh, I’m Mayor now? okay, yeah, I hit that…” How do you spell cliche?

92 Obnoxious Mike // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:50 pm

I feel that I must reverse my earlier opinion about it being at a SO WHAT level. This is a really sad day. I can forgive him for letting his little head over power the big head. To not only lie, but also try to buy off a critic is unacceptable. Plus, to tell such a young man to lie on his behalf, perhaps he should go.

Mike

93 Terry // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:50 pm

Again Dave you showed your idiocy. If you read any statistics on sex with minors (which Mayor Adams did not do) you would know that overwhelmingly it is a straight person crime. In fact it’s over 95% straight. People who donated to prop 8 should not be killed, that has never been said by mainstream gay media. Boycotted yes, killed no. Come on you fool. People like yourself should just embrace your homosexuality and move on with life. That really is just what you are, as are most gay bashers…

94 Alan // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:50 pm

It’s seriously disappointing (nor surprising, just disappointing) that Just Out would call for Sam Adams’ resignation and devote only 200 words to it.

Politicians lie. That’s what politics is; Lying to people to get them to do something they wouldn’t otherwise, HOPEFULLY for the greater good.

He didn’t even lie about policy, he lied about sex. That makes him not even a politician … it makes him a human being.

Placing additional burdens on Sam to be a “TV ready gay man who might have sex with his partner but we don’t like to dwell on it” is ridiculous to me, and what’s disappointing is that Just Out, a gay publication, won’t (so far anyway) even discuss the issue honestly.

Let’s be honest. The idea of a someone in their 40s having sex with an 18 year old (gay/straight/man/woman) squigs us out. The idea of a 45 year-old **potentially** lying about when the affair started and sleeping with a 17 year old squigs us out even more.

Let’s keep being honest. This is what men do. Gay, or straight, at 17, 18, well into our twenties and beyond for some of us, we serially have sex with people we don’t love. I’m not encouraging it, I’m not discouraging it, but I know it’s what I did when I was younger, and I know it’s what a lot of men reading this did when they were younger, and I suspect it’s what at least some of the men who work at Just Out did when they were younger.

A segment of the gay/queer community has, since Stonewall, wanted to hide the seedier aspects of gay (and human) life from the public. The knee jerk call for resignation, invoking Adams as a role model for gay youth, reeks of the same. Ironically, it reeks the same as Adams’ obvious reasons for lying about the affair in the first place.

Should Sam Adams resign? I have my opinions (below), but I honestly don’t know.

Should Just Out make a blanket call for his resignation without honestly discussing the issue, and how it relates to actual gay, and queer, life? The answer to that is obvious.

–

The rest of this is personal opinion, but I hope Sam had the decency to be explicit with his young lover that it was purely physical affair, as all relationships between young sexually mature men and older sexually active men ultimately are. I also know that whether he did or not has no bearing on his fitness for mayor.

Unlike a lot of mayors in the US, or the dozens of other do-nothing, developer friendly mayoral candidates ghosting around in the wings, Sam Adams has a vision for his city. He’s engaged in the city’s success and is interested in **more** than using his power to make his friends and business contacts rich. That’s what you hope for in a leader.

Forcing him out over a three month affair with a sexually mature human being would be a mistake. We, as Portlanders, would be depriving ourself of a dynamic leader who can keep this city from becoming another boring, condo filled metropolis failing to live up to its potential.

All that said; Sam, if you’re reading this? You idiot. You, more than most, should know that that politics is about appearances. There’s plenty of less ambiguously young tail to chase after in the world.

95 Q_cyclist // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:53 pm

Anyone read the WWeek article? Sam, I support you, but you DO NOT give job references to people you have had sexual encounters with!

96 portlandchris // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:56 pm

This is really ridiculous. I have lost a lot of respect for Just Out. (Not that I had a lot of respect for it to begin with.)

97 Gene Park // Jan 21, 2009 at 5:58 pm

The bloody hypocrisy of everyone so righteously upset about two consenting adults have a schmooze is really sickening.
If anyone who is so excited about Sam’s lying is so pure and virtuous then a guy called Diogenes is looking for you. The rest of you get your filthy little minds out other peoples crotches nasty little pervs.

98 Ava // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:02 pm

PRESIDENT Bill Clinton, a straight white male, managed to have sex with an intern, in the OVAL OFFICE, while married, and lied, and got more support than this from likely the same people who are calling for Sam to resign. Sure he should not have lied but what business is it of ours who he has sex with in the first place.
I am angered that Just Out chose to do this. You do not speak for me.

99 mr mike // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:03 pm

Although I’ve lived in Portland all my life, I never heard of Just Out until a few minutes ago on the Victoria Taft Show. I was so impressed with the commentary I decided to check out the web site of an organization that struck me as embodiment of courage and integrity.
How great to live in a country where all these viewpoints can be openly expressed and debated!

100 Chloe Eudaly Supports Our Mayor! // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:04 pm

It’s too bad Mayor Adams felt inclined to lie rather than decline to comment from the get go, but seeing as it was about a topic that was nobodies business and it should have no bearing on his ability to perform his duties as mayor, I DON’T CARE!

No apologies necessary, Mayor. I would have still voted for you even if the truth had come out about your brief dalliance with another consenting, albeit young, adult. The cover up is a little concerning, but I understand the impulse.

Mr. Breedlove apparently feels guilty for undermining Bob Ball’s bid for the Mayor’s seat, but would we be better off with a Mayor who would resort to the kind of tactics he was employing?

Just Out and other local media outlets: Stop being intrusive, puritanical busy bodies and cover some news that actually matters!

101 kyle // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:07 pm

Marty, you have used this paper as your soapbox for far too long. your views should be ignored by everyone and you should be shunned in public. I will never again read a once proud paper reduced now to name calling, finger-pointing, reactionary drivel. sadly, that is no longer a big loss. Shame on you

102 Tam Adams // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:07 pm

The kid he did in the pooper was eighteen. Thus, making him a consenting adult.

In regards to lies. Who cares? All humans lie.

103 Proud of Just Out // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:09 pm

As a straight man and gay rights supporter, I am proud of you Just Out for taking a stand against a liar. The sex isn’t the issue here, the lying and use of power to cover things up are.

104 chris // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:27 pm

Just Out…
I can’t believe you are calling for his resignation so soon…supposedly you represent queer interests…but have jumped on the bandwagon-very self-hating and not giving Sam any credit for anything whatsoever…so easy to take this path-you guys suck, self righteous jerks!

105 Dr. de Valmont // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:28 pm

I wana kick just-out in the ass!
We don’t have right to marry cause folks are too concerned with what we do in our own bed.
Now your going to say what Sam can do in his?
Please…

106 Scott // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:28 pm

A quick rush to judegement, hope it doesn’t bite you in the butt. This is a non issue…all politicians lie to the press, so what? The difference here is he admitted it, after being hounded by the press. Can you imagine if your stress level is high…and then a good friend comes by and slaps you? Well you are not a good friend, let alone a friend…and you don’t speak for me or my orientation…so stop!

107 Todd // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:32 pm

‘The bond of trust and confidence has been broken. Adams has previously stated his hope that gay and lesbian youth might one day look to him as a role model and example. His own actions have now rendered this implausible.’
Sam is a long term advocate for the people of Portland. He is smart, a leader, and focuses on real issues facing our community. I cannot think of many other tenants one would want in a role model. I am saddened that personal ‘actions’ (as long as they are between consensual adults) can be asked about in a public nature. I am further saddend that we as a community would expect an answer at all. 23 year unemployment high, rising gang issues, and public transit. I am quite sure Sam will be upfront with us on those topics. That is why we voted him in.

108 Richard Ludt // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:32 pm

‘d like to know who the editorial board is who came together to speak for an entire community before HEARING what the entire community had to say in response.
Do 4-8 people have the right to throw around the
“ABUSE OF POWER” to speak for an entire community?
With the weight of a ‘NEWSPAPER’ behind them they should consider the long term repercussions of such an action.

109 Takes One to Know One // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:35 pm

Everyone take a moment to look at Just Out’s labor board grievances – the WW should do a story on the biggest lying two-faced fake lesbian in town! Marty Davis.

She’s crazy and everyone knows it.

And Just Out is so ungay and outdated.

Creepy as she is . . .

110 Rod Olin // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:39 pm

Dear Just Out-
You have NEVER done even an adequate job of representing Gay Portland. This latest bout of poor judgment is intolerable. Should Sam Adams have lied? Of course not, but the question that we should be asking is WHY is the media entitled to an answer to an inappropriate question? And for our one mediocre publication to be leading the charge against one of our own is intolerable and reeks of internalized homophobia. How will we ever gain equal rights if our own media is so quick to turn on us. Here we are in one of the most difficult times in history and this is what we are worrying about? If Sam Adams resigns we all lose. SHAME ON YOU JUST OUT!!!!

111 Nobody's business? // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:39 pm

Sam Adams made a choice. He could have:

1. Told the truth
2. Told the press it was none of their business
3. Lied

He chose number three. HE made it our business by responding untruthfully instead of taking a way that made sense.

What else will he lie about? Get him out.

112 Steve Kennon // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:49 pm

I am extremely disappointed with Just Out’s call for Sam Adams to resign. Are you trying to save the image of the gay community by making conservative moral judgments? Aren’t conservative moral judgments exactly what the gay rights movement has been fighting against for decades?

This scandal has not set us back in any way. It has brought us to a very unfortunate reality of the society we live in. It has also created a struggle here in Portland that could have the potential of moving us all forward, and not just the queer community in PDX, but everyone everywhere.

If we can set the example of rising above a sex scandal and get on with the pressing issues in our city, perhaps other cities, states, and maybe even our entire nation would follow suit. Maybe thats all a bit idealistic, but I wouldn’t say its out of the question. Someone has to set the example. Why can’t it be Portland?

Shame on you Just Out for taking such a negative approach to this issue. Instead of being the voice of change, you have given up the battle all too quickly. I am going to stand of for Sam Adams, and for the future of Portland.

113 Tim // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:51 pm

Wow, very disappointed. He was elected for the good he can do. His personal life has nothing to do with his office. I’m sad that he lied and made us question his credibility. But his life in the bedroom should have nothing to do with what he can do for this city.

114 Scott // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:56 pm

After reading comments I went over to the big O to see what they where saying about JUST OUT – soon to be JUST OUT of business. Here is what is posted
“At Just Out, the gay publication that has been a big supporter of the mayor, an internet poll found 82 percent thought he should resign.” What poll may I ask….is this the reason for your rush to judgement? YOU BAD!

115 Gary // Jan 21, 2009 at 6:59 pm

You’ve gained my readership. I agree with the board.

Where, or where in the world are we ever going to draw the line of integrity?

116 Mature Bill // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:01 pm

A dirty ol’ man is just that, whether he be gay or straight, when he goes after teenagers.

The then 41 year old Sam Adams made a very bad decision when he decided to bed a kid who had just turned 18 two weeks earlier.

If the relationship with breedlove was so sweet and innocent as Adams has tried to portray it, then why did he ask the kid to lie about their relationship when he was running for Mayor?

Rightly so, Sam Adams’ integrity and good judgement have been called into question by this incident. And, all gay men have been hurt by Adams because his behavior has furthered an ugly stereotype that homophobes often use to slander us.

Adams may not have broken the law, but he did betray us.

117 Sad Monkey // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:04 pm

I would love for some politician, when asked about an alleged sexual “scandel”, to respond “That is none of your business and irrelevant to my qualification for this position.” If Sam had done so when this first came up I would have not only voted for him, but actively campaigned on his behalf.

Instead he chose to lie. And not just lie, but play the gay card to the hilt. His sanctimonious defense of troubled gay youth needing a mentor and destroying Bob Ball’s reputation were beyond a simple lie of self defense. His pushing Beau to lie and sending him on to training on how to do so more effectively is really beyond the pale.

At the same time, he has proven over the last few weeks that he has the ability to be an excellent mayor. His knowledge, dedication, and ideas are just what we need at this critical time.

It is a horrible situation and I find myself torn between wanting him gone and wanting him to stay. And I am so very angry at him for putting himself and all of us in this situation.

Allowing him to remain mayor is rewarding his inexcusable behavior. Forcing him out is likely cutting off our own nose to spite our face.

In the end, I find myself falling into a mushy middle ground. I want the City Council to censure him for his actions, but then move on to addressing the myriad of problems facing our city. This may seem to be a cop-out. It may actually be a cop-out! But it is the best solution I can think of at present.

118 Straight guy all for gay rights says... // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:04 pm

Mr Adams should step down and i’ll tell you why…

We as human beings make choices based on lack of information just as much knowledge of information.

Case in point: when i go to the restaurant and order food, i have no knowledge that the cook does ‘unsanitary things’. The food is good, so i keep going there. Now if evidence was to come out that the cook happens to pick his nose on his days off and i catch wind of this… i’m more apt to make another dining choice.

Hence, Mr. Adams’ lie is a ‘now that i know’ thing. I couldnt care less about how many 18 year olds he slept with. But now that i know he lies when he thinks it makes sense for him to do so, i’m more apt to make another choice for mayor.

119 Wayne Bund // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:04 pm

As a sometimes freelance writer for this publication, I am surprised at Just Out’s speed and choice with which to denigrate Mayor Sam Adams in this current heated dilemma. Outside of political endorsements and choosing individuals as “person-of-the-year” what other announcements does the editorial board at Just Out make? Just Out publishes a plethora of columns that are the expressions of individual writers: Marty Davis writes her page 3 commentary every week, and both Jim Radosta and Stephen Marc Beaudoin have regular columns. Yet, withholding previously mentioned endorsements and awards, when has the editorial board come together to publish an opinion in its 25 years of journalistic reporting? That a newspaper like the Oregonian publishes editorials on a daily basis is a healthy, vital, and needed part of journalistic expression. The timing for Just Out to make this political statement at this moment feels lop-sided, and appears like a child wanting to play in the big league.

As far as I know, Sam Adams has broken no crime. There was a sexual relationship between two consensual adults. I will admit I am let down and disappointed in being lied to, and wonder how Sam can be trusted, but am willing to let Sam’s experience and commitment to leadership and change continue guiding our city. That he lied to the public during a campaign puts him to the moral scrutiny of every citizen of Portland. What type of person would want to withstand and live under such intense scrutiny? Only a person dedicated to service and leadership. Until evidence comes out otherwise (and apparently the Attorney General is planning an investigation), I am in full support of him.

120 gb // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:07 pm

People can argue repeatedly about whether Adams did anything legally wrong, or whether his private life should be exposed — but the reality is that the shit has already hit the fan.
Most polls show that 65-70% of Portland feels he should either resign or be recalled. If you read most of the blogs and comments (including on here), most people have very strong feeling on both sides. (And to trash Just Out because they have a different opinion is wrong.)

Like it or not, Sam Adams will not regain the trust and respect of much of Portland. He will have a limited ability to guide and lead our city. As long as he is in office, these will be ongoing dissension and mistrust within our community.
Like it or not, that’s the muck that has been created, and it is not going to go away.
I had hoped for better. I was proud of my city for electing a gay mayor. Anyone who thinks we can stick this out, or that it is going to get better is fooling themselves. I wish there was a way to fix this. But there isn’t.
The most honorable thing that Sam Adams could do at this time is to resign, and we can begin to rebuild what has been torn apart.

121 .MissPDX // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:15 pm

WOW. Really, I came looking to Just Out to be a voice of reason in this puritan witch hunt. I am so disappointed in your decision to call for the mayor to step down. Really I am flabbergasted.
He “committed the act of lying to the people of Portland”
Hello???!!! ABOUT HIS SEX LIFE. WHICH IS NONE OF OUR BUSINESS. Get that? None of our business. We are not ENTITLED to information about his PERSONAL sex life.
Mr. Adams was surely aware that this past liaison with a much younger man might prove controversial or at the very least tastey gossip that could possibly get in the way of speaking to the real issues of Portland.
So he lied. Big deal.
There are a lot of grey areas here. And please, I thought Portland might be a little more progressive and not succumb to knee jerk reaction here.
As it is now, sadly, this man will be forever tainted by these events and sadly not be able to get to the real work at hand.

Yes it is sounding very Clintonesque.

122 Jedidiah Chavez // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:16 pm

gb,
The issue is not that Just Out has a differing opinion, the issue is that the publication claims to speak on behalf of a “community.” In reality, the blog comments are proving that the community does not in fact feel that the decision was based on any actual community input or involvement.

I wonder where journalism and opinion merged. I could watch Fox News for this kind of bias.

123 John T // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:16 pm

After reading about Sam’s confession on Monday, I was really disappointed in Sam. After reading all the hasty, sensationalist calls for his resignation from local media today, I’m really disappointed in Portland.

Everyone who’s never lied about your sex life, raise your hand.

*crickets*

124 Rodger Rainey // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:17 pm

At first I thought a “mistake” was something that happened by accident, and that a Lie is something you do overtly. Then I thought maybe the mistake was in his judgement about lying, which he admitted and for which he apologized. Also the issue is a non issue which has nothing to do with city government. I think he gets at least as much consideration as Clinton did and deserves another chance. No one is better qualified to be the Mayor of Portland at this time.

125 Joan Crawford // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:17 pm

I am VERY disappointed Just Out is asking Mayor Sam Adams to resign from office, very sad.
He should not resign. Every day I interview people about their sexual behaviors. Our culture is not mature enough to handle the truth. It is not our business who he had sex with. I am sure he has learned many lessons from his past behavior.
The over reaction to this event is good proof of our cultural immaturity. I hope he fights for his job and the dialog around this issue helps people understand the complexity of sexual relationships and cultural norms.

126 Eric // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:19 pm

You’ve just lost a reader. I think you’ll lose a lot of readers. And I’ll suggest that anyone advertising with you stop doing so…it’s a waste of money in a bad economy. Once you go under maybe we’ll get a better GLBT paper in this town.

127 Aaron Yeagle // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:28 pm

I guess this means you’ll call for all politicians to resign then? I mean they all lie – outright and through omission – at some point or another.

I believe Sam felt he had to cover up the fact he did have a relationship with this kid because he knew it would become the sole point by which he would be judged … exactly as you are doing now.

Too bad we live in a society of sound bites and sensationalist trappings.

I am sorry Sam lied and even worse, asked someone to lie for him. But, could we not also look at what GOOD he HAS done? Does it all get erased because he made an error in judgement?

And, dear holier-than-thou editorial staff … you have never lied? lied by omission of facts? or sensationalized nonsense for the sake of selling papers?

hmmmmmm

128 Joseph // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:30 pm

The real story here is how Portland has turned on its openly gay mayor. “Just Out” calling for his resignation? Surreal! Practically upstaging the inauguration of President Obama, this crushing disappointment carries the echo of California’s passage of Prop 8. It is a sad demonstration that puritan bigotry remains a strong force in our culture.

129 gb // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:30 pm

It’s funny–
many people writing their blog comments are willing to defend and forgive Sam Adams for what he did …

yet many of these same people are willing to condemn and destroy our community gay paper because it expressed an editorial opinion.
Please … Take a breath….

130 Ericka H. // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:37 pm

This represents much more than a mere “editorial opinion,” SURELY you must know this. It is being deemed as the “Gay Opinion.” If anything is an abuse of power, surely this must be.

131 Will Radik // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:40 pm

Way to ally with all the other media in this town and join their witch hunt. As a regular reader, this disappoints me greatly.

132 Scott Osburne // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:47 pm

Bye, bye, Just Out.

Marty Davis has a long history of making outrageous statements in her bi-weekly editorials and then, 2 weeks later, publishing a “mea culpa” when 1000s of readers disagree with her. I’ve been reading Just Out for 10 years and the incidences of this are myriad. Here we go again!!!

Stephen-Marc Beaudoin has represented himself as an unhappy New York transplant since the day he arrived in Portland. Whether he was writing for WW or for Just Out he has continuousing torn down the gay community. I cannot imagine why he is so unhappy with our community, but I suggest he leave…as soon as possible.

I will not read another issue of Just Out. Marty Davis, and the JO editorial board, has abused the trust and position that our community has placed them in by claims to “represent the gay community.” They don’t. They won’t. They don’t get it and, hopefully, Just Out will soon be out of business and Marty can continue her ramblings around Oregon with affecting the rest of us.

Sam Adams made a significant series of errors. They began by not considering the ramifications of a sexual relationship with an 18 year old. Having made that first mistake, the rest of the story is almost textbook. People lie about sex. Mainly they lie because the questions should never have been asked and yet, due to our basic Puritan background, we feel some compunction to answer the illegitimate questioner to somehow “expunge” the concept that someone might actually have sex and enjoy it.

Sam is the leader that Portland needs. I am still overjoyed at the energy and dediction that he will bring to the city.

We can save some trees and resources and stop printing Just Out.

Marty good luck with your job search. Turn off the lights.

133 Mature Bill // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:54 pm

Wow! Some of the comments on here are surreal. Anything Sam lies about to the public to get elected and then deviously tries to cover up later is OK because he is gay? That’s weird all by itself.

It was Sam who claimed he was being smeared by another gay as he tried to bamboozle Portlanders during the campaign. And, it was Sam who tried to buy off the reporter who wrote the original story that exposed his affair by hiring her. And, it was Sam who yold the kid to lie about their “relationship” – if you want to call it that! LOL! Some role model!

134 Howie Bierbaum // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:56 pm

Ok, this is my 2nd post and my last. I just needed to vent a bit more since I’m really pissed off at JO!

Sadly, JO’s “editorial board” sees the world in black and white (lying is always bad, moral absolutes prevail), which is simplistic but makes decision-making a snap! Too bad they could not have been more open-minded and thoughtful on such short notice.

The paper could have put out an editorial that asked for a period of calm to reflect on the matter and perhaps helped facilitate dialogue within the queer community. Instead, it took the quick way out and jumped on the tabloid bandwagon. Such haste divides the community and does not serve JO well.

Obviously, Sam’s bond of trust JO alludes to has NOT been broken (look at the above posts), and JO has stirred up a hornet’s nest of emotions when it could have nurtured calm and thoughtfulness.

Way to go!

By the way, whatever happened to forgiveness and understanding and the concept that “time heals”? All these will come into play shortly, that’s the way Portland is. Too bad JO has no time for that.

do you really feel proud of this editorial? Have you no sense of community or decency?

135 Kathryn M. // Jan 21, 2009 at 7:58 pm

I am shocked and amazed at the comments I am reading here. Absolutely Unbelievable.

This is evident as to what is wrong with our society as a whole–no one willing to take responsibility for their actions and worse yet–other people standing behind them for doing so.

“All politicians lie” is not an excuse, “All people lie” is not an excuse either. His sex life is no one’s business and he should have said so in the beginning but HE did not. Instead he chose to lie, be disgusted and point fingers at others for accusing him of something that he actually DID do. No one is to blame here but Mr. Adams. HE made this happen, no one else, and he does NOT deserve a pass for ANY reason.

A lot of people are hurt right now because of HIS actions. Just Out and it’s editorial staff stood up and held HIM responsible for HIS actions. It took a lot of courage and integrity to do so and it was the RIGHT thing for Just Out to do.

I am personally disgusted by those of you who think that it is okay for a public official to stand up and not only lie to the public he serves but smear another person’s reputation in the meantime. Mr. Adams lied to the people who supported him with their time, talent, treasure and votes in order to secure his place in office. That is deplorable. He obtained his office under false pretenses and therefore should resign. There are no do-overs with the truth–no matter who you are, what color you are, and what your sexual identity is. It’s time for people, especially public servants, to behave like grown ups.

136 Mature Bill // Jan 21, 2009 at 8:01 pm

Being an openly gay Mayor does not absolve you of telling one lie after another. If Sam was so noble and wanted to serve as a role model, why did he tell the poor kid, the object of his lust, to lie about their tryst? Why wasn’t Sam proud of his behavior?

137 Tom // Jan 21, 2009 at 8:06 pm

If it’s about the lie and not the sex, why are people so much more mad about this lie than many other lies made by many other people. Because we have a big issue with sex in our society and we take it out on those who have the nerve to have it.

I thought that Portland and the gay community, because of the former’s open-mindedness and because of all the latter has been through, would be above such sexual McCarthyism. So sad to see I was wrong.

138 Mature Bill // Jan 21, 2009 at 8:08 pm

STRONG RECOMMENDATION

I would highly recommend that those making uninformed comments on here in defense of Adams read the Willamette Week article before making any more inane accusations about the Just Out Editorial Board:

http://wweek.com/editorial/3510/12093/

139 Richard Ludt LMT // Jan 21, 2009 at 8:28 pm

I am going to ask my friends and community members if they think I should pull my ad from the classified section. At least I won’t be acting on the impulse that I have right now to call and demand my money back for 2009 ads. I will wait and think it over. I’m struggling financially and don’t want to loose business. But Honestly the people I want to come see me are sounding like they won’t be reading. I may loose more business by being so outspoken in my support of Sam.
I believe people should speak freely their beliefs, and weigh carefully the resulting affect on careers and the future of a great city. When a publication can have so much power it should be held accountable to the community it supposedly represents.

Sam Adams can do more for this city and we all know it, than anyone else. Not because he’s gay, and certainly not easily, now that he has shattered the trust he had with the community.
Do they not say… Judge not lest thee be judged. What about forgiveness? What about accepting he’s human. We just love to put people up on a pedestal because the fall to the ground helps us not feel so bad about our own challenges and mistakes. I’ve made them, not proud of it. But my friends family and community supports me in getting healthy and moving forward. It doesn’t just leave me in the dirt and say oh well too bad for you you made a mistake. No second chances? People do grow and learn from humility.
I hope Just Out will too.

140 Jason Mitchell // Jan 21, 2009 at 8:33 pm

In many years of public service Sam Adams he has let me down just once. Just Out let’s down the community it supposedly serves repeatedly. I hope Adams is offered a second chance to serve this city the way the majority of the citizens know he is capable. As for Just Out, you burned through your second chance years ago. Shame on you for being so quick to condemn.

141 oh yeah // Jan 21, 2009 at 8:37 pm

I’m an typical scuzzy perverted gay man.
I just wanted somebody in public office a little bit better than me.
Is that too much too ask?

142 Leo Schuman // Jan 21, 2009 at 8:49 pm

Anyone condemning Sam Adams needs to spend three minutes looking in a mirror, then ask themselves “what would I have done” if put in his position.

Really folks, doesn’t Portland – and America – have more important things to do in this economy than whip ourselves into an indignant moral froth over the fact a 42 year old man covered up getting laid by someone young and cute, in a culture which pretends to standards of sexual morality it never actually bothers trying to meet.

If we expect our leaders to be saints, we’ll get neither.

I’m very disappointed by Just Out’s shortsighted lack of judgment on this.

143 Pasqual // Jan 21, 2009 at 8:57 pm

I still believe in Sam Adams. More so now than ever before, I believe that he must soldier on from this event. Until this moment, he represented a strong male voice from the our community, gay and straight, and his determination and perserverance will pave the way for countless others to take action.

If he gives up now, and resigns, the gay community will only be further let down. His resignation will say, that his personal sex life is more important than his capacity to lead, and that his sexual proclivities overshadow his numerous accomplishments thus far. We will have forced our community’s rising star to put his head down and walked away from an enormously powerful position in local politics. One where his influence has yet to be measured, his impact, yet to be realized.

This situation was not an illicit activity or illegal – pending investigation. No one died. No one was robbed. No one had their wallet stolen while dancing at a bar and then found out the next day at New Seasons when their credit card was declined that someone had maxed out their Visa with plane tickets to Cabo San Lucas… No, he just had consentual sex.

Just Out, I haven’t supported your work in the past 2 years, and I will continue to not support you. This editorial is an extreme waste of energy. There are people suffering from starvation and AIDS in our community, disabled citizens living without access to their working partner’s insurance, and transgendered children silenced by continued victimization by their peers and schools.

Pick a topic. Pick any topic other than this slander.. They all warrant more exploration. Let our Mayor get back to his work. We have potholes to fix, failing schools to save, and an economic stimulus package that needs implementation.

Go get ‘em Sam. I can’t speak for the rest of the community, but I still believe in you. You have my vote.

144 Iciyapi Tate' O'Shaughnessy // Jan 21, 2009 at 8:58 pm

I am really surprised and disappointed in Just out and in many people in this/ “my” community.
I agree Sam shouldn’t have lied, but in a society where being Gay is still treated as perverse do we really need to cast stones at Sam? His attraction to a young man may not be what i am Into or what you are into to, but if this man was 18 at the time then what is the problem? If he was underage then that is a different matter. but to start calling for a recall? isn’t this what straight people did when we first started coming out? Didn’t many of you lie about being gay? Why as a society do we love the scandal? why do we want to raise our fists and scream when someone does something that doesn’t fit our Moral code, Why does this lie make everything he says a possible lie. are you all Liars all the time?
And the most important when did being a Politician make you somehow more than just a human.
Shame on all of you that are screaming “recall” and saying he shamed the gay community.
Lets hear the facts and not the Drama.

145 Mature Bill // Jan 21, 2009 at 9:00 pm

WHAT I WOULD HAVE DONE – “No comment!”

If put in Sam Adams’ position, I would have said, “No comment” when asked about my personal life. That worked eight years for Bush when he was dogged by rumors of drug and alcohol abuse and skipping out on his National Guard commitments.

Instead, Sam Adams was arrogant enough to think he could lie his way out of it and at the same time stifle others (the reporter and the kid) who might expose his lie. That’s what did him in. He brought this all on himself.

Don’t blame Just Out or The Oregonian or Willamette Week – Put the blame where it belongs: on Sam Adams for his arrogance.

146 Irene O'Connor // Jan 21, 2009 at 9:02 pm

I was shocked to hear the Just Out editorial board came out with the response to Sam Adams “scandal”. I am considered establishment person and even I understand the method that Sam Adams felt he had to take to get elected for the “PERSON” he is, not perceived as. The attitude of Just Out ignores that Sam Adams would not be judged for his varies roles in the service of Portland city government if this was “used” negatively as campaign tactics.

Please use the same questions from heterosexual and homosexual and bi-sexuals, “Do you cheat on your partner? Do you swing? Are you a pedophile? Do you have straight or “kinky” sex? What Fetishes do you practice?” I mean if you feel that sex is a reasonable issue for a candidate to be qualified with, then BRING IT ON TO EVERYONE WHO RUNS FOR ANY OFFICE!. Sam Adams SHOULD NOT resign. I definitely appreciate his integrity that many other “righteous” candidates or existing government representatives. He is Mayor, leave him alone and let him co-create with the citizens of Portland a better city for the world to benefit from!!!
.

147 Sean H. // Jan 21, 2009 at 9:03 pm

I have only a few things to add to the discussion:

First, when Clinton lied, people used the old, “it’s not the sex, it’s the lie” excuse for their irrational anger. Then Bush lied to get us into a war, and it proved that either people are too dumb to understand a policy issue or that it in fact was the sex.

Second, if gay people are supposed to have pristine sex lives in order to hold jobs, no gay person will hold a job. As others have pointed out, why are we being uniquely held accountable?

Third, what of the motives of the gay men – who either competed with Sam for jobs or competed to dated Beau – who kept this story in the news and pressured WW to revisit this story? I’m sure they were purely catty, and they’re guilty for reviving and beating a dead horse. Also, has anybody noticed that Beau dated older men after Sam Adams? That seems to indicate a personal preference.

The Just Out editorial board’s hasty editorial does not speak for me. Jaymee Cuti seems intelligent and thoughtful, at least she might have held off if the others were blinded by personal feelings. Shameful.

For those who say we support Sam just because he’s gay, I supported Bill Clinton too. I only blame a pol for his sex life if he runs on a family values platform, which Mr. Adams distinctly did not.

148 James // Jan 21, 2009 at 9:08 pm

We have had a congressman who had sex with an intern stay in office, a congressman who has a live in relationship with a young man running a call service, a President who had sent with an intern and he stayed. The Mayor of Portland lied about something that happened before he ran for office with someone of age. Have the people of Portland no compassion. It sounds like he broke no laws even if he should have told the truth for a question that should not have been asked. He sounds like he has the potential to be a good Mayor and should be given the chance to do so. Just Out should not be so quick to judge. We should not be so quick to destroy our own.

149 Anthony Serrano // Jan 21, 2009 at 9:15 pm

Mature Bill: “If put in Sam Adams’ position, I would have said, “No comment” when asked about my personal life. That worked eight years for Bush when he was dogged by rumors of drug and alcohol abuse and skipping out on his National Guard commitments.”

Suuuuuure, it had absolutely nothing to do with having a strong and vicious propaganda machine and a rabid support base; it was just the magic words of “no comment”.

Your naiveté is showing.

150 Tab // Jan 21, 2009 at 9:30 pm

Oh Dave (above), you love hangin with the gays. Shame on you, pervert!

151 Mature Bill // Jan 21, 2009 at 9:31 pm

To Anthony-

I think your naivete is showing. Do you recall who first brought up the rumors about the kid on Channel 8? It was good ol’ Sam himself in his role of the martyr. No TV news channels had discussed the story until Sam brought it up and identified his gay opponent as slinging mud. And, it worked …for the time being to get him elected. He used the press to evoke sympathy for him and it worked. So, who is naive? Blind allegiance does not become you, my friend.

152 Ed Garren // Jan 21, 2009 at 9:33 pm

Dear Marty:

I could see the pain in your eyes yesterday at the inaugural event at the Q Center, and you were not alone.

On a personal level, I’d like to slap Sam into next week for lying, but as a gay man, I understand his fear, and it is very real.

Sam let his fears get the best of him. That part is tragic, but understandable.

About 50 years ago, a black man could be lynched for just looking at a white woman in a sexual way.

These days, gay men still never talk about our sexuality, or express it in any “mixed” setting. Even a public kiss (on the mouth, not in it) can get us beaten to death. Many men here are even fear filled at the thought of hugging in public, the homophobia is that thick in the air.

So as pissed as I am at Sam, I also understand why he lied because we (men) all live with that fear daily. I might add that there are lots of closeted gay men in Portland who have to lie every day, to family, friends, employers, etc. They do it because they are THAT afraid. So Sam’s fears do not exist in a vacuum.

When I ran for city council, there was an anonymous smear campaign, sent to all of the local press and around many union halls that I was a convicted sex offender, and implying that my campaign manager (who is active in Robotics working with kids) was a pedophile.

I don’t think Lesbians get this sort of stuff routinely, if they do, none of my Lesbian friends ever report it. But gay men get it all the time.

What we should learn from Jews and Black People is that if we don’t stand with our own, then why even have a community?

So while I am disappointed with Sam for lying, I am also disappointed that your editorial board would jump to join the chorus demanding that Sam resign.

It’s easy to love and support people when they are “good.” What really takes character, and guts is to stand by a friend when that friend has messed up and the world wants to lynch him.

We as a community will be judged, not by the mistakes of one of our members, but how we support each other in a time of crisis.

All the facts are not in, a lawful investigation will inform us what has happened. In the meantime, Sam has made his admission, asked our forgiveness, and I’m VERY sure has learned never to act on his fears in this way again.

Regards, Ed Garren, MA, LMFT
Psychotherapist
http://www.edgarren.us

153 Joey // Jan 21, 2009 at 9:41 pm

Frankly, I’m disappointed in Just Out for making such judgment without having ALL the information. If your readers kept the same principle character standards about magazines as you require in elected officials, do you really think you’d have many readers left? Since when do we allow a gay rag to judge the worthiness of elected officials? Isn’t that what elections are for?

I bet if your personal sex life was being broadcast on TV, you too would probably deny things to just make it go away. No one is perfect at making such decisions with such pressure as he endured. Albeit a wrong decision, it was a deeply personal matter that has in my mind, zero correlation to him performing his duties as Mayor. Everyone said the same thing about Clinton and we all got over it and he went on to do just fine.

This editorial and witch hunt is just salt in the wounds of the gay community against someone who has done so much for us.

Let us hear the conclusion of the investigation before casting him out for goodness sake. It takes guts to lie, but it takes even more guts to admit (on camera no less) that you did lie. While his reasons are not excusable, they are certainly understandable. Nobody is perfect!

154 Mature Bill // Jan 21, 2009 at 9:42 pm

The absolute melodrama of Sam’s loyal and unwaivering supporters abounds on this blog. OMG!

155 Claude // Jan 21, 2009 at 9:49 pm

The issue here is judgement people. Sam has displayed a gross lack of it.

Like many adult gay males, Sam appears to be obsessed with young boys. Can you blame him? The majority of images portraying the gay community feature young white boys. Gay media celebrates young white boys in print and on film. Young white boys are desirable we’re told. So can Sam Adams be faulted for wanting to fuck a young white boy?

The answer is yes.

Sam Adams has revealed himself to be a total idiot with poor judgment. What kind of person in a position of responsibility dates young boys? Can anyone tell me what a 42 yr old man mayoral candidate has in common with a 17yr old boy?

Portland is a tiny parochial town with visions of grandeur. Did he not think anyone would find out?
And what about the vicious queen who started the rumour. She needs a good ass whoopin.

Sam is damaged goods. He was not smart enough to rise above the shallow pettiness of the queer community. His judgement is flawed and he is an accomplished liar. For these reasons he isn’t qualified to lead the larger community.

156 Carye Bye // Jan 21, 2009 at 10:02 pm

http://samisstillmymayor.blogspot.com
Here’s one person’s blog to start to get support and organize a rally. Anyone else planning anything? It may be too late, but Sam needs to know that we support him.

I heard most of the story first break at bikeportland.org, the comments have been probably 50 50 for and against.

I then heard today from some news source that Just Out was asking for Sam to resign. I was surprised, really surprised. But reading all of the comments made me realized that many of the readers DO NOT agree with the board on this hasty decision to make a statement (was one really necessary?)

Thank God.

I also am shocked at how fast the media and individuals are turning their back on Sam. I took a long time to warm up to him actually, but seeing his amazing ability to have passion for a better Portland as a Commissioner has gained my respect completely. And I was very excited to vote for his for Mayor.

Sam still is my Mayor. As far as the story stands, my opinion has not changed of him. I can understand why he didn’t tell the truth. I echo many of the statements above. I don’t feel lied to personally. And I do trust Sam to continue to be a great mayor.

157 Cory McCall // Jan 21, 2009 at 10:03 pm

The question should have never been asked in the first place. Anyone during a “job interview” would either say “none of your business” or “I did not”. Sam had to answer the latter because of the reporters (and publics)obvious ability to jump to conclusions and fill in the blanks as they see fit.

Sam is no different a person then he was before this story came out, the only real betrayal is that our media has lost focus of what real challenges this city has. Instead we get a local rag looking for a splashy headline.

The age gap is also a non-issue, the younger guy is not the one who asked for this to become an issue. In fact, the “reporting” of this is probably doing harm to him as it is an invasion of his private life.

Each person has their own speed for growing up. Just because you at 18 were not mature enough to decide who you wanted sex with, does not mean someone else is not capable of that decision.

To the Just Out editors: Sam has a vision for our city. I would like to see more public transit, bikes, commerce, and public spaces. Shame on you for adding to this inappropriate “investigation”.

158 Mature Bill // Jan 21, 2009 at 10:03 pm

Congrats, Claude!

No one on this blog has stated their ideas better. You are the voice of reason.

159 liz // Jan 21, 2009 at 10:09 pm

good god, people. no one is perfect. it’s his private life and this never should have been made public. it has nothing to do with his job. it would be a very sad result for portland to lose him as a leader.

160 Mark // Jan 21, 2009 at 10:13 pm

It’s time for gays to stand up and demand that Sam Adams resigns. Why are you defending him? Because he’s gay? So, I suppose no gay can do not wrong. The gay community would score brownie points for condemning one of their own for statutory RAPE!

161 Portlander indeed // Jan 21, 2009 at 10:13 pm

Well, Just Out, you just gained a reader in me. I am fascinated that there are so many people that think a man lied about something significant to get elected (as he admits in the press conference) and we are supposed to glaze over it? Are you joking? Do you realize that this would have likely caused someone else to be Mayor? And that is okay how? Sam Adams doesn’t have a mandate. I want my vote back.

162 Sick-of-all-the-morons // Jan 21, 2009 at 10:15 pm

I don’t see there is any of our business who we are dating. Why can’t a 42 year old date a 17 year old? Have you thought about all those HS girls having a crush to the teachers who could be their dads? Oh, and all you Republicans (brrff)… John McCain’s wife is like 25 years younger than him. And how come no one said he is disgusting? Oh yes, because all you morons are holding double standard. I am not saying that Sam made a good judgement this time. He lied, but he admitted that. And it takes courage for him to come out and admit it. The WHOLE stupid issue is that NO ONE should ask on the first hand about who he is dating. It is nobody’s business. And Just Out, you all are morons. Why are you all go so low on this issue? Ask yourself, what would you do if someone corners you and judge what you said. You all just need to be sympathetic, not like the what the homophobes and the other tabloids did.

163 Mature Bill // Jan 21, 2009 at 10:16 pm

To Cory-

You are conveniently forgetting that it was Adams himself who resurrected the rumors in a TV news conference during the campaign where he accused his gay mayoral opponent of mudlinging and trying to slander his good name. I remember thinking at the time, “What the Hell rumors is that Adams guy ranting about?” He was trying to evoke sympathy and it worked. Sam Adams is the grand master of manipulation. Get a grip, Cory. You’ve been “had.” Quit making excuses for him. Adams brought this upon himself.

164 Mark // Jan 21, 2009 at 10:17 pm

“Why can’t a 42 year old date a 17 year old?”

They can date, but you can’t have sex with the 17-year old. Why? Because the law says its RAPE! Do you like RAPE #163?

165 Faithful Queer // Jan 21, 2009 at 10:56 pm

Agree or disagree, you gotta love the fact that people are expressing themselves. All too often the Queer community sits backs and allows other to speak for them. I’m quite impressed with all the comments posted here and look forward to reading more as this topic heats up even more. And I am sure it will.

I’m a true believer that ‘one voice CAN make a difference’. So speak up people!!! Let your voices, hearts and opinions be heard!!!

166 Camille // Jan 21, 2009 at 10:59 pm

Sam Adams made a poor decision, however he did nothing illegal and a has a tremendous track record, a record that rightly has nothing to do with his personal life. The real tragedy is that Portland’s own GBLTQ publication does not support him in his hour of need.

I listened to Gwen Eifel on NPR tonight talk about how being the first black person to do something is always harder if you fail because you’re setting the tone for your race. If you fail as the first black talk show host or the first black governor, etc., then you make it that much harder for those that follow. I thought of Sam when listening to this.

He is the first openly gay mayor of a major city. He has the potential for greatness, for the kind of transformative work that will uplift our entire community across the country. Will he even get that chance now, when his own local supporters lack the compassion necessary to overlook what was a poor decision in his personal life?

Your getting publicity out of this; I keep seeing the KATU teasers using Just Out to light the flame of their witch hunt. I hope you will reconsider your position and the gravity of your words.

167 Kyle // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:00 pm

Unless it can be proven he commited a crime, it is nobody’s business who the mayor slept with, and there is no reason he should step down. I gave him my vote, and he still has my support. Your editorial board does not have the support of the gay community.

168 Richard Ludt LMT // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:02 pm

I am fascinated that Consensual sex between adults is being called statutory rape. Let the investigation prove otherwise. If it proves Sam Adams had sexual relations with a minor I wholeheartedly agree he should face the full punishment of the law and resign. Until otherwise proven guilty I stand by a man that has a great vision for this city.

My father was a great man, in the sixties he married a woman 28 years his junior. He raised a good family and was an upstanding citizen. They were happily married until his death from a heart attack in his 80’s. My mom knew that she took that risk when she married him. But Sam Adams took a greater risk having to lie to save himself from rumour that was going to take the stage in place of his qualities.

George W Bush lied. He was likely one of the biggest criminals to hold public office yet he wasn’t impeached.

John F. Kennedy was MARRIED and according to many reports had numerous affairs. The most famous of which was purportedly with Marilyn Monroe.

Why didn’t the public demand his resignation?

Well because he wasn’t flat out asked about it. To which his response would likely have been “No comment.”
People didn’t really mind you see.
“Our President, our handsome President is lucky enough to get together with Marilyn!” The common man was rooting for him.
The common man in the Dalles is not thinking of Beau Breedlove and rooting for Sam. Neither am I for that matter… but my point is, this is a Witch-hunt.

It isn’t about the age or the lying of an elected official that has everyone up in arms people.
It’s juicy sex scandal. A Gay sex scandal. And Just Out wants to sell papers too.

I don’t want to be lied to. I want to trust my public officials. I want a decent community to support a man who made a terribly bad judgement call. And then let him prove to us why he should be our Mayor through his actions.

169 Ericka H. // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:06 pm

We are SERIOUSLY Organizing a Rally in support of Sam for Tuesday, January 27th, Noon at City Hall.

Please come if you support Sam and SPREAD THE WORD.

The Media WILL be there.

170 WTF? // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:10 pm

What the hell is wrong with you? You don’t even leave a personal email for complaints?

You are really fucked up for going public on Sam Adams resignation….of all publications, you should support the gay free world….You are a fucking disgrace for all those that are gay and are wanting more liberal views in Portland….what were you thinking?

I am not gay, and I don’t read your newspaper. But, I am surprised by the ignorance in views. Sam Adams has been an amazing Mayor for Oregon and you are not supporting him. Yes, he lied. Wouldn’t you? His issues, not ILLEGAL, are his own and no one else’s. Him not being a role-model? What happens in the bedroom stays there…and yes, if people knew what I or you did in the bedroom, legally, how many people would you want to know that about you? Fuck you and your blatantly, hypocritical, ignorant views…

Carrie

171 Jason // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:10 pm

I am serious in calling for a full investigation of Stephen Marc Beaudoin’s sex life and Marty’s handling of Just Out’s finances. Waiting. Throw them stones!

172 Mark // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:18 pm

“I am fascinated that Consensual sex between adults is being called statutory rape.”

I’m fascinated that people actually believe Adams’ story even after his web of lies was exposed. If he was lying before there is a very good chance he is lying now. Investigation or not, he has compromised his position and made it a joke. He should step down for the good of Portland and the integrity of the gay community.

173 Clint Hills // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:19 pm

“I’m not going to go down without a fight because this is not true. This is one of the worst smears you can make against a gay guy. It preys on the homophobic stereotype that gay men cannot be trusted with young people.” -Sam Adams, September 2007

Way to perpetuate that stereotype Sam, bravo! And why is everyone defending Sam saying it is none of our business because the boi in question was 18…how do we know he really was 18 at the time? Because Sam Adams told us? He fed us lie after lie after lie, but hey, since Sam says the boi was 18, then I’m going to believe him. Sam would no doubt be an amazing mayor for Portland, but I just wont be able to believe a word he says. And that makes me sad.

174 LJG // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:19 pm

I believe Adams should apologize as he has done. While it does cast some doubt as to his character and his perception of the public’s intelligence and judgment, it does not, in my opinion disqualify him from office. If it is shown he has committed an illegal act, then he will be forced to resign, either by the courts and/or public opinion.

I believe he is being truthful with regards to Beau’s age. Men of Beau’s age can be of varying levels of maturity. While the relationship was inherently asymmetric, love (if in fact it was love) does not know the bounds of age. Further, it is not for you or I to judge- this or any relationship.

Adam’s behavior was unfortunate, but as far as I can tell harmless. In my view it does not detract from his fitness for public office.

175 June // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:20 pm

I am glad to see that integrity still counts for something. Sam has breached the trust of the voters and possibly abused his position as Commissioner. If both were consenting adults (18 and over) I believe he would have still been elected. Honesty- regardless of the circumstances- is always an admirable quality, especially in political position. I think it is important to show voters that we are honorable people and not simply out to promote one of our own.

176 Jeffrey // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:20 pm

If the kid was under 18. and I say “IF” when they had sex, that is a felony, and he needs to be prosecuted.

177 Jason // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:21 pm

I’m so confused. Where is the C O N V I C T I O N? Why the rush to judgement? No law was broken.

178 Ex-Advertisers // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:25 pm

Myself and 5 other companies that advertise in your magazine have decided to stop purchasing ad space in your magazine. We have been loyal clients for many many years with JustOut, but now we must stop. Why? Because we shall cast judgment upon JustOut as fast as you have on Sam Adams. To publicly call for him to resign before he even has a inquiry, is simply judging him a bad man based on “personal” matters. We, as your magazine is doing to Sam Adams, will encourage others to stop advertising with you as well. I just keep thinking about Clinton, who lied, worse than Sam, yet Clinton has been one of our greatest Presidents of our time. And its all from personal matters that have nothing to do with their jobs or our business… You’re just bitter because you made a Excellent Politician your Man of The Year! So sad, so long JustOut!

179 Joe // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:25 pm

Yes the Mayor should resign, he lied and probably had sex with a minor. I don’t want an official in that position who’s deceptive just so they can get elected. This shows poor values on Mayor Adams part.

180 henry // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:26 pm

It is difficult to see a special person who you admire or respect take a fall. Sadly, Mayor Adams needs to fall on his sword.

If I apply for a job at the company you as well are applying for and I ultimately beat you out for the job…i lie about my qualifications in hopes of alienating you and I get the job…yet, the company ultimately finds out I lied.,..should they fire me?

The question is not whether Mayor Sam is a good mayor or not, for we all know he has the most talent out of the known candidates. It’s about integrity and knowing you will make the right decisions when times become tough, in which Maror Adams has not.

Portland is better off with an honest and weak leadership constintuency than with a mayor who can’t decipher between right and wrong.

This is a very sad day for Portland.

181 sherry // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:31 pm

I totally agree with the call for resignation. If Adams was a middle aged male having the same kind of relationship with a 17 yr old female, we would be outraged. Sam was running for mayor for one of the largest cities; he was representing the gay community. What was he thinking? Then he lied about it, and threw Mr ball under the bus. Just say it was no one’s business! but no, he was very proactive, telling one lie after another, and attacking Mr. Ball, claiming Ball was spreading rumors for his own political advantage. Instead, who was spreading lies for his political advantage??? Yes, Sam has betrayed our trust and showed extraordinarily poor judgement. I supported him, and am so very saddened to agree that he must resign. Who can believe the rest of his story or anything else that he says?

182 Big George // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:34 pm

I am a liberal Progressive Democrat. I am curious as to what Sam Adams’ accomplishments were when he was on the City Council. I have heard people raving about him on here, but what has he actually accomplished for Portland? Specifics please.

183 Jackie // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:34 pm

This is truly a sad day. This in a way has nothing to do with the fact that Adams is gay. If anyone no matter what their orintation is, lied about this, encourgaged others to lie, just so that it would help him to win an election, then the main stream would be just as outraged. Because he lied about, there is reason to question his truthfulness regarding the age of the young man. We need to take a step back and realize that just because Adams is gay like so many of us, we can not ask for a double standard. It is appropreite that Adams leaves before this tarnishes the GLBT community any further.

184 Ben // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:38 pm

I think Just Out has done the right thing. We need honest leaders.

185 jonny // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:39 pm

again, people are so quick to rush to judgment, this was 4 years ago people!!! breedlove was NOT sam’s intern, they met at a political dinner (they could have met anywhere!) Breedlove even now hasn’t said that he was underage.
you are all falling into media hype!!!!!! slow down, wait for our political leaders to do their investigations before making such strong decisions.

186 Ol' Fart Gay // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:41 pm

Camille says:
“Sam Adams made a poor decision, however he did nothing illegal and a has a tremendous track record, a record that rightly has nothing to do with his personal life. The real tragedy is that Portland’s own GBLTQ publication does not support him in his hour of need.”

How do you know he did nothing illegal? Who says he didn’t, besides Sam? Doesn’t his preoccupation with the young kid sound a little odd or do you think that is common in the gay community? Did you read thr Willamette Week article? What are the specifics of that “tremendous track record” that you describe?

187 linda in outer SE // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:41 pm

I don’t expect to have to answer questions about my prior legal sexual escapades when I’m trying to get a job. If I’m asked about sleeping with any one of the way, way, way too many people I’ve had sex with in my 40-something years, particularly names or ages or dates or locations, I might very well lie. Hell, I might just not remember. The point is, who I sleep with, as long as they’re over 18, is noone else’s business as long as we’re both there voluntarily. Why should this standard be any different for Sam Adams? Is he the first gay man in the universe to have sex with an 18 year old? I think not. I could probably dredge up a dozen gay men before the end of the day who would admit to it. So give Sam a break. Why on earth should everyone in a three-county area be having the mental picture of Sam and this kid (who seems to hook up with older men a lot) together? Why do we care anything about Sam Adams’ sex life at all? It’s none of our business, and the media had no right to ask. Do you people down at Just Out want to publicly claim every stray piece of silicone in your toy box in order to keep your job? I don’t think so. Give Sam a break and let this blow over. The other party is no kind of victim at all.

188 Eric // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:43 pm

So how about we all get some facts before rushing to any conclusions?

All the papers rushing to judgment without facts…when did journalism become such trash. Hmmm…perhaps we can do a story on, uh, I don’t know, the poor state of education in this city, or, uh, the economy. No…let’s mentally masturbate over whose dick was in whom? Grow up folks…please.

189 LHK // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:44 pm

I’m saddened and disappointed by this recommendation. It’s absolutely ridiculous. I agree 100% with you Geoff. The public humiliation and embarrassment Adams feels is enough of a punishment. I in NO WAY feel that his mistake jeopardizes all the good he would do for this city. Shame on WW, the Oregonian, and especially JustOut for “editorial board” decisions. I will no longer be reading any of these publications.

190 Mike // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:49 pm

This is funny.

Homosexuals are pissed that their “guy” is not perfect and “set them back 20 years” as one commenter wrote.

Heterosexuals think that he is a pedophile and evidence of whatever their fears of homosexuals are “really”.

So Sam Adams belief that this news would have derailed his bid for Mayor seems quite well founded.

The reasons you voted for him have not changed if you voted for him because of his ideas and plans.

If you voted for him to the your ideal of something else you voted for the wrong reasons. Just as if someone voted for Obama just because of his race.

If Sam Adams came out of the closet after he was elected, but had been asked if he was gay during the campaign, would you still ask for his head on a pike?

I am not gay nor liberal. I find this thing to be psychologically fascinating.

191 Kurt // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:50 pm

I am DEEPLY disappointed in Just Out’s stand here.

The real issue is why Sam was asked the question in the first place. If there had been PROOF of something illegal then it would be a fair question. But as it stands, Sam was asked a question about sex that happened between consenting adults. It was nobody’s business to begin with. He hasn’t done anything illegal or unethical. He lied about having sex with another adult. So what?

I have supported Just Out in the past. I am friendly with Marty and several of the Just Out staff, but I really think this was the wrong thing to do. This is a rush to judgement. Here we are in progressive Portland, but proving just how narrow minded and prudish we really are by railroading a man for telling a lie about something that was nobody’s business in the first place.

Shame on all of you for being so hypocritcal and judgemental.

192 Ol' Fart Gay // Jan 21, 2009 at 11:59 pm

I in NO WAY feel that his mistake jeopardizes all the good he would do for this city. LHK

What is all that good he would do? Are you sure that the fact he is gay isn’t clouding your opinion of him? I am very liberal but I think he has made some strange proposals. I read that he orginally wanted to haul that ugly green bridge from Sauvies Island to put over the Stadium Freeway. I also read that he wants to charge a toll for downtown bridges. Are those some of the good ideas you admire?

193 Bill // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:04 am

Kurt says: Sam was asked a question about sex that happened between consenting adults. It was nobody’s business to begin with. He hasn’t done anything illegal or unethical. He lied about having sex with another adult. So what?

Why would a person feel compelled to lie about having consensual sex with a person of legal age when everyone already knows he is gay? He could have just said that he won’t discuss his personal life, but, no, he lies about it. Why?

194 Rhea // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:15 am

Kudos to you JUST OUT! Your stance on this issue has made me proud of Portland and I haven’t been proud of Portland for years.

Thank you,
Rhea

195 Ol' Fart Gay // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:19 am

Okay. I have asked this question several times, but all the platitudes swirling around on this blog seem to avoid discussing any of Adams’ accomplishments. Other than the fact he is gay, what did he accomplish on the City Council? Even my very liberal straight friends who support him cannot answer that question. What’s the deal? And, by the way, I am NOT a Republican. Far from it! Very liberal politically!

196 Ty // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:25 am

A straight friend of mine asked my opinion on Mayor Adams. Below is my response to him (please note I never use the “G” word):

Anecdotally, the preponderance of search results returned when Googling “Men Lying About Sex” points to the fact that men (and women) lie about sex (and everything else). When caught doing something they think others will disapprove of or just don’t want others to know, the natural fight or flight reaction is to lie. And once the lie is told, it is sure damn difficult to go back and correct.

The important question is not if Mayor Adams lied, but is Mayor Adams a liar? This one lie does not compromise the integrity of his public service.

Now to Willamette Week and the question asked. Within the statute of limitations, there is a valid question if any adult has had sex with a minor. (Would Just Out’s editorial board please answer the question for your readers.) Oregon State law sets legal consent at 18. So any person over the age of 21 that has sex with a 17 year-old would be guilty of rape. So the question “Did you have sex with someone on your staff that was under the age of 18 at the time the sex occurred?” is valid based on the law. Mayor Adams could have responded, “No, I did not,” with full impunity. But that is not the question that was asked.

My thoughts condensed …

1) Mayor Adams should not have had sex with an intern while he was still in service to him, but it is not against the law and it is none of Willamette Week’s or the public’s business.
2) Mayor Adams should have told WW to bugger off rather than deny having sex.
3) Mayor Adams did what any red blooded American man bound up by our collective puritan ideals would do in the situation – he lied.
4) A LIE DOES NOT MAKE A LIAR.
5) Just Out, the Oregonian, the Portland Business Journal and every other editorial page needs to revoke their calls for resignation unless and until the Attorney General finds that Mayor Adams broke the law.

The funniest thing about the situation is that if it had taken place in the States of Maryland or North Carolina – or in many other states with more enlightened views of sexual maturity – the question would never have been asked because age of consent is 16.

197 John doe // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:26 am

I am confused on a few levels. First, Steven has had issues with fact check in the past. Second, I have always assumed Sam was a bit of a liar. So, I don’t understand why we are giving either of them any power. But I am very interested in a conversation about human nature, contradiction and the power of forgiveness. Maybe we can have a more complex conversation.

198 Kurt // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:28 am

Bill: Why would he lie about it? I can answer that for you.

He was in a lose/lose situation. Political opponents were smearing him for having sex with a minor. If he told the truth and said he had sex after Breedlove was 18, people would just assume he had done it before when Breedlove was a minor. Comments on other news sites calling Adams a pedophile or claiming statutory rape are proof of that. If he had just said that he won’t discuss his personal life, people would have assumed the same thing. So he lied about it because he was embarassed and trying to protect himself. Was it the wisest thing to do? No. But why in the world should he have to resign?? His lie had nothing to do with anything but his own private and personal life.

What if Sam hadn’t been out of the closet and the allegation was that he was gay, and not that he had sex with someone? What if he was elected while still in the closet? What if he just admitted now that he was gay, but had lied about it before when he was asked? Would that lie be as big of a deal to people as the lie he told?? For some reason, I don’t think so. But lying about sex is somehow worse??

199 JustOut of Touch // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:30 am

There is no question that everyone is disappointed in Sam’s lie. But do we seriously have any business in his bedroom? Was there an explicit demonstration of power over the young man? It doesn’t sound like it. Does anyone want to wait for the facts? Seems like JustOut is just that JustOut of with a torch. You’ve been burned so burn back. How stereotypically gay of you.

Are you progressive or just out to prove how much you ARE like everyone else?

200 Russ // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:34 am

Having sex with an 18 yo is legal, that is why it is called age of consent. It not your legal at 18 only if you have sex with someone under 30. Asking about someones sexual behavior in a workplace interview is Illegal. Running for Mayor or any other public office is a long interview process, and thus should have no questions asked about ones sexual life. I think everyone should lie if asked about their sexual behavior, because it is none of your damn business.
Bob Ball is a jerk for pushing a story about under age sex without proof. And, Beau Breedlove is not an a helpless boy, have you seen him, but in any case what ever was done, by both their accounts, was consensual and legal.
The Just Out Board is WRONG! (all four of you)
Sam had every right to lie to you about his sexual life because it was and is none of our damn business. That you should have backed him on 100%

201 Susan // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:41 am

Just Out Editorial Board: You had every right to take the stand that you did, and the courage to do so.

Sadly, I have come to the conclusion that Sam should step down. He has severely compromised his ability to advance Portland’s priorities.

202 piper // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:43 am

Sorry I’m late to to the party….I just had to watch the anchors on channel 2…they were so passionate and lusty over this story…not Sam Adams of course, but that Just Out would ask for his resignation. THAT’s the story now. Sleaze breeds sleaze. And it attracts viewers. And readers.

See how that works? The REAL story: that we would turn on one of our own. The ’scandal’ is contrived tabloid and simple-minded Victorian morality – Sam Adams doesn’t stand a chance of proving himself now. Who could trust a guy so completely exposed to the public? Not like he could do anything anymore. Next time I make a mistake I’ll be sure to note it in my blog so the world can judge me for it. Sam – you should do the same. Public Official = No Private Life.

Seriously though – only Sam knows if Sam should step down – and if he wants to be truly honest, he will or he won’t, and unless there is an official investigation and he is proven guilty of statutory rape, if there is enough evidence to warrant this, if the young man in question comes forth and demands Sam’s head on a platter for ruining his life, and Politician Sam doesn’t have enough personal sleaze to hold it together – by all means, tear him down all you like. I mean, we do expect our public officials to be better than we are and we hold them accountable in ways we would never hold ourselves. Be honest now – that’s true, isn’t it? The fact that he’s a fag just makes it all the more fun for the local networks and news rags to play with. And they will.

203 Dave // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:45 am

Hey Bloggers 3,7,10,14,16,21,23,24,26,29,30,33,38,40,41,42,43,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,56,58,59,62,63,64,66,68,69,71,72,73,75,76,77,78,79,82,83,84,85,86,87,89,90,94,95,96,97,98,100,101,104,105,106,108,109,110,112,113,114,119,121,122,123,124,125,126,127,128,130,132,134,137,139,140,142,143,144,146,147,148,149,153,155,158,160,163,167,168,169, Thanks for your support of Sam. I could not have said it any better. OH by the way Sam. I’m jealous. Beau is one hot guy. Would have him too if given the opportunity. Hang in there!! Just Out Get Out!!

204 Dave // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:50 am

Funky Just Out Blogg engine too. I agreed with a lot more Bloggers all the way up to 169 and now beyond but it did not print them all on my last blog.

205 Russ // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:50 am

Oh btw I too am an Ex-Advertisers NOW!

Three of the worst parts of your paper are done by the board members. Marty’s diatribes, Jim’s movie reviews, and Marc’s drivel.
All wasted space, but hey I guess you will need to write more with fewer ads.

206 David // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:52 am

Isn’t what the gay community wants is to NOT be judged for whom they sleep with? So isn’t it hypocritical for JustOut to be blasting Sam for lying about it. He didn’t want to be judged or have the media and bigots spin it out of control just as they are now. It’s sad to see JustOut has joined the tabloid media at their first opportunity.

207 Dave // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:52 am

Go to bed Susan!

208 Ol' Fart Gay // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:57 am

The preachiness of teh Admas cheerleaders on this blog is getting to me. There are some issues within our community that need to be addressed and Claude did it best in an earlier post. Here are his very thought-provoking ideas in his earlier post:

The issue here is judgement people. Sam has displayed a gross lack of it.

Like many adult gay males, Sam appears to be obsessed with young boys. Can you blame him? The majority of images portraying the gay community feature young white boys. Gay media celebrates young white boys in print and on film. Young white boys are desirable we’re told. So can Sam Adams be faulted for wanting to fuck a young white boy?

The answer is yes.

Sam Adams has revealed himself to be a total idiot with poor judgment. What kind of person in a position of responsibility dates young boys? Can anyone tell me what a 42 yr old man mayoral candidate has in common with a 17yr old boy?

Portland is a tiny parochial town with visions of grandeur. Did he not think anyone would find out?
And what about the vicious queen who started the rumour. She needs a good ass whoopin.

Sam is damaged goods. He was not smart enough to rise above the shallow pettiness of the queer community. His judgement is flawed and he is an accomplished liar. For these reasons he isn’t qualified to lead the larger community.

209 Stephilius // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:02 am

You rushed to judgement. You’ve only made things worse. This is very sad. I only hope the mayor can ride this out – provided that he didn’t actually do anything illegal – and that we can learn something from this.

Sometimes the wisest and most responsible thing to do is to shut up and wait.

210 Ben Brown Jr. // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:05 am

Yesterday, I posted a comment thanking Adams for lying and covering up his “mistake”, and I stand by that comment. All I needed to know was one thing: Is Sam Adams just another sleazy politician who will do and say anything to cover his own ass? Yes.

I do not agree with the JO Editorial Board in calling for his resignation.

I think sam SHOULD stay. I believe he needs to be held accountable for this shit storm. If Adams was so politically naive, after 20 years, that this would not bite him in the ass (no pun intended), then he DESERVES to have his ass raked over the coals.

Public apologies should be sent to everyone he screwed over, particularly Ball. I want to see how Adams is now going to deal with the Police Association now, and a myriad of other pressing issues that we have.

Maybe if Adams is kept more busy, he won’t have time to make “inappropriate judgement calls”. Maybe if he know that we will be watching his every move, he will keep his nose a little cleaner. Make Adams pay for his cover up and lying with hard work.

Sam, if you read this, and I am sure one of your cronies/staffers are, we’re watching. Get used to it.

211 Richard Ludt LMT // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:08 am

A very good post should be re-read right Ol fart?

I will post Ty’s post for another opposing view:

A straight friend of mine asked my opinion on Mayor Adams. Below is my response to him (please note I never use the “G” word):

Anecdotally, the preponderance of search results returned when Googling “Men Lying About Sex” points to the fact that men (and women) lie about sex (and everything else). When caught doing something they think others will disapprove of or just don’t want others to know, the natural fight or flight reaction is to lie. And once the lie is told, it is sure damn difficult to go back and correct.

The important question is not if Mayor Adams lied, but is Mayor Adams a liar? This one lie does not compromise the integrity of his public service.

Now to Willamette Week and the question asked. Within the statute of limitations, there is a valid question if any adult has had sex with a minor. (Would Just Out’s editorial board please answer the question for your readers.) Oregon State law sets legal consent at 18. So any person over the age of 21 that has sex with a 17 year-old would be guilty of rape. So the question “Did you have sex with someone on your staff that was under the age of 18 at the time the sex occurred?” is valid based on the law. Mayor Adams could have responded, “No, I did not,” with full impunity. But that is not the question that was asked.

My thoughts condensed …

1) Mayor Adams should not have had sex with an intern while he was still in service to him, but it is not against the law and it is none of Willamette Week’s or the public’s business.
2) Mayor Adams should have told WW to bugger off rather than deny having sex.
3) Mayor Adams did what any red blooded American man bound up by our collective puritan ideals would do in the situation – he lied.
4) A LIE DOES NOT MAKE A LIAR.
5) Just Out, the Oregonian, the Portland Business Journal and every other editorial page needs to revoke their calls for resignation unless and until the Attorney General finds that Mayor Adams broke the law.

The funniest thing about the situation is that if it had taken place in the States of Maryland or North Carolina – or in many other states with more enlightened views of sexual maturity – the question would never have been asked because age of consent is 16.

212 Alan // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:10 am

Nonsense. It wasn’t anyone’s business in the first place. While he should have said that to start with, if you kick out all the politicians who aren’t perfect, we’ll have anarchy, because there won’t be anyone left.

213 Mature Bill // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:16 am

I think Claude is right -#208. The gay media portrays young hot studs as the ultimate catch. How sad! What the heck would Adams who sits on a City Council have in common with a young, dumb 18 year old? I think his brain was in his dick when he made a very, very bad decision. It’s actually pretty tragic that he would pursue that course and then try to delude himself into thinking he was “helping” a poor isolated youth to deal with his sexuality. But, it will be the lies and the cover-up that will bring about Adams’ demise in public opinion. Unfortunately, the Portland gay community seems to have bought into the gay media’s ideal of the young white boy and will never understand how strange it was for a very successful politician in his 40s to pursue such a liaison.

214 Steve // Jan 22, 2009 at 2:01 am

He lied and the issue here is that the bar is higher for elected officials, especially after the last 8 years in DC and the new political climate of accountability. He lied to preserve his political career. As a 42 y/o person in public office, he had sex with a teen 25 years his junior to whom he was a mentor. That he waited until the kid was 18 so it would be “legal” is pathetic; if it wasn’t, he wouldn’t have lied or given a job to a reporter to cover it up (apparently). He’s reintroduced negative (and incorrect) stereotypes of gay men as pedophiles (and those in our community supporting him need to have their heads checked), and he has permanently and negatively impacted this kid’s reputation.
Mr. Adams, please resign in short order and let Portland move on.

215 Don Brubaker // Jan 22, 2009 at 2:14 am

To hell with “Just Out”….

When did it become necessary to know every officials sexual encounter. Sam is right to say screw you and NOT resign.

I am not a Sam Adams fan, nor did I vote for him
BUT
he did nothing wrong, and where is it written that every public official needs to tell us about their sexual affairs. The damn perverts who need to know this information should be sued for Invasion of Privacy,
with your Social Rag included….

216 Ball Buster // Jan 22, 2009 at 3:01 am

I just find this entire thing pathetic… mostly because Robert Ball started this all, and I’ve known him personally, even been to his house, and met his “boy” friends… Talk about the pot calling the kettle black… he’s dated more teens (hopefully legal but not 100% sure since he put a few threw college after they met)… BUT the point is, he’s no better, yet he started this all… Ball was loosing so he threw in a wrench knowing Sam Adams didn’t want to go there into his personal life… and now JustOut castrates Sam before he’s proven by the AG that anything was done wrong. If a pilot lied about having an affair, would you get off the flight half way to NY because you didn’t trust his flying now? Come on Marty. Like someone said above, your just bitter you made him Man of the Year, now you’re back stepping to make yourself look better. Didn’t work in my eyes. Buhbye JustOut. Can your magazine really afford to throw guilt before an investigation and loose readers and advertisers in this economy… less readers = less advertisers! Good Luck JustGo!

217 seth // Jan 22, 2009 at 3:10 am

Just Out:

Your handling of this matter is UTTERLY despicable! As members of the queer community we should support one another in times of adversity in solidarity rather than turning our backs. Of course Sam lied, anyone in such a situation would. Frankly, Sam Adams’s sex life is NONE of our business! The sex was legal and consensual, why should we pry? What matters is that he told the truth now, he is clearly remorseful for having lied, and he is still going to be one of the best mayors Portland has ever seen.

Shame on the prudery of Just Out!

Rally in support of Sam on 11/27 at noon at City Hall.

“Together we stand, divided we fall.”

218 Philip Samwel // Jan 22, 2009 at 3:18 am

It’s another media witch-hunt, only this time the target is one of our own. I agree that Mayor Adams should not have lied about his relationship with the 18 year-old adult, but he should not resign because of this lie. Once again the media has stooped to its ‘dig and smear’ tactics. The editors of Just Out give verbiage to the bond of trust and confidence in Mayor Adams being broken because of his statement about LGBT youth and role models. So is an 18 year-old man a youth? I must have missed that day in school when this was proclaimed.
Shame on you editors of Just Out, what about the whole ‘tolerance’ thing? And ‘Judge not lest ye be judged’? And what about ‘innocent untiI proven guilty’? I realize that you are fearful of appearing to condone anything having to do with pedophilia, but this case has nothing to do with that (unless the Mayor has lied about the man’s age at the time). Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt and not ‘condemn before the trial’.
A straight man at work ‘said it all’ yesterday, as he was watching the latest on the news. I had mistakenly thought that the man was homophobic prior to this, but was I wrong. He said, “Give the man a break! This is so ridiculous; let the man sleep with who he wants as long as it’s legal.”
There is more than just a witch-hunt going on here. Does the editor of Just Out have some internalized homophobia she needs to deal with? Or at least a distrust of gay men or of Mayor Sam Adams specifically? Perhaps the one who should resign is Marty Davis.

219 Michael Conroy // Jan 22, 2009 at 3:33 am

Honestly, I have never been interested in Sam Adams private life and I am still not. What bothers me is that reporters feel that it is their duty to expose the sex life of two consenting adults. Whatever happened shouldn’t be an issue and Sam had every right to protect his privacy. Wouldn’t you do the same if someone asked about your personal sex life? We live in such a tabloid obsessed society that is more concerned with Lindsay Lohan’s indiscretions than how many people have died in the Iraq war. I feel that what people do off the clock is no one’s business but their own. It is an invasion of privacy and a distraction from more pressing matters like the economy. People shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Those in public office are just as human as we are and they too make mistakes. I voted for Sam to be mayor of Portland and I believe he will be a great one. He apologized for lying and I accept that. Now if this publication still wants him to resign even though he didn’t do anything illegal (he never lied under oath), then I will resign from reading this publication.

220 think about it // Jan 22, 2009 at 3:37 am

the next time you guys are feeling outraged because someone is stereotyping gay men as sexual predators, i want you to come back to this page and re-read these comments. you are OBSESSED with the legality of the situation, and care nothing whatsoever for the ethics involved.

frankly, i read these comments and wonder how many of you vacation in places where the “legal” age is 12 or 14, etc. cuz the only thing that matters is whether it’s legal right?

there are places in the world where a man can “marry” — read RAPE — an eight year-old. do you think that’s okay too?

seriously, i know that gay men aren’t all sexual predators, but there are certainly plenty of sexual predators posting comments on this page.

get some therapy, boys.

221 Dragonfly // Jan 22, 2009 at 3:40 am

“By his own admission, by committing the act of lying to the citizens of Portland, Adams has failed to show the principled character that this publication feels is a basic requirement for an elected official.” This is the heart of your editorial statement.

You make no reference to any other consideration or reason for your call for the mayor to quit his office. Your discussion weighs only what you present as potentially redeeming considerations, which, in each case, you ultimate overrule as insufficient to outweigh your “basic requirement for an elected official”. Simply put, your statement says that because he lied he must resign.

So then, DO YOU DEMAND THAT EVERY POLITICAL OFFICE HOLDER WHO HAS EVER LIED IN OFFICE – OR TO GET INTO OFFICE – MUST RESIGN?
Or does this standard only apply to those who have lied and then subsequently acknowledged their lie???
(Or perhaps it only applies to men who embarrass you because it was a “gay lie”?)

222 Dr. de Valmont // Jan 22, 2009 at 4:40 am

This is crazy. Leave it to a bunch of old queens to drag this out into a shit storm.
I can’t believe that they cut out of Obama’s inauguration for this. Let’s get real Portland.
THIS IS A TIME OF CHANGE…. Let us pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down.

223 bubba28 // Jan 22, 2009 at 4:48 am

Sorry, JUST OUT, but I just can’t follow you down that path. If the boy was of age and the act was consentual, then nothing illegal took place. And if nothing illegal took place, then THERE’S NOTHING TO “INVESTIGATE” ! Or, for that matter, apologize for ! This smells of some homophone/s trying to oust the gay guy from office by digging up dirt from years ago-you don’t think Mayor Adams needs your support now more than ever ?! Not necessarily because he’s gay, but for the very thing GLBT people lhave been saying forever: what we do in our bedrooms is nobody’s business ! Yes, I’m saddened by Mayor’s Adams need to edit his life for the media; I’m more saddened by JUST OUT jumping on a bandwagon whose ultimate purpose is to denigrade gay people AGAIN and show how ‘unfit’ we are for any kind of public life.

224 Pabawaba // Jan 22, 2009 at 5:02 am

I’ve just gotten back from DC to find the gay community has a big problem here. We’ve come so far since the days of Mabon’s maliciousness only to find there’s something that’s opened flood gates to release a torrent of anti-gay rhetoric. Of course I’m speaking of the attack on Sam Adams by the gay communities “advocating” newspaper “Just-out”. Ms. Davis has always been known as a mean spirited bitter ol dyke, by blaming the “editorial board” she takes some folks who’ve stood by her through tough times, (these folks don’t always get paid on time due to FINE management). Marty, look at the homophobes that are feeding on your take on this issue and gaining power by it. Disgusting slug-like things.

I realize, Marty, that yelling at you will only make you feel important. So I’ll take my disgust to your list of advertisers. Gee, the Columbian floundering, the Oregonian in a prone position, and the P-I in Seattle is scheduled to cease publication by February, newspapers are dropping like flies. It’s high time that we who don’t want to rebuild those old “Gay Myths” to make a list of Just Out advertisers and boycott them for helping finance an “Ill Wind”.

Clinton survived the BS! Was anyone harmed by these two gentlemen sharing some time that’s none of our business? Is the real damage the judgment being levied from ivory towers such as Just Out, who hopes the ruckus will help to revive a failing newspaper.

BTW, I know personally that, if held to the same standards, some Just Out staffers would be in the same boat. But that’s none of our business, is it Marty? We sure wouldn’t want to harm anything. Oh, I guess maybe YOU would………………..

225 Jon // Jan 22, 2009 at 5:17 am

I’m really pissed at this so called gay paper. It’s no longer fit to wrap fish in. Not even big ones like Dumb-Dora_Davis.

You’re making a bunch of us so angry that the boyott idea sounds like justice to me. I plan to begin now!

To the outside news media it sounds like the gay community is imploding.

Join me in a chorus now…. “Ding Dong The Witch is Davis.” Your paper needs to take a douche!

226 Wolf // Jan 22, 2009 at 6:04 am

You are OH SO WRONG.

Please see my rebuttal at http://www.back2stonewall.com

227 Charles Schaab // Jan 22, 2009 at 6:15 am

What spineless cowards you are!

It is the Editorial Board of this newspaper who should resign.

228 seth // Jan 22, 2009 at 6:25 am

Rally on the 27th at Noon outside of city hall, be there! Damn the man, save the mayor!

SHAME ON JUST OUT! EDITORS, RESIGN!

you have lost yet ANOTHER reader.

229 Janice Lee // Jan 22, 2009 at 6:28 am

I would tend to agree..he probably should resign as he didn’t just lie, he asked others to lie for him, he had Leonard stand up for him, and he castigated Robert Ball for bringing the issue to light.

In other words he used people unethically and only apologized when confronted. sigh…………….

230 David Meltzer // Jan 22, 2009 at 6:33 am

What an ironic world we live in. “The Reader”, a film about a consensual sexual relationship between a teenager and adult gets Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Actress. Yet, when it allegedly (emphasis on that word!) happens in real life, the Mayor (or Mayor-to-be at the time) is publically vilified and held up to scrutiny.

231 Mike K // Jan 22, 2009 at 6:46 am

Just Out writes, “the weakness revealed in Adams’ recent admission”. I fail to see how laying all his cards on the table and admitting that he had lied to the public should be seen as a sign of weakness? If anything this was an act of bravery on his part. And I have to say if this is the worst thing anyone can dig out of Sam’s closet (I’m pretty sure it is), this town should rally around the man and make damn sure he STAYS Mayor of Portland. Sherriff Bernie Giusto was allowed to keep his position even though he lied about what he knew about a sex scandal involving governor Neil Goldschmidt; neither of whom have EVER apologized to the people of Portland for their actions or for wasting public funds.

Shame on you Just Out – it’s Sam Adams’ “vision, his intelligence and his tenacity” that we should continue to admire and throw our support behind our Mayor is a time when he needs us most. Instead you’re behaving like the Republican prudes who wanted to oust Clinton for getting a blowjob in the Oval Office!

I for one am really disappointed in Just out (and your editorial staff) for your decision to ask for the resignation of Sam Adams.

232 This is the reason I hate Portland sometimes // Jan 22, 2009 at 6:49 am

My last thought.

I Do not support the mayor at this point. Maybe he should step down. I’m pissed at sam for lying about something he should have never responded to in the first place. I’m pissed at Portlands gay community for gathering the torches and pitchforks so soon (I mean really how dare that man make us look bad…he must be destroyed…seriously?) Most of all, though, I’m pissed that this useless rag DARES to speak for this community.

What has this woman or her nasty paper EVER done for our community? Acting the foolish bitch at community events? Choosing what type of business to promote based on her personal feelings for the owners? Putting down anyone who refuses to kiss her ass? Marty is, by all accounts, a HORRIBLE person who has taken a good paper and made it a Spectacular embarrassment to the community it claims to represent.

Maybe our pitchforks should be pointed in her direction. Marty, go open your rag in some other town. I don’t care which one, just warn me first so I never visit.

signed, A very angry drag queen

233 oh yeah // Jan 22, 2009 at 7:27 am

I love it.
All the comments from advertisers that they are going to pull their ads from Just Out for expressing an editorial opinion.
Where are they going to advertise? In the Oregonian and Portland Tribune, who also called for Adams’ resignation? WW? who broke the story?
Just Out should list those advertisers who pull their ads, so that the rest of us can stop patronizing their businesses.

234 Bob Ball and Just Out = Quid Pro Quo? // Jan 22, 2009 at 7:42 am

What was the quid pro quo between Marty Davis and Portland condo developer and Just Out advertiser Robert “Bob” Ball for running this editorial?

Marty Davis, you cannot be trusted.

235 Pabawaba // Jan 22, 2009 at 7:47 am

Gee, Marty, No One can tell that comment 233 was you.

I’ve just forwarded this to a large list of folk who’ll also recognize your hate-speak.

Which issue will be the last?

236 oh yeah // Jan 22, 2009 at 7:56 am

Actually, I don’t know Marty or any of the staff at Just Out. Don’t even read it that much.
I just enjoy watching the sanctimonious Portland gay community implode on itself.
Portland for normies!
Anarchy Rules!

237 Lents Pioneer // Jan 22, 2009 at 8:05 am

At this time I cant’ say with certainty that Sam should resign, but I am certain that what offends me about this is not a gay/straight issue. The Bill Clinton’s and Sam Adams’ have a responsibility to drag this prudish country out the dark ages and deal with their humanness directly. The response I need to hear from my elected politicians when the accusations first surface is “Yes, I was human and made a decision I’m not proud of. Now if you can explain how that affects my ability to perform what you elected me to do, I have no further comments.” END OF STORY
We are the only western county who cannot separate the bedroom from governing offices. I know this because I am also an Australian citizen and lived there during the Clinton/Lewinsky fiasco and had to constantly explain that Clinton was not facing impeachment because of a blow job but rather lying to those investigating it.
In my early years, I was someone attracted to men many years my senior, so I think it’s wrong to label Sam a predator. I can’t judge Sam for the relationship with Beau, since I lived in the SF Bay area in the hedonistic pre-AIDS years. Fortunately my less than saintly behavior, as far as I know, is not public record. That said, I don’t think I would survive the scrutiny of running for a public office until more people stand up to the unrealistic moral agenda of the good old U.S. of A. The only way to change this is to deflect the unnecessary attention to personal relationships with a candid admission at the onset. I am tired of long drawn out scandals that truly are “no ones business”. I can’t support Sam Adams for his elaborate lie to suppress this issue during his election for mayor. There is too much work to do in Portland for this distraction to be playing out now.
I hope this incident helps us resolve to make personal relationships a non-issue so that we stop limiting so many capable leaders from accomplishing what we elected them to do.

238 henry // Jan 22, 2009 at 8:24 am

Thanks for telling us what he lied about in the article!

239 Just Doubt // Jan 22, 2009 at 8:31 am

Pathetic .. just pathetic … the WW should be run out of town for muckraking the man’s PERSONAL LIFE .. and Just Out should not be helping them. Shame on you faceless “editorial board” for being a fair-weather friend of no value. No wonder the gay community is so disrespected. We don’t even stand up for our own. For shame …. Just Out .. for shame.

240 Tom // Jan 22, 2009 at 8:57 am

So interesting to read “oh yeah”’s comments 233 and 236.

It says something that one of the few people really defending Just OUt here is actually a raging homophobe.

I guess Marty got what she wanted- approval from homophobes, proof that she is the prudish, normal, “good” queer who does what the homophobes want and hangs one of our own.

Mary and “oh yeah”- it’s the company you keep.

241 Tom // Jan 22, 2009 at 8:58 am

That should read “Marty and ‘oh yeah’”

242 Tom // Jan 22, 2009 at 9:03 am

To the condescending, cryptically bigoted person called “Think about it” (comment 220).

So it’s our fault that gay men are stereotyped as sexual predators because we respect the right to privacy enough to only care about the legality of two consenting adults? And if we defend Sam’s right to privacy we must be the type of people who would go to the third world to screw a 12-year old?

Wow, some homophobe is really grasping at straws to justify their own stereotypes. Or are you a self-hating queer or anti-sex 90’s-style feminist who just wants to play the (gay or straight) male = sex = bad game?

Either way your comment isn’t very respectable or logical and I’m not going to let it keep me from telling the truth about the sexual McCarthyism taking place.

243 Wil Snodgrass // Jan 22, 2009 at 9:09 am

Who Sam Adams dates and screws is NOT a public issue. Having the question come up is NOT a public right. This is Sam’s business….not the City or State or Country or World. Unless the young man was under 18.

Sounds like Just Out is the 2008’s Kenneth Star?!?

Stop acting straight Just Out.

244 Wil Snodgrass // Jan 22, 2009 at 9:14 am

Very Angry Drag Queen!!!
Bingo!

The Paper desires to be straight and be loved by straights. We will even sacrifice years of great work by Sam to show the straights that we are happy to sacrific our own if they will only accept us as “normal” like them.

The gay assimulators have nearly destroyed all the gains and freedoms that were earned over the last 3 decades. This paper wants gays to act straight and be straight. It is very homophobic and sexaphobic.

245 Rod O // Jan 22, 2009 at 9:19 am

I plan to go through the advertising section ad by ad and call the businesses to ask for them to stop advertising until there is a change of editors….If this paper needs to go out of business in order to get a medium that TRULY represents gay portland then so be it….

like his campaign slogan said…

I’M WITH SAM!!!!!

246 Ali // Jan 22, 2009 at 9:42 am

Given the current state of the local economy, Sam Adams was this city’s best bet for ensuring stability and growth to the region. I don’t care who he screws or even whether he lies about it. I care about him helping to sustain Portland in what is rapidly becoming a second depression. Mr. Adams ride on the slippery slope of morality will not be worth mentioning when everyone is unemployed.

247 NoPoGreely // Jan 22, 2009 at 9:50 am

The Just Out “editorial board” has conclusively shown through a history of mistakes culminating in the current gross embarrassment that it lacks the prudence and foresight to responsibly handle its publicly perceived role as voice of the LGBTQ community.

Sam Adams should refuse all further contact with Just out, and advertisers should discontinue support for Just Out. At this point, it has become dangerous to our welfare as a community to maintain Marty Davis in a role for which she is clearly unfit to serve.

248 None of your business // Jan 22, 2009 at 9:51 am

Let’s face reality – there’s not just a double standard, there’s multiple standards and elected leadership has always been held to a much looser standard than the rest of us – particularly once they’re elected! Sam knew that and he temporarily dodged the bullet in order to GET the job. Who among us wouldn’t if they could? He’s still got the chops to do the job, he’s clearly remorseful, he’s apparently done nothing illegal, and thus it really wasn’t any of our business to begin with. Get over it and get on with it. He can always be recalled in six months.

249 Pangloss // Jan 22, 2009 at 9:56 am

What a bunch of Uncle Toms. Can’t move fast enough to please Straight-y!

250 Mac Rory Bowman // Jan 22, 2009 at 9:57 am

I am sorry that this has happened to Portland, but Mr. Adams did nothing illegal, and it is my opinion (as a straight ally) that this would not be an issue if Sam were het. Calling for resignation is absolutely throwing out the baby with the bathwater, and I hate to see Adams held to an unnaturally-high standard. I certainly couldn’t withstand this level of scrutiny, and I hate to see such a promising young leader pilloried by Portland’s prudery.

It is odd to be a Pagan quoting scripture, but what is that line from John 8:7? “Let they who are without sin cast the first stone.”

This incident will stay with Adams for the rest of his career and that is punishment enough for the “offense” of (1) having a legal relationship with a younger man and (2) telling a defensive political lie in response to an offensive, political lie.

Such ludicrously high standards hurt us all.

251 Jenn // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:09 am

Just because you are disappointed in Sam’s judgment on a personal matter does not mean that his qualifications for the city are changed. He still has those qualifications, you are just disappointed in the judgment he showed.

I don’t think him lying about the situation at the time actually won him the election – that seems a stretch of a statement. He made a choice at a critical time in his campaign – true – but to judge a man (or anyone for that matter) when never having walked in his shoes is an emotional reaction and not a rational one.

I agree that we should expect more from our politicians; and shouldn’t have to put up with candidates who treat us with contempt that they feel free to deceive us…but again, being that this particular situation was more of a personal matter and not a policy matter…I feel his apology is a first step towards mending emotional fences with his supporters.

I also feel that he needs to give his supporters a more in-depth, emotional-level explanation as to why he chose to lie when he did. Forget the political “correctness” and just speak from the heart.

252 Justin // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:10 am

This is rediculous. 4 years ago he didn’t want people to know he was sleeping with an 18 year old. Big deal. Assuming he does not resign, this time next year no one will even remember this ’scandal’. It’s time for the community to stand behind Sam. He’s human, he made a mistake. We have to be there for eachother and show forgiveness.

253 Chris // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:16 am

Just Out does not speak for me.
I AM FOR SAM.

254 OregonRic // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:18 am

Yep, he screwed up. But he’ll survive after a couple weeks of rhetorical whipping by the media (or until the next big news story). It’s almost sweeps time for the media. I do object to the term weakness in the op-ed.

Lets move on….

255 Mike // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:21 am

My view is simple. He is only human and he did what a lot of humans would do in his situation, he kept his personal life private. I keep telling people, “ya he lied about it, but it’s not like he lied about what services he can provide Portlanders or lied about how he’s spending our tax money…” He has a very long tract record (over 20 years) of doing great things for Portland and it’s people and the GLBT community and I really don’t think this small thing should stand in his way of continuing to serve the people of Portland.

256 Thomas Daly // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:23 am

Why are we acting surprised that we were lied to by a politician?!?

Why is a politician’s personal life such hot debate that he feels he has to lie to the public like it’s a jealous partner?!?

Have we all forgotten all the cool shit this man’s going to do for our city?! You’re a pack of morons, and I couldn’t be more disgusted with you nay-sayers.

257 Thomas Daly // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:27 am

Furthermore, do none of you calling for him step down realize that admission of this at the time would have been CAMPAIGN SUICIDE? Stop living in a homogenized fantasy world of ideals.

258 Christopher // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:30 am

Screw you “Just Out”. Your call for Adams’s resignation smacks of internalized homophobia and self-hate, masquerading as ethical outrage. It’s so obvious the editorial board is taking Adams’s lie as a personal slight. Perhaps turning on one of the LGBTQ community’s staunchest allies will assuage the editorial board’s hurt feelings, but it doesn’t help the rest of us. We have plenty of enemies out their who will be calling for Adams to resign BECAUSE he’s gay and BECAUSE he’s our ally. Many of them won’t be sublimating their homophobia with feigned outrage at Adams’s ethical blunder, and many will. Why is “Just Out” joining our enemies? So Adams lied; he apologized; he’s humiliated and shamed; he’ll have to rebuild trust. Get over it “Just Out” editorial board. Start thinking about what it means to be loyal, even when those we need to be loyal to screw up.

ARGH! This is so INFURIATING! You know, the “god hates fags” crowd and the rest of our enemies don’t roll over and relinquish power when they’ve been confronted with their many, many scandals. Why does “Just Out” think Adams should? We in Portland’s LGBTQ community are not the whimps your craven call for Adams’s resignation makes us out to be. We don’t roll over and relinquish what little power we have. Not for something like this. If you don’t recognize this is about power, then you are morons. Grow a pair “Just Out”. And I mean that in the most gender-neutral way possible. Withdraw your call for resignation and admit your mistake.

259 gerryblakney // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:30 am

Should a paper with such a large responsibility of representing the diverse gay community of the Portland metro area (even if it was unduly forced upon them or accepted) be so quick to publish such a serious request?

And amidst all of this, can they still hide behind the cloak of ‘personal opinion,’ when they know full-well the responsibility that has been bestowed upon them?

Or did Just|Out honestly think that their request was going to be disregarded or thought of as ‘just another newspaper’s anonymous opinion…?’ Do they not know the impossible power that has been given to them?

I support Sam, until the investigate reveals that I shouldn’t.
_http://findgerry.com
_http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=46090272767
_http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=50322061015&ref=mf

260 nephyr // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:31 am

In most of society it would be considered the height of impolite to ask someone whom you are not very close to, to reveal to you their sexual past. The error here is not the lie, it is the question. While truly the only correct answer to “did you sleep with…” is “I will not dignify that question with an answer”, I can easily see how these sort of questions back people into a wall where they are feel no choice but to lie. Honestly, it is a disgusting and rude question that never should have been asked. I am a straight married mama with a young son and I don’t know Sam Adams. We allow our government to literally get away with torture and murder, but we ask for resignation over consensual sex? Please.

261 gerryblakney // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:33 am

Should a paper with such a large responsibility of representing the diverse gay community of the Portland metro area (even if it was unduly forced upon them or accepted) be so quick to publish such a serious request?

And amidst all of this, can they still hide behind the cloak of ‘personal opinion,’ when they know full-well the responsibility that has been bestowed upon them?

Or did Just|Out honestly think that their request was going to be disregarded or thought of as ‘just another newspaper’s anonymous opinion…?’ Do they not know the impossible power that has been given to them?

I support Sam, until the investigation reveals that I shouldn’t.

—>oh, and why are the comments being moderated? Where are the policies for posting to explain when comments are not accepted?

262 oregonpath // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:47 am

Anyone who would change their vote over how much they know about a candidate’s sex life is so stupid they shouldn’t be ALLOWED to vote.

Pathetic JO. Really pathetic.

263 Mature Bill // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:49 am

RIGHT ON TO JANICE LEE WHO SAID:

J.L. – “I would tend to agree..he probably should resign as he didn’t just lie, he asked others to lie for him, he had Leonard stand up for him, and he castigated Robert Ball for bringing the issue to light.

In other words he used people unethically and only apologized when confronted. sigh…………….”

Most of the posters who are castigating those who criticize Adams just do not address the following problems that Adams brought upon himself – Adams bringing up the matter in a televised news conference during the campaign to get sympathy, hiring the reporter who exposed his alleged indiscretionsto shut her up, and then telling his 18 year old friend to keep his mouth clamped shut. What’s with this guy?

Blind allegiance is dangerous. Think about the deluded 33% of Americans who continued to support Bush right up until the bitter end and as recently as 6 months ago just because they thought he was a good Christian. That wasn’t rational.

264 KimbroJones // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:51 am

I don’t see a lot of love here. We should all pray for Sam Adams and for those who have chosen the homosexual lifestyle. God still loves you and will forgive your–any my–sins.

265 Ben Nystrom // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:53 am

As another former Just Out staffer, I’m saddened but not at all surprised by this decision. It’s sad to see how hysterical your rag has gotten over tearing down someone you helped build up for so many years. Sam lied about a sexual relationship — so what? It’s none of our business, and we shouldn’t have been digging up dirt in the first place. This kind of knee-jerk reaction is sensationalism at it’s worst, and it’s not going to save your struggling paper, Marty. Quite the opposite, probably.
If Sam Adams resigns, you — who are not affected by Sam’s past relationship with Beau AT ALL — are more than partly responsible. Think about that the next time you make a brass call-to-arms that will negatively affect someone’s entire life.

266 Clearlyhere // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:55 am

Why was it anybody’s business what Sam Adams was doing with a legal adult? Calm down. Did he lie under oath? As far as I can tell, he didn’t. Did he have sex with a prostitute? Nope.

Calm down.

267 Mature Bill // Jan 22, 2009 at 10:57 am

Dear Ben #264,

You are living in a delusionary world.

268 Patricia // Jan 22, 2009 at 11:00 am

Sam, I ache with sadness. I agree you should resign. I can’t help but be embarassed by your deceit and lies. As a 56 year old gay woman, I thought FINALLY in this great city Portland, a gay brother has been recognized for his professional talents. Even as an out man! I campaigned and supported you. I am worried about our city, who will lead us, but it should not be you. You were elected, in part, by lying to the people of Portland. We will never know what the people would have voted if you had only said the truth. Although an eyebrow may have been raised, your personal life is your own. It is only because of your lies that I agree with Just Out’s call.

269 Tab // Jan 22, 2009 at 11:15 am

Mature Bill:

You’re lying when you state that ” the reporter who exposed his alleged indiscretionsto shut her up.” This is not a fact, merely one of your allegations. It has not been proven.

You lie. I ask that resign from this blog immediately.

270 Tab // Jan 22, 2009 at 11:17 am

Mature Bill: the above post got garbled so let’s try this again.

Mature Bill:

You’re lying when you state that Sam hired ”the reporter who exposed his alleged indiscretions to shut her up.” This is not a fact, merely one of your allegations. It has not been proven.

You lie. I ask that resign from this blog immediately.

271 Mature Bill // Jan 22, 2009 at 11:24 am

I have voted Democrat all of my life, but I will never forget when Bill Clinton appeared before the cameras and uttered those despicable words: “I never had relations with THAT woman.”

That moment on camera was when I lost all respect for the ol’ dawg Bill. Later, Monica Lewinsky remained loyal to Clinton and never gave him up to the weirdo prosecutor Kenneth Starr. She turned out to be the admirable one and Clinton was the creep in that situation.

One’s personal life should not be the way we judge politicians, but it is the way the politician conducts himself in such situations that the public always remembers. When Bill uttered those awful words was when he lost my respect and many other Democrats as well.

Adams hasn’t treated his little 18 year old friend as badly as Bill treated Monica, but the Mayor certainly went to great lengths to keep the truth from coming to light, which makes me wonder what else he has been hiding. Nevertheless, fairly or unfairly, a 42 year old man chasing a 17 year old until he turns 18 leaves a very nasty taste in my mouth. It creeps me out and makes me question the predator’s judgement.

272 Mature Bill // Jan 22, 2009 at 11:36 am

Dear Tab,

Ignorance is not bliss. You are very misinformed. Read the Willamette Week article. Adams hired the reporter investigating his tryst with the kid for a job that she was not qualified for in his administration. http://wweek.com/editorial/3510/12093/

Here is what one of Adams’ loyal followers wrote today:
“It would seem – with the evidence we know – that the cover-up was the real mistake here. How deep that cover-up went is an open question. Willamette Week has suggested that it went far enough that Adams hired a reporter to join the mayor’s staff who was totally unqualified for a high paying job. The reporter in question had been digging around this story. Was she hired to shut her up?”

273 onion // Jan 22, 2009 at 11:43 am

Calling for his resignation is stupid.

Politicians have the right to keep their private lives private. I don’t care that he lied about it.

I bet every author of this editorial has lied about sex multiple times in their lifetimes. Fess up now, hypocrites.

274 Saddened by Just Out // Jan 22, 2009 at 11:59 am

To the advertisers who said they are pulling their ads, please post your businesses so that those of us disgusted with JO’s action can go out of our way to patronize your businesses.

Mr. Ludt: Pull your ad, I’ll schedule a massage!

275 Lee Coleman // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:03 pm

Sam Adams should not resign. Just Out is just wrong.

The only thing that Sam Adams did wrong was to lie about his relationships with Beau Breedlove. The first allegation was that Adams mentored the boy while he was still under 18 and Adams admits that was a lie. The second allegation is that he had sex with the boy while he was under 18 and no one has any credible proof. Adams admits waiting scrupulously until the clock chimed midnight, i.e., until the boy turned 18. It is perfectly legal to have sex with those who are 18 or over.

An argument can be made that Adams used his power position to intimidate the boy into any kind of relationship, either before or after the clock chimed midnight. Apparently everyone agrees that the boy threw himself at Adams not vice versa. So the power calculus does not enter in to the considerations.

Basically, therefore, should Adams, a man of proven accomplishment in the field of running Portland be forced out of his duly elected position because he hid the truth about his relationships with a young person who beguiled him? In other words, are the sex and lie issues relevant to the mayoral function?

I would suggest that everyone take a deep breath here. If the implication is that Adams lied so we can’t trust him not to lie about civic matters, the answer is that there are no civic matters that are as personal (absent graft). I don’t think Adams is either greedy or graft ridden. I don’t think the lie about the boy ought to be considered in judging Adams’ ability to run Portland any more than Mayor Katz’ cancer or Bud Clark’s drinking habits did. If the objection is that a public official had sex with someone who was 18 or over and should be ejected from office because of it, then we are going to have to have witch hunts all over the place because there are plenty of offenders to be found.

This is a tempest in a teapot created by puritans for puritans. We should get out of the pecksniff business and of other peoples’ bedrooms.

Lee Coleman

276 dq // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:06 pm

Coming out once in a life-time should be enough. And it is for most people, but not politicians.
The second “outing” came for Sam Adams when he decided to have an open life career as a politician. That life requires an open book of honesty and a full knowledge of living his life in front of the voters.
When Sam chose to run as an openly gay man the GLBTA was quick to cheer for one of their own moving into a place of great power and influence. “One of us as mayor”, was a reminder of the pain and struggle of being left behind.
It seems like this second “outing” may have caught Portland by surprise. “Our gay mayor is another self-serving politico that represents himself, his close friends and money donors. What about me? I thought he was there for me?
So it turns out that he lied. He lied to cover up an affair that he knew was wrong and could end his dream. He had others lie for him to protect him from all the questions and prying eyes of the media and public. He helped others to benefit them for their part in his cover up.
Now the JO readers are outraged by this call for Sam to do the right thing and step down. Now they think that this is yet another witch hunt chasing Sam down for things he did in the dark.
I don’t care about the things he did in the dark. It is the things he did in the light of day that make me sick. He “came out” again. And this time he came out to all of us as another disappointing politician. He is one that brings too much to the office of mayor of Portland. He brings friends and cronies. He brings advisors that none of us would give the time of day to. This all led to his problems.
These details of Sam’s life should not reflect on the GLBT as a whole. But they will if the only reason for supporting him is the fact that he is gay. That alone is not enough.
Clearly, Portland voters thought Sam Adams was the right man for the job. But what they did not see until now was that Sam was part of the business as usual politics that this community despises. This time he has to out himself and do the right thing.
It is time for change.

277 Mature Bill // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:13 pm

Lee #274 – ” Apparently everyone agrees that the boy threw himself at Adams not vice versa. So the power calculus does not enter in to the considerations.”

Oh, now we are going to attack the kid because an aging man chased him until he turned 18? Gimme a break!!!!! Wow! What delusions posters have on this blog.

278 Pangloss // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:26 pm

“now we are going to attack the kid?”

Pointing out that Beau willingly pursued Sam for sex is “attacking” him? Bust out your chastity belts, it’s Puritan Party Time!

279 emy77 // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:29 pm

So, a politician lied about a sexual relationship with an adult – wow, this has never happened before…

The call for Sam’s resignation is pre-mature and smacks of a witch hunt. And, such a waste of our precious time, resources and creative energy. We are in deep trouble, we need to get to work and we need leaders like Sam who have a new vision for Portland. And, we all need to take a deep breath and re-focus on what is essential. I could care less about the relationship. I am concerned about the lies but understand the pressure to lie in our reactionary policital climate. But, I am more concerned about our economy, which is heading towards the worst disaster since the ’30’s and our environment. It is time to forgive and move on. We cannot afford to waste taxpayer money and precious time on another mayoral election.

All those who have never lied about an embarrassing act raise your hands!

280 Mature Bill // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:47 pm

#277 Pangloss – Pointing out that Beau willingly pursued Sam for sex is “attacking” him? Bust out your chastity belts, it’s Puritan Party Time!

Puritanical? LOL!

What if it was a 42 year old straight male Mayor chasing a 17 year old female until she turned 18 so he could bed her? The straights would be outraged and he would be gone by now.

It appears that many in the gay community want a double standard. Adams should not be treated any differently than a straight male would be.

Come on, guys. You want to be accepted by society or not? Our gay media’s preoccupation with young males needs to end. We need to grow up and mature as a group. Many of us are in arrested development.

281 stephen // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:52 pm

Since when has Just Out ever been relevant to the queer community? I haven’t picked up a copy of this crappy rag in years.

282 KimbroJones // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:58 pm

I am curious about something…do any of you supporters of Sam Adams have 17- or 18-year-old children?

283 right on stephen // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:02 pm

I completely agree, Stephen. JO has been a rag for years, and this histrionic and premature response from the editorial board is ridiculous and smacks of self-promotion.

284 Q_cyclist // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:03 pm

To all the posters supporting JO’s decision to have the mayor resign and think all the poster here supporting Sam are crazy/scum/blind for supporting Sam because he is gay: I simply want all the facts first. I want the investigation to be done first before Portland’s ONLY gay newspaper takes it upon itself to forward this article to the other media outlets presenting itself as the voice of the gay community!

Here’s the deal– 1) if Sam really did give that job to Amy Ruiz as a political favor for covering up the story, 2) If he really did have sex with Beau before he was of legal age (by the way, this is a misdemeanor, not a felony), 3) If there was an elaborate cover-up with Beau (eg. money involved or other favors), then Sam needs to go and I would support JO’s decision and would hope the door did hit him in the ass on the way out.

I would bet the general overtone of the posters on this discussion thread would be a lot different as well. The gay community would probably be supporting the decision if Kroger found a lot of wrong doing. But, please! Just wait until that happens.

Ed Garren (#152) is absolutely correct. Sam was probably scared about saying anything. It does not absolve him of lying, but let’s face it: gay men are still at risk. I bet half of his reason for lying is that he did not want to reinforce that old stereotype. I will not shed a tear, though if Ball decides to sue Sam.

Now for all of you “well, what am I supposed to do if a cute 17-18 year old wants to have sex with me” types. If your job consists of hauling boxes onto a truck or scanning canned vegetables at Fred Meyer, knock yourselves out! If, however, you are planning on running for mayor, simply keep it in your pants! If anyone honestly thinks an 18 year old kid (no matter how much he is told not to tell anyone) can keep the fact that he had sex with a mayor of a big city, well that pretty much means you live in Failtown. Population: You!

285 blest // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:04 pm

It was not that long ago that a politician would have had to lie about being gay. It is amazing to me how demonizing the public is to sex acts that it considers unacceptable. Eighteen is old enough to drive a car, vote, smoke a cigarette and kill another human in a war, it is certainly old enough to choose ones sexual partners. What happend between Mayor Adams and Mr Breedlove is none of our business. I am completely disappointed in the Just Outs reactionary call for resignation. Mayor Adams’ lie did not get us embroiled in a war that killed thousands of innocents, nor did it hide spying on our fellow citizens, nor did it cover up illegal torture of prisoners. Where was the Just Out’s call for resignation when those lies came to light? It’s time to get over your puritanical moralizing and realize the damage that your call has done to this city and the LGBTQ community that resides within it.

286 Steve // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:05 pm

Thanks dq #274. I agree. As a Gay man I am disappointed in Sam Adams. I won’t attend any rally for him just because he’s gay. I would not vote for anyone, gay or straight, who lies because of political expediency and who – as a 42 y/o public servant – mentors a 17 y/o, has sex with them the moment they’re 18 and then asks them to lie also. We can do better.

287 Q_cyclist // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:09 pm

Oh, and JO: I was thinking about maybe heading downtown tomorrow night. Am I still going to see those coasters as I referred to in my first previous post? (#44)

288 Pangloss // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:10 pm

“It appears that many in the gay community want a double standard.”

Anyone who remains in support of Sam but would not be supportive of him if Beau were female, please raise your hand.

“Our gay media’s preoccupation with young males needs to end.”

Maybe you should be addressing the straight community with that imperative? There is no shortage of “barely legal” sites filled with forty-something guys boning 18-yo women.

This Disney-fied neutering of teen sexuality is simple puritanism and it deserves no place in politics.

289 Faithful Queer // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:10 pm

:::sigh:::

These past couple of days I have had many thoughts about this situation regarding Mayor Sam Adams. Reading the many postings on Just Out and the Advocates blogs has been very interesting and disappointing. I think the personal attacks towards Marty Davis and the Just Out editorial board has been childish, but this is something that has been going on for many years and I am sure not soon to stop. What ever your issues are with Just Out, please remember this is the only thing we have to lean on in Portland for Queer news. Even if much of it has little to do with Portland. Though I often just flip through the pages of Just Out and it is soon in the recycling bin, I am thankful there is a voice and a place for voices from Oregon to be heard.

But, after much thought, I would like to take back my opinion, and earlier posting, that Mayor Adams should resign. His sex life is his own business, something he should have said from the very beginning. Instead his choice was to lie, ask others to lie for him and smear the name of those who in the very beginning were telling the truth. This is something I will have a VERY difficult time forgetting or forgiving. Mayor Adams will have to do a hell of a lot to regain that trust in me and so many others. However, looking at his past work for Portland is something I cannot forget and my personal encounters with him have for the most part been very positive. Each time I truly felt his passion for a better Portland. And before this story went out of control, just after he took office, he was there ready to give Portland 100%. With that, though still holding onto a very strong negative towards him that he will have to work even harder to improve, I want Sam Adams to remain as our mayor. Not our gay mayor, but the mayor of the city of roses.

It’s going to be a struggle for him to improve his trust in people, gay or straight, but if he gives that the same energy he has always given to the city of Portland, I think he will do just fine. With some reservations, I will support Sam Adams as our mayor and I hope Just Out, the Oregonian and others will try to do the same. Portland, like the rest of the country, is hurting and we need the positive strong energy of everyone who is willing to work to overcome what we have been left with thanks to Bush and Potter. Honestly, I cannot think of anyone better for the job than Mayor Sam Adams.

My husband and I cannot attend the scheduled rally in support of Mayor Adams, but we will surely be there in spirit and positive thought.

Now, can we please move on to repair the damage this situation has done and come together as a community? The extremely strong negatives people hold against Marty Davis and Just Out cannot be resolved with cruel personal attacks. Just Out is all we have, unless someone else starts their own Portland Queer newspaper. I hope Marty will open the doors to Just Out and allow all views, opinions, thoughts and inspirations into the newspaper. As I stated in an earlier posting … … … one voice CAN make a difference. Lets make that one voice be all of ours in creating a better Portland, a better Just Out and a better personal self.

290 Mature Bill // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:17 pm

Posters on this blog who support Adams’ unseemly behavior should read the posts on The Advocate website. There is little sympathy for Adams from gays throughout the country. They see it as it is … very disappointing behavior from a man who represents us all.

291 Q_cyclist // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:44 pm

Mature Bill: Well, I looked at the Advocate’s site and saw one story with 18 comments. What article are you looking at? And, of those 18 comments, I think I read about 5 or 6 that seemed to really scream “RESIGN!”

As far as the Advocate, it is nothing more but a slick-ass, corporate magazine that cares more about advertisements and deciding who we should think is cute/hot/sexy than reporting news. Just Out represents my views better than it does.

292 gerryblakney // Jan 22, 2009 at 1:57 pm

I went to the Advocate story again.

There were 19 comments and 7 were from Portlanders, 1 person from Eugene. That is 11 from people across the country (dublin?). And out of the 19 comments, maybe 9 are in opposition of Mayor Adams, which means 10 are at least willing to let an investigation take place first… Good one Bill (#289), they are REALLY seeing it as it is.

293 Fenrox // Jan 22, 2009 at 2:23 pm

Woah guys, you are like 30 years to late to join the GLA, but feel free to splash your drama where you see fit, the big kids are gonna towel off and get to work.

294 Tab // Jan 22, 2009 at 2:25 pm

Mature Bill lies.

He states: Posters on this blog who support Adams’ unseemly behavior should read the posts on The Advocate website. There is little sympathy for Adams from gays throughout the country. They see it as it is … very disappointing behavior from a man who represents us all.

I just went to the Advocate blog. You’re lying -again.

This is my 2nd call for you to resign from this blog immediately.

295 Keep it real // Jan 22, 2009 at 2:27 pm

Faithful Queer, I appreciate your optimism but Davis has repeatedly divided the community. I am finished with the paper once and for all. I was barely getting over the racist comments that she seemed to make on a regular basis.

Oh and come off of it, we all know that the “editorial board” is simply Davis pulling the puppet strings of her staff. She rules with an iron fist and they are her puppies. Check out the Bureau of Labor for a list of her poor labor practices (including screaming, throwing things, and not paying her staff).

If we are going to question who we put in power we should first look at Just Out.

296 John // Jan 22, 2009 at 2:36 pm

I’m very disappointed in Just-Out’s decision to condemn Sam Adams. He has not been indicted, charged or convicted of any crime…

I think that it is perfectly reasonable for someone in any position, public or private to lie about a lawful sexual relationship precisely because it is NOBODY else’s business.

Didn’t you learn anything from the Monica Lewinsky debacle?

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