Congratulations!
Filed under: Gay Gay Gay > Politik
We're gonna have to plan a trip to Portland real soon!
Hottie commissioner Sam Adams was elected mayor of Portland on Tuesday, in an easy victory over businessman Sho Dozono.
Adams' win makes him the first openly gay mayor of a major U.S. city.
"I'm running not to be a gay mayor, but a great mayor," he said after delivering his victory speech. "But I'm very cognizant, very aware that I'm the first openly gay mayor of a major American city. That's a real honor."
Now, hopefully we can overturn Oregon's IDIOTIC ban on gay marriage, and Sam can lead the fight for equality!
Congrats.
Posted: May 21, 2008 at 9:30 am
What's also important is that he majorly smashed a potential controversy last summer. One mayoral contendor "hinted" that Adams had an inappropriate relationship with a male high school intern. Thankfully, this idiotic claim was dismissed by all of Portland as soon as it was reported. Yah for Sam Adams!
Re: pdx lady –
if that's what you think, start writing his office right now and tell him exactly how you feel. get involved. you and i both probably need to wean ourselves off this site. but who am i kidding! seriously–don't hate the guy, but become a bee in his bonnet instead. i know he'll be great and you're right, the east side needs much more help than the west side. i live in NE myself, so I see it.
Me and my partner voted for ADAMS,
although having seen him in person
dozens of times he is SO NOT HOT!
Re: Cara –
st off sweetheart Sam NEVER ran on "those" issues. It is well known that he is openly gay simply for the fact that he has held public office (Portland City Council) for over 10 years. In case you didn't (or couldn't) read his quote he says point blank that he ran to be a GREAT mayor not a GAY mayor. Take a little time out from your homophobic ways and open up your mind a little. I hope you don't live anywhere near Portland, we don't need your kind of intolerance here!
Re: STAYING ON THE WASHINGTON SIDE –
PLEASE stay in "the Couve" We don't want you over here anyway. Keep your backwoods hillbilly ways and we'll keep our openly progressive politics!
Re: wanna-be = oregonian (part 2) –
oh dear oh dear oh dear. GOOD. you're gone. you had too many expectations anyway. while I did laugh out loud at the purple/magenta thing, your assessment is entirely based on probably 5% of the population that is between 19 and 22 years old and pretty much exactly like you describe. However, I moved here from Texas long ago and have never regretted it. I've met amazing people, artists, went to school, learned a lot about myself, etc. Portland's not for everyone, but your complaints are so narrow and specific, it only shows how rigid your expectations must have been. Lighten up, loosen up. And you are totally wrong about this town closing down at 5. Yeah it gets pretty quiet at night, but that means it's easier and more fun to ride a bike around! Hey, maybe you didn't have a bike! That would've changed your whole outlook I'm sure.
Re: gthomas –
actually its 23%. (sunk hard after his comments in Israel, no surprise there)
only 8 months left.
I hope we all make it that long.
Thank you Lina, I was about to add that Mayor Cicilline of Providence, RI has been an openly gay mayor for a long time now, as I'm sure there have been others before this guy.
Why not post something that's actually researched for once?
HE'S THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MAYOR FOR A MAJOR CITY.
Providence is large but NOT as large as Portland.
Dallas didn't have an openly gay mayor either.
Re: Erica –
Good stay on your damn side.
You have to pay taxes for retail purchases.
We'll keep our cheap shit to ourselves. Thanks :]
Portland is the largest city in North America with an openly gay mayor (elect). Less than half a dozen cities (with over 100K people) in the world have openly gay mayors: Paris, Berlin, Hamburg, Providence RI, and now Portland OR!
Jealousy is a terrible thing, bitches:)
David Cicillini in Providence Rhode Island was the first openly gay mayor elected.
ONCE AND FOR ALL EVERYONE………..
MAJOR = MAJOR
Providence RI is NOT a MAJOR City. It's a large/small city. Does Prov RI have over 500K peeps? Nope!
Plus, we have a gay mayor named after a great beer. 2 titles!!!
Get over it. Portland is MAJOR (yes, not like SF or NY - THANK GOD!) and we wear the crown….ta da:)
Yeah I definitely thought Harvey Milk was the first…and thats why he was killed……………..I live in SF.
FACT CHECK:
As many others have noted, Adams isn't the first openly gay mayor of major U.S. city. He is the third. David Cicilline was first, Toni Atkins was second. Providence is a state capital, which makes it a major U.S. city. Atkins was appointed mayor of San Diego for a short time. They're both major cities.
Portland IS, however, the largest U.S. city to ever elect an openly gay mayor. That's a true statement that no one can argue with.
Also, Harvey Milk was never mayor. He was a supervisor.
Cambridge and Tempe might be awesome cities, but very few people would call them "major" given their populations.
Dallas hasn't had an openly gay mayor and Florida hasn't had an openly gay governor. No one has had an openly gay governor. McGreevey was gay, but he came out after he was elected as he resigned.
This "argument" is all about being specific and meaning exactly what you say.
And I'm from Portland — yay for us!!!!!
Re: carl – Totally! Sam is not only handsome and the "first openly gay mayor of a 'major' city" but he is SMART and INNOVATIVE and has a plan for Portland that is an international model for a green, livable city. Look at the work is already doing as Commissioner: www.commissionersam.com
Re: lina – It says major city,as in the biggest and most populated ones in the US. I don't think Providence is that major.
Re: shannon –
Shannon, "right" is a direction, "write" is what you do with a pen or on a gossip site. Also, when you wrote, "Just because your GAY…", you should have written, "Just because you're GAY…" "Your" indicates possession while "you're" means you are, as in, "Just because you are GAY…" I can't change your ignorant thoughts but maybe someone can help your ignorant grammar.
David Cicilline: Mayor of Providence RI is openly gay. Know your gay factoids, Perez!
As a Mexican politician I must say I loved his campaign and I hope one day here in Mexico we can have elections like those where you can judge someone for his ideas and not for his personal life.
Mr. Adams is a big inspiration not only for his sexual orientation, but for his conviction of improving the place he’s in charge of, and making it “move forward”
Re: THANK GOD FOR AIDS – fuck yourself thank god for aids you fucking cunt no one likes the westboro baptist church, they are the real ones who will rot in hell
Check your reading. He said of a MAJOR American city, not any city.
Re: SG –
While a lovely man and true leader, Harvey Milk was elected as a city Supervisor not Mayor of San Francisco.
Portland! Holler!
I certainly hope he is a mayor for ALL the people and not just the gays. I'm sick of the gay agenda. The world does not revolve around them regardless of what they think.
GROSS. gays should not be allowed to marry!
Uh Perez…check your gay facts….Mayor Cicilline of Providence RI is a two term mayor and in fact was the first openly gay mayor of major city..not this dude.
First the Obama Waterfront rally, Now Sam winning mayor. These last couple days have been amazing. I love Portland!
Perez if you come to Portland you gotta come in the summer otherwise the weather is pretty rainy.
Re: STAYING ON THE WASHINGTON SIDE –
Until Christmas rolls around and you want to buy presents with no sales tax!
BIOTCH!
Sam Adams has worked in Portland's city government for nearly 15 years and has YET to stand out on any important issues, including gay marriage (he was elected as a city commissioner during the same election Oregon voted for a ban on gay marriage…with no stand from Adams). And…he's an asshole bully.
Re: red –
i can barely believe i'm responding to a post this far into it. but there is not a "gay" agenda.
THERE
IS
NOT
A
GAY
AGENDA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what there
IS
shit-for-brains
is an EQUALITY agenda. GLBT's bringing their sexuality up in the face of DISCRIMINATION is a way to point out a problem so that in the future (hopefully a very near one) it is NOT A PROBLEM. Ones' abilities and successes are NOT RELATED TO SEXUAL ORIENTATION. One should not be discriminated against for private, biological aspects of their lives. Once we as a country get over this STUPID STUPID SENSELESS IRRELEVANT BIGGOTRY, then no one will have to mention it EVER AGAIN and everyone can get on with their lives.
!!!
for fuck's sake. arent' there more important things to worry about than who other people sleep with and, oh, i don't know, LOVE.
.
.
.
ah. now I get it. you biggots and haters simply aren't getting any! not from boys, not from girls, not from anybody. Maybe if you were nicer, someone would be nice to you and maybe kiss you and maybe fuck you sweetly and thoroughly and maybe want to spend a lot of time with you, maybe the rest of their life. give it a try, homophobes. you might like it.
Perez you should forsure come visit Portland…you have so many fans here that would like to meet you!
Gay or not, hopefully he's a hell of a lot better as a Mayor then Potter was
gotta luv our little hippyville…this goes out to all other portlanders: i am proud of our city. very proud.
Re: kind of almost – see, i told you these Oregonians are bike-obssessed. And they hide behind a phony, "housewife-sounding" cheery tone. Barf.
anyway, my expectations were not too high. the buildings, gardens and beauty of the land made me exceptionally forgiving of people's short-comings in portland. it took a lot of bullshit for me to finally say fuck this. AND THE PEOPLE ARE EXACTLY LIKE I DESCRIBED THEM…IF YOU DO NOT BELIEVE ME MS. "OH DEAR, OH DEAR…"–GO TO THIS WEBSITE: www.knick-knack.com/rants/places/portland-oregon-sucks.html
i am not the only one who has noticed oregonians are douche bags, sorry. LOL
Re: STAYING ON THE WASHINGTON SIDE –
Glad to hear one less Washington license plate will be blocking us Oregonians who know how to drive. Stay on your own side of the river & stop using our city to evade you sales tax!
For all of you so concerned about checking facts – check this!
As listed in the 2006 census
Portland = #31 city at 537,081
Providence = #128 city at 175,255
If our little capitol of Salem (population 152,239) elected a gay mayor we would proudly & loudly announce the 2nd State Capitol to elect a gay mayor. Instead, we are the FIRST MAJOR CITY to elect one. Common definitions of MAJOR US cities include top 40 (check!) or over 500K (check!)
Congrats to everyone strong enough serve any city as the proud gay out mayor!!
We Portland queers LOVE our Sam! (Almost as much as we love Perez!)
For serious, Perez, come visit our bad-ass town! You can totally stay at my house!
Re: you know i am right –
i can't believe I'm doing this. i should be out or going to bed or something.
.
sigh.
.
however. i DID look at that site. i DID find it very interesting. in all honesty, I am planning to leave by the end of summer, reluctantly, because I have had a horrible time trying to find work and was offered a job back in Texas! But I will leave with a heavy heart because I do love it here, I've been here for almost 13 years. And it HAS changed greatly since then. So many of those comments–and yours–were hyperbolic and exaggerated, exactly what rants should be. But so many were in defense of Portland's great qualities.
.
sigh again.
.
methinks Portland is a Gemini. Two-sided personality, you never know which one you're really with, others see in completely different ways.
IT IS NOT AN IDIOTIC BAN……IT IS JUST "YOUR OPINION" THAT IT IS AN IDIOTIC BAN……BUT THAT'S BECAUSE YOU ARE AN IDIOT.
:)-
Re: STAYING ON THE WASHINGTON SIDE – I'm sure you will be missed…….stupid cunt!
Re: Disturbed –
Except straight people aren't a minority. When blacks were first getting voting rights and civil rights, would you have said the same thing to them when they wanted to celebrate a small victory?
Harvey Milk was not the mayor, he was a city supervisor. Don't correct someone when you don't know the facts yourself.
Yes, the mayor of Providence should get some credit but we are talking about MAJOR cities here. Your New Yorks, L.A.s, D.C.s, Bostons, etc.
Re: shannon –
First of all, learn better grammar/spelling. Write/Right is a 2nd grade mistake.
Secondly you can skip all the gay posts if you don't want to read them or — I know this is shocking– just stop reading the site. It is his site, he has every right (
Oregon doesn't have a ban on gay marriages anymore.
uh I live in Providence RI and we have an openly gay mayor…and what about harvey milk….wasn't he the first openly gay mayor?? what the fuck is with calling him the first openly gay mayor
PROVIDENCE, RI…we have the first openly gay mayor, and it's actually a state capital compared to Portland, OR.
Yay steps to equality, I wish we could all realize how we are all people looking for luv, and for some it is a little different in technicalities (when it comes to the wild thing and all), but ultimately the same emotions, and dont we all want to give and receive love, why must some be persecuted for it because it is not your ideal version.
Congrats to Mayor Adams! I'm so proud to be from Portland! Not only do we have the first openly gay mayor of a *TOP 40 US CITY* we also had the largest rally for a presidential candidate so far in this campaign, with 75,000 people showing up to cheer Barack Obama on to victory. Go Portland! Obama 08!
What about Mayor Cicilline from Providence, RI? He's been an openly gay mayor for about 5 years?? Congrats to Mr. Adams
That's great to hear. I live in Paris in France and our mayor is very open about being gay, he even chose to live in an apartment in the gay quarter of paris rather than in the offical mayor's residence! He's also always present for the gay pride parade here.
Hello Perez:
FYI: Mayor Stephen R. Reed, an openly 'gay man', has been Mayor of Harrisburg, PA (the capital of Pennsylvania) for the past 26 years. He was first elected in 1982 at the age of 32 and he has been re-elected 6 times since. Also, the Rabbi of the largest Reform Temple in Harrisburg (Ohav Shalom), is a former actor and comic and openly gay, lives with his architect partner and they have an adopted daughter. Bet you never knew Pennsylvania was so open, eh?
Re: oh dear oh dear – okay, oh dear…now i feel bad. you do seem nice. i wish i could have found more friends in portland, at the time. but if you think my traveling friends and i all stuck together and never tried, you would be mistaken…we really tried…all of us. and we were from all over the place…nyc, san diego, small town florida, texas, TN, Canada, washington DC…OMFG we hated it. we felt like refugees.
Re: oh dear oh dear – we were the most unlikely group of displaced individuals–ranging in age, accents and political beliefs…but every time we'd try to forage portland friends we were always getting lectured, or worse people would be rude to our faces and then act phony, as if we didn't notice what dicks they were being–we were like,"hello, motherfuckers? we see you shooting bitchy looks to your friends…we ARE right here…" pdx was this parallel universe where no one could deal directly with one another–like the twilight zone. no one confronts–they just seeth and harbor resentment for the most frivolous things. everyone seemed so sheltered and they were like the "emotion police"–even if i joked with one of my friends, it could be perceived as "too much energy"–all things had to be phrased in a "positive way." instead of saying "shit, my shirt is on fire!" it had to be phrased in a careful, controlled, tone–like,"oh, my…do i smell smoke?" fucking ridiculous. it felt so oppressive. now that i am out–i cannot resist mocking portland. sorry. i know moving sucks. you can always go back…but not for me! LOL
Re: Whamo – THEN DON'T COME BACK FUCKWAD!
Re: okay, i appreciate your patience (part 2) –
i had a feeling you might post again, and don't feel bad. The more I think about the past 2 years here vs. the first 11, well, you really aren't too far off in terms of "emotion police" policy. For me it has rarely been about my peers and friends, who are great (and ALSO MOVING AWAY?!?!), but about my employers. I've been fired in my life, I've walked out of jobs, I've been laid off, and I've left jobs because of school, etc., but never EVER in my life have I been let go of jobs (twice in the past year) for having not exactly a "bad" attitude, but the "wrong kind" of attitude (i.e., being direct, honest, smart, strong personality, better at what my job was than my superiors were…). Here is a fine example of what I'm talking about: go to eleek.com and look under the heading "about eleek" then "work at eleek" I'm sure it will make you vomit on your keyboard. Notice all the self-righteousness and rigidity about attitude. One little misunderstanding from these people and I was out. ANYHOO, if I had met you, maybe we would have been friends. You seem pretty direct and your descriptions, I can't help saying, are hilarious and pretty much exactly right (the purple/magenta thing…it plays as a short little comedy in my mind). Maybe I'm a convert now. almost.
fuck yeah lina! i say providence is waaay majorer than portland!!!!!!!
i bet cicilline out parties adams any day too!!!
lets hear it for the 4-0-1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congrats!!! But i doubt he's the first! Still i feel its a great victory!!!
Actually, Christopher Cabaldon of West Sacramento in California is also openly gay…and latino-ishy HoTT!
Re: oh dear oh dear – hey, sorry–missing in action–didn't check back for a while…okay, i went to your ex-employer's website. first, one look at that picture of your fellow co-workers made me laugh out loud. (i hope you are not in picture, if so, sorry for the next comment). They look like neutered cattle. Next, the job description? Priceless. It's exactly the kind of bullshit no one deserves. You are so much better off, without that place. They did you a huge favor, by letting you go. you should be in a place where you are appreciated. you know, it made me wonder if they found that job description on "craig's list"–under the roommate section, because that was the first place i started to notice similiar demands–the whole preferential treatment for people who ride bikes or vegans or whatever the fuck. the funny thing is…i am extremely liberal, in my politics and behavior…my sister is an organic farmer, i love to bike, i'll probably buy a hybrid car, blah, blah, blah–but what i could not stand in PDX was the constant preaching and assumption that i was guilty, until proven inocent…or that most of the people judging me tweeked their behavior and ideas just to be obnoxious and hypocritical to others. that's how i became bitter about the place.
Re: oh dear oh dear – good luck with your move. i know saying good-bye to friends is sad, so i know the transition takes time…but if this post makes you feel better, allow me to say…you will be better in the long run. Why? a.) you will see the sun more. ’nuff said. b.) you will be allowed to be yourself, in your own space–more often. what i mean is, you will have less people ganging up on you as "the outsider." Portlanders are so proud of their little town that they have this unstoppable "group think" mentality. be glad you will be leaving the "church" of Oregonia. c.) if you miss it, you can return…but give something new a chance…like a good year. d.) job market is really limiting. i've been the starving artist, etc.–but it gets old. especially when you think of having children. don't give up on your passion, whatever it may be–but be clever. find a job that gives you what you need…resources, flexiblity, a nice work environment, along with being something you love…there are still jobs out there.
Re: oh dear oh dear – While PDX shattered my illusions of finding some kind of liberal oasis, in the middle of corporate mall complexes across the country…it did sharpen my instincts and make me realize: i must truly feel comfortable in an environment, and simultaneously, get involved and create my own luck. also, there are trade-offs. for instance, it is more important for me to be able to speak my mind, then it is to live in a pretty house, with rose garden, with people who try to socially gag me. NYC can be dirty, dangerous and cramped–but at least i can filter through the masses and find people who "get" me. ask yourself what is most important to you, and then follow your instict. time ticks away–and you deserve to be in the best possible place for yourself. trial and error is fine, as long as you get closer to where you should be. take care and good luck, from the little pdx-hater. lol
I hope you check in at least one one more time. you are awesome! Those are just kind of words I need to hear nowadays, all of them. I am feeling less and less apprehensive about leaving, not just from a totally cool pep-talk from a total stranger, but from the opportunity in Texas becoming more formalized… and I KNEW you would "get it" about the job ad!!! No shit, right?! Fortunately I am not in that picture, a few of those guys are gone now anyway and a few more were hired, but it is that small, and yes, even though I had a great amount of respect for some of them as artisans, I guess they were kind of like "neutered cattle" (chuckle) because they complacently put up with all kinds of hypocritical b.s. in order to keep their jobs. the employers boasted of openness and collectivity (and some REALLY bogus "sustainable" practices), but everyone knew (except me, of course) that to speak up or act "normal" in any way would get you the boot. I'm not the only one it happened to! Jeez. Are you in NYC? That's kind of kookoo because one of my near and dears moved back there last year (she's orig. from Jersey) and does not regret it. Yes, she misses the prettiness and pleasantness, but she basically gave me the same spiel about jobs and people.
partII
i am going to go out on a limb–do you want to stay in touch? as a pen-pal of sorts? great minds think alike, they say. I have no problem putting down my "anonymous" email address, no one else is reading down this far down and back anyway. its wiretapthisyo@yahoo.com. Since I have "people" in new york now, I know I'll be going there someday, and it's always good to meet new people! if that's too weird, well, it's been really great "talking" to you about all this. your observations have been totally enlightening and enjoyable!