Sam Adams Makes History in Progressive Portland

Portland, Oregon is now the largest U.S. city with an openly gay Mayor!

Mayor Sam Adams was sworn into office at 12:01 a.m. on New Year’s Day 2009. Dozens of people including his mother and partner were in attendance for the ceremony.

Adams took the position when he won the primary race seven months ago with a very large 58 percent of the vote.

One of the greatest things about his victory however, was that during the race for Mayor, neither Adams or his opponents raised his sexuality as an issue. Instead, he was simply viewed as a candidate.

Adams stated this demonstrates “how fair-minded Portlanders are.” He said there is much more than hi sexuality driving his political activism. Adams’ working-class background heavily influences his ambitions.

Now this, is inclusion! Way to go Portland!

Larry Craig Loses Attempt to Withdraw Plea

Larry Craig the Idaho Senator has lost his latest attempt to withdraw his guilty plea in the Minneapolis airport men’s room sex sting, the event that has effectively ended his Senate career.

The Minnesota Court of Appeals rejected the Republican’s bid to toss out his disorderly conduct conviction on Tuesday.

Craig can still appeal his case to the Minnesota Supreme Court, and he said Tuesday he was considering future options.

Obama’s Transition Team Includes Several Gays

President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team includes at least seven openly gay people who will serve on panels that review and assign leaders to federal departments and agencies.

Included in the transition panels are businessman Fred P. Hochberg, former San Francisco Supervisor Roberta Achtenberg, and labor attorney Elaine Kaplan.

President Bush’s former ambassador to Romania, Michael Guest, has also been assigned to a transition panel that will review issues pertaining to the State Department. Guest was the nation’s second openly gay ambassador, as Bush appointed him to serve as the Romanian ambassador from 2001 to 2003.

Sean Penn as “MILK” Premiers Today

The highly anticipated film Milk starring Sean Penn will premiere today.

Directed by Academy Award nominee Gus Van Sant, Milk is a biopic of San Francisco gay activist Harvey Milk. Josh Brolin, star of the award-winning Coen brothers film No Country for Old Men, play’s Milk’s nemesis Dan White. James Franco, best known for his role in the Spiderman films, plays Milk’s longterm partner Scott Smith.

Harvey Milk was an American politician who was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Harvey Milk served almost eleven months as city supervisor and was largely responsible for a city-wide gay rights ordinance. On November 27, 1978, Milk and Mayor George Moscone were assassinated by Dan White, another city supervisor who had recently resigned and wanted his job back. Milk has become an icon in the city’s history and a historic figure in the gay rights movement.

GLBT Community Gains 40 Seats This Election

Gay and lesbian political candidates won big this year adding at least 40 seats across the country. On the federal level, the U.S. House of Representatives added their third gay member, Representative-Elect Jared Polis (D-Colorado).

GLBT candidates received major victories on the state level as well with 14 openly gay and lesbian candidates elected in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut.

New York and California elected nine openly gay candidates to statewide office. Arizona added two openly gay members to their state legislature. And the following states saw at least one openly gay candidate win statewide election: Arkansas*, Idaho*, Illinois, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Utah* and Washington.

*Can you believe it?

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