We're a pretty gay state.

[Athelwulf]

I've made an observation lately. For DU users not in the know, we have three prominent and openly not straight elected officials in Oregon, and they all make Oregon special. My sources are the Wikipedia articles on the respective named officials.

The first is Portland's mayor-elect, Sam Adams. Not only is he gonna be the first gay mayor of Portland, he is also currently the first openly gay Portland City Council member.

The second is Democratic nominee for Secretary of State, Kate Brown. She's the first female Senate Majority Leader, and also the highest-ranking bisexual politician in the United States.

The third is Virginia Linder, 99th Associate Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. Not only is she the first woman elected, rather than appointed, to the Oregon Supreme Court, she's also the first justice of any state's supreme court to be openly lesbian.

Of course, sexual orientation has no bearing on an elected official's skills. But isn't this totally awesome?!

[swishyfeet]

1. I had no idea Kate Brown was gay until after I voted for her

Cool. I'm glad I made that choice.

[CaptJasHook]

2. I voted for her, too

I'm glad that her orientation wasn't the issue for me. Just her resume and passion for the work.

[Athelwulf]

6. Bi, not gay. Or do I have faulty info?

Brown's Wikipedia article says she is bisexual, and it cites this article from the Bay Area Reporter. Just making sure the record's set straight.

[funflower]

7. She's currently married to a man but had at least one lesbian relationship in the past. n/t

[satyricrash]

3. Uhm...

Well, that's nice, but you paint a rosier picture that what is actually on the canvas. I would hold off on a brag like that until the discrimination written into our constitution regarding gays and lesbians is removed.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

4. It's because

more often than not Oregonians care about what a person is saying rather than with whom they're bunking, which they properly recognize as none of their business (unless of course they have billed themselves as something that they are not).

My friend A. recently moved here from a town where, if there was another lesbian, she was dating her. She moved here with her lifelong pal and straight guy, D. After just a couple of days in town, A. said that she had never seen so many lesbians, to which D. replied, "Yeah, you're probably gonna get laid before I do!"

[Athelwulf]

5. Let's hope it stays that way. n/t

[Karl_Bonner_1982]

8. More and more...

I didn't find out Sam Adams was gay until about a month ago. I had heard the name quite a bit before then however.

I'm not sure whether I voted for Kate Brown...

Maybe this is a good way to go, when an official is openly gay but a lot of us don't find it out for quite a while. Means that the media isn't boohooing over the fact for months and months.