The
long, lurid, sad saga of Spokane mayor Jim West is
over. He has been recalled.
This is a man who was a crusader against gay rights in the state legislature for decades, hiding behind an anti-gay political party and anti-gay organizations like the Boy Scouts, all while using his job to satisfy his own cravings.
This man is a disgrace, but he was the product of a very different era. An era of shame, self-hate, secrets at all costs, an era that his party is desperate to return us to. The media may try their best to make the gay community look bad by association, but he was no part of my community. He never wanted to identify as gay anywhere but between the sheets, or on an Internet chat line.
I hope that whoever replaces him as Spokane mayor at least has some sense of decency and propriety. And I hope the people of that city have learned just how hypocritical these anti-gay crusaders often are, and the price a city pays when they elect these people to a major office.