First bisexual governor

The NY Times reports:

Gov. John Kitzhaber, long regarded as a wily survivor of Oregon politics, resigned Friday amid a spiraling crisis that included a criminal investigation of the role that his fiancée played in his administration and crumbling support from his Democratic Party colleagues.

Since when does a twice-married 68yo governor have a fiancee?

It was a steep and rapid fall for Mr. Kitzhaber, 67, a former emergency room doctor who won an unprecedented fourth term as governor in November. His resignation means that Kate Brown, the Oregon secretary of state and a fellow Democrat, will become governor, in accordance with the succession plan in the state Constitution.

She is a weirdo lesbian; see below.

Even during the recent election, Mr. Kitzhaber had been plagued by questions about his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes, with whom he lives in the governor’s mansion, and whether she had violated ethics rules or criminal laws in advising him about clean energy issues while serving as a consultant on the topic. ...

So he was living in sin at the state governor's mansion. But that is not the scandal of course. The scandal is clean energy advice, whatever that is.

Ms. Brown, who practiced juvenile and family law before entering politics and then served in the state House and Senate, is regarded as a liberal — though that covers a wide range of positions in Oregon.

She is married to a man, but will be the nation’s first openly bisexual governor, according to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. She described her experience coming out as a bisexual in a survey on Outhistory.org, saying, “I believe it was during my early 30s that I figured out who, or what, I am.”

What could be worse -- a Democrat bisexual family court lawyer. How is she bisexual and married to a man? Is she doing women on the side? Is she going to have girlfriends giving her clean energy advice while covering a wide range of positions in the governors mansion?

Mr. Kitzhaber ... becoming a signature presence for a generation of Oregonians — with an urban cowboy style of jeans, boots and a sport jacket with no tie that became a kind of personal brand.

The controversy surrounding Ms. Hayes began last fall when she confirmed a newspaper report that said she had married her third husband, an Ethiopian immigrant, for money in a sham marriage in 1997.

So his fiancee was married to an Ethiopian illegal immigrant!

I have not idea whether anyone is guilty of anything. My point here is only to note how much public marriage has disintegrated. It used to be that a governor would have to have a long-term stable marriage. The nepotism and ethics rules were probably written assuming a clear idea about who is a spouse or relative. They may not have anticipated that a governor would be banging a clean energy consultant in the governor's mansion.

Then there is the sham immigration marriage, and the woman claiming to be a bisexual married to a man. If she is just having sexual relations with her husband, I would call her a hetersexual, but no one wants to be normal anymore. What all these people have in common is a wholesale rejection of traditional marriage.

Here is the twisted view of the new governor, in her own words:

Essay by Kate Brown for Out and Elected in the USA

I believe it was during my early 30’s that I figured out who, or what, I am. But it wasn’t until it was written in the Oregonian newspaper that I was bisexual that I had to face the inevitable and let those around me know. Thus began my very public coming out as a bisexual:

Coming out to my parents – who flew in from Minnesota “to have a talk.” Their response – “It would be much easier for us if you were a lesbian.”  

Coming out to my gay friends – who called me half-queer. 

Coming out to my straight friends – who never thought I could make up my mind about anything anyway.

And, most frighteningly to me:

Coming out to my legislative colleagues. At the beginning of the next legislative session sitting in the House lounge, representative Bill Markham, who is over 70 years old, extremely conservative, and a legislator for more than 20 years comes to join me. Over lunch he looks up to say, “Read in the Oregonian a few months ago you were bisexual. Guess that means I still have a chance?!”

Some days I feel like I have a foot in both worlds, yet never really belonging to either.

This would be too weird for most states, I think. I don't know that last remark was so frightening. If she tells the world she is bisexual, then it should not be surprising that she prompted a wise-crack flirtatious comment.

The LGBTQIA folks like to use this line: "I figured out who, or what, I am." I haven't heard anyone say it about Bruce Jenner yet. Did he suddenly figure out who he has always been? I doubt it.