PORTLAND, Ore., Jan. 19 (UPI) -- The openly gay mayor of Portland, Ore., Monday acknowledged he lied about a sexual relationship with an 18-year-old in 2005 but said he would not resign.
Mayor Sam Adams told The (Portland) Oregonian he lied about the relationship as he campaigned for mayor and also urged the young man to lie. Adams, who is in Washington for the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama and a mayors' conference, told the newspaper he made a mistake in refusing to acknowledge the relationship when reporters asked him about it in September 2007.
"I apologize to Portlanders for lying to them," he told the newspaper.
The young man was identified as Beau Breedlove, who was 17 and an intern for a member of the Oregon Legislature when he and Adams met. Adams, 42 at the time, was a Portland city commissioner and openly gay.
Breedlove eventually asked Adams for counsel on coming out of the closet in politics, The Oregonian said. Adams says he was briefly involved with Breedlove after the young man turned 18 in June 2005, but he admits lying about the affair as he began his campaign for mayor -- which he won in a landslide.
"I didn't get into public life to allow my instinct to help others to be snuffed out by fear of sleazy misrepresentations or political manipulation," Adams wrote in a letter to Portlanders. "I understand the need for good judgment, and I work very hard to keep within the bounds of propriety -- as I did in this case."
A Portland Police Bureau said authorities "would be willing to look at any evidence that is brought to our attention" if they receive a complaint in the matter.
