Seattle LGBTQ group: Mayor should resign

SEATTLE — The Seattle LGBTQ Commission on Monday released a letter calling on Mayor Ed Murray to resign now, before his term expires at the end of the year, “due to allegations and mounting evidence that you have repeatedly engaged in sexual abuse of minors.”

But four former Seattle mayors — Wes Uhlman, Charles Royer, Norm Rice and Greg Nickels — released a statement saying Murray should serve out the rest of his term.

The city’s most recent former mayor, Mike McGinn, is running for Seattle’s highest office again this year and has —since May — argued that Murray should step down.

Murray last week said he has no intention of resigning.

A Kent, Washington, man sued the mayor in April, accusing Murray of sexually abusing him in the 1980s, when the man was a teenager. Other men, including one who was Murray’s foster son decades ago, have made similar claims.

Murray has vehemently denied the claims but ended his campaign for a second term in May anyway, calling the allegations too much of a distraction.

The Kent man, Delvonn Heckard, withdrew his lawsuit against the mayor last month, saying he would refile it at a later date. Murray said he felt vindicated by the withdrawal.

But this month, newly released records showed that an Oregon Child Protective Services investigator in 1984 found valid the sexual abuse allegations brought against Murray by his former foster son, Jeff Simpson.

“In addition to the evidence regarding deeply grave sexual abuse, we believe your response has been harmful and inappropriate, particularly to LGBTQ individuals, survivors of sexual abuse and individuals with criminal history,” the LGBTQ Commission, an appointed advisory body, said in its letter.

“You have responded to the allegations by invoking the accusers’ criminal records as proof of their unreliability. We affirm that survivors of sexual assault must be believed and honored, no matter their identity or social standing,” the commission added.

In their statement, Uhlman, Royer, Rice and Nickels said they have been saddened by the allegations against Murray.

“He made the honorable, but personally painful decision to drop out of his re-election campaign, a decision that underscores his commitment to Seattle,” the four said.

“We firmly believe Mayor Murray should continue to lead the city through the remainder of his term.”