Jim West
In 2004, reporters discovered that Spokane, Washington Mayor James West, divorced and a 20-year veteran of state government, maintained an active profile on the website Gay.com through which he had various relationships and courted young men. Then in 2005, he was alleged to have molested members of his Boy Scout troop, charges West denied and which were never substantiated. While serving in Washington state's Legislature in 1986, West was a co-sponsor of a bill to ban gay men and lesbians from working at schools or daycare centers, part of a larger record of opposing gay rights. West was also accused of using his position as mayor of Spokane to try to entice men into sex with him, awarding government jobs and gifts to men he was interested in. He left office in disgrace after city residents voted overwhelmingly to recall him as mayor, spoke about his early homosexual experiences, and died of cancer in 2006. West had unsuccessfully proposed a law banning all sexual activity among unmarried persons under the age of 18, and as a state senator in 1995, he advocated the impeachment of Gov. Mike Lowry for alleged sexual harassment. West explained his support for laws unfavorable to gays on the Today Show in May 2005 by saying, "If someone hires you to paint their house red, then you paint it red. Even if you think it would look better green."
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