Openly Gay Oklahoma Mayor Adam Graham Resigned After Only Two Months, Citing Safety Concerns – Them
Weeks after the incident occurred, local media like the local publication OKC Friday, characterized the encounter as a “verbal altercation,” with the local blog The Lost Ogle referring to the run-in as “verbal assault.” Graham disputed that characterization of events, requesting body-cam footage “to show that I was very polite.”
Graham says he has not filed any police reports about the harassment he’s experienced because it would only further escalate the problem.
“I’ve been in a really hard place the last month and a half,” Graham said, mentioning “nasty Facebook messages” and text messages on top of the in-person harassment. “It makes you feel like you’re not wanted in your community. I have been driving out of my own community to get gas, to get food, because I don’t want to be ridiculed or yelled at. I don’t want another coffee thrown on me.”
Homophobic harassment isn’t new to Graham, however. When he announced he was going to run for mayor, he promised to ban conversion therapy and bring public transportation that would connect The Village to Oklahoma City, two issues which he described as “the biggest threat to Nichol Hills.” He says that these campaign promises opened the floodgates. “The moment I made that statement, it’s just been constant,” Graham says. “Everything I do or say — this incident is just what sparked it.”
The harassment campaign against Graham is part of a growing trend of homophobia in politics. Even as more politicians run for local and state office to combat this year’s onslaught of anti-LGBTQ+ bills, only 0.2% of elected officials nationally are LGBTQ+, according to a press release from LGBTQ+ media advocacy organization GLAAD and the Victory Institute, an organization dedicated to electing LGBTQ+ officials.
“Bigoted leaders across the country are stoking the flames of anti-LGBTQ hate that have cascading – and dangerous – consequences for LGBTQ elected officials who are on the front lines defending our rights and freedoms,” said Elliot Imse, Executive Director of the Victory Institute, in a statement. “We are devastated and angry that Mayor Graham faced harassment and physical threats to the point he will no longer serve in public office. No elected leader should ever fear for their physical safety, yet the threats are growing for LGBTQ people, people of color and other marginalized people – and the consequences for our democracy are enormous.”
Even though Graham resigned, his career in politics isn’t done yet. As a long time political consultant for LGBTQ+ candidates in the South, he said that he was “energized to go out there and work for more candidates than ever to make sure that we have good LGBTQ+ people and allies elected to school board and city council seats.”
“School board and city council seats right now are the most important positions in our country,” Graham said. Despite that, a recent report from the Victory Institute found that only 0.1% of school board members in the U.S. are openly LGBTQ+. Meanwhile, conservative organizations like Moms for Liberty are galvanizing their members to run for school board positions.
“I’m using my experience as a political consultant over the last nine years running state races, city council races, congressional races, all the way up and down the ballot to get more gay people elected,” Graham says, “because that’s the only way we fix this.”
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