Seattle City Council member Sally Bagshaw spoke out Friday in support of Mayor Ed Murray, becoming the first council member and the most prominent figure to do so in the wake of Murray being sued for alleged sexual abuse in the 1980s.
The mayor has denied the lawsuit’s allegations and similar claims made by two other men who say they knew Murray when they were growing up in Portland decades ago.
“I have not been very vocal about some of the things that we’ve all been reading about,” Bagshaw said, apparently referring to news reports on the abuse allegations against Murray.
“But I want to recognize this, and I want to tell you this from my heart: We have excellent leaders in this government,” the council member said at a news conference with the mayor.
“I want you to know that I have faith in this mayor. I have faith in his vision. I have faith in his commitment to making the city the best place it can be for all of us,” Bagshaw said.
Bagshaw’s remarks set her apart from other council members. Since the allegations, none of them have publicly backed Murray.
The mayor took some questions about the abuse claims from reporters for the first time Friday, during the news conference in the Chinatown International District.
Asked for proof to support his contention that the suit has been brought for political reasons, Murray said his work on behalf of LGBTQ people now and previously as a state lawmaker has made him a target for anti-LGBTQ activists.
The mayor added, “We have a group of folks connected to a law firm who are leading an effort to undo the most important piece of work I’ve ever done in my life, the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender civil rights bill, by taking the transgender out.”
The founder of a firm handling the suit against Murray, Jack Connelly, has contributed to a campaign seeking to roll back a state rule guaranteeing people access to bathrooms of the gender with which they identify.
