Whether the alleged perpetrator of sexual
assault and/or harassment is President Donald Trump OR Mayor John Duran, this
WeHo’an-American voter believes both men should not be serving in public life.
I regard not their past records of public service as rationale for calling for
their removal from office. No, Mayor Duran and President Trump have served the
interests of their base of constituents / supporters well most of the time.
However, objectivity mandates we must examine their entire record(s). Doing so reveals
they are cut from the same cloth of white-privilege-fueled sexual entitlement
and hedonism.
Since moving to City of West Hollywood 33 months ago, I witnessed the mayor
award a key to the city to a person whose only accomplishment of note is lying
down with the married President of the US. The optics of that visual were
stomach turning. What had Ms. Daniels done for residents of WeHo (like me) to warrant official city time to promote her
t-shirt line? The next appalling news story about Mayor John Duran came when he
justified aggressive sexual behavior between queer men in West Hollywood.
According to an op-ed by Steve Martin published in WEHOville:
“During the Rex trial Duran tried to rationalize his conduct with Owens by telling a slack-jawed jury that his conduct was simply typical gay male behavior and that gay men can’t be held to the same legal sexual harassment standards because we live by different rules…” (Martin, 2018).
Casting we LGBTQ residents as sex-starved
mammals lacking self-control!
Let me be clear, I am not slut-shaming our overtly horny city leader. I am not
being ageist against the current WeHo mayor. I am not judging him. I am
however, acknowledging the damage inflicted on West Hollywood’s internationally
visible image by the unintended narrative associated with Mayor Duran’s
subversive predilections for acting out sexually, regardless of setting. Duran
and Trump both have been caught bragging about their propensity to assault
younger members of the gender they prefer for intimacy. Trump wants to grab
them by the pussy; Duran wants to touch private parts of their bodies without
consent. So too, John and Donald prefer survivors keep their mouths shut, to
the tune of $130,000 or $500,000.
Our City Council has been revealed to look
foolish, especially as Mayor Duran passed a resolution asking Hollywood to
violate laws governing historic landmarks to remove his fellow (alleged) sexual
assaulter’s Hollywood Walk of Fame Star. I see now this has all been a
distraction so we would not see Mayor John Duran’s personal truth.
The current Mayor of West Hollywood AND the current U.S. President’s actions
speak louder than their words. These actions tell of two men whose pasts seem
brighter than the present they’ve each inflicted on their constituents. But, no
more. Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, is our chance to restore the promise under which
West Hollywood was incorporated. Election Day, 11/03/2020 is our chance to
reject the politics of intimidation and the “good ole boys” mentality. My
fellow WeHo’ans and my fellow Americans, we are better than forcing survivors
to regard their “honorable” attackers.
West Hollywood is a sovereign municipality founded to provide shelter to
vulnerable persons that the Reagan administration and the world turned their
backs on. Let us not turn our backs on our citizenry and send a clear message
that all will be respected and protected; regardless of whether or not they are
sexually desirable. I want to hear from you. Visit www.WeHoTim.org,
or message me @WeHoTim on Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat and Twitter and tell me
why you believe it is time to diversify city leadership with new folks who are
willing to preserve, protect and defend
the rights of all.
I lived down the street from John Duran for three years. So, let me tell you what he did for me: (1) The streetlight on the Northwest corner of Cynthia and N. San Vicente Blvd was eroding from dog urine, and I mentioned it casually to John only once before he had it replaced. (2) Athen’s Trash trucks were leaking contaminated fluid all over the streets and crosswalks in the same residential area; it took a while, but John helped to facilitate Athens not only removing that particular trash truck from the street, but bringing in a whole new upgraded… Read more »
A person is who they are not what they are. Without an ethical compass it makes little difference if they are a little green man from Mars.
The black author pointing to “white privilege” conveniently ignores the cases of Bill Cosby, koby Bryant, Va lt govenor Justin Fairfax, and Clarence Thomas, just to name a few.
Agreed
Hey genius, nice try, but the dude is latino.
John Duran is white?
Well I’ve known John Duran for close to thirty years and I will say that our current Mayor has an out-sized sense of entitlement that makes him believe that he is above the normal rules of ethical behavior. It is certainly male privilege if not white male privilege. This is not the John Duran that I meet so long ago but a sad parody.
No one can have too many ethical values or too much humility.
The Reagan administration was 5 Presidents ago…..FYI.
I find the accusation towards John Duran racially insensitive. At the last GMCLA concert he talked about his geneology .. 23&me or one of those.. and he was proud to say he was a proud Latino and a mix of so many cultures including African American and Jewish and Native American and more.
You may call Duran many things but white-privileged cloth is not one of them. If the author is to take the high road he should offer John Duran an apology.
Slight conflict of interest. Author wants to run and is self promoting? Funny this author never mentioned nor has anyone at Weho that since 2016 Duran scandal till recent…havent you noticed #metoo REFUSES TO MARCH AND NO SPEAKERS ??? There is politics…City Council Speakers against Sexual Harassment on loud mics suddenly gone mute…cant be on both sides so simply DO NOT HAVE #METOO MARCH…and not one person in this area will march…so these articles have zero depth…so much more is going on behind the scenes. Images are like ice cream…put it in the pure warm light…it melts and it becomes… Read more »
I understand that the author is running for office and that all is fair in politics…I mean love and war. However, this seems like an attempt to remind us that John Duran enjoys his sexuality. It seems little more than slut shaming, which is why he claimed it isn’t that. Whether Duran has taken advantage of others is probably still more subjective than objective. Also, about the white privilege part, does Duran identify as white? Do others perceive him as white? This is news to me. I think a better tactic would have been to simply state that Duran’s judgment… Read more »
Timothy Williams:
If you think this absurd, shaming, BS article is what will help you get elected here in 2020, think again. You’ve been here less than three years, and believe me, you’re way off base.
If you knew John Duran (which you don’t, I can tell), you’d know that much of the mud you threw at him in this piece is just that. Mud. BS.
Do yourself and all of us a favor. Think, before you write. Know, before you write.
I have never liked John Duran and feel the same way. I am truely hoping that all this negative exposure and the (hopefully) new city council will be the end of his time serving this city.