Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber submitted his resignation Feb. 13, just one month into his record fourth term in office—and that move has made Secretary of State Kate Brown the first bisexual governor in the United States, The Atlantic noted.
The resignation will take effect Wed., Feb. 18.
Kitzhaber’s fate was all but sealed Feb. 12, after Brown issued a statement describing his behavior as “bizarre,” and top Democrats called on him to step down.
Brown, married to a man, studied environmental law at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, and was born in Spain. She will serve until 2016, when an election will be held to serve out the remainder of Kitzhaber’s term, which ends in 2019.
In a statement, Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said, “Few are better prepared to lead the great state of Oregon than Kate Brown. She’s a known commodity to Oregonians with a distinguished record of service of over two decades. And while she’ll make history as the nation’s first sitting LGBT governor, the more important truth is that she’s supremely capable of leading the state to better days ahead.”
The original article is at www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/02/kate-brown-americas-first-openly-bisexual-governor-oregon-John-Kitzhaber/385496/.