



SEATTLE -- The Seattle LGBTQ Commission on Monday called for the resignation of Mayor Ed Murray amid allegations of child sex abuse which he has repeatedly denied.



Murray, facing new calls to step down, declared last week that “I am not going to resign” and that he plans to serve out the months remaining in his term.



The LGBTQ commission is an advisory body that is appointed by the mayor's office and city council to advise the city on decisions and issues that impact the LGBTQ community.









Here's a portion of the statement from the commission (read the full letter here):



"Due to allegations and mounting evidence that Murray has repeatedly engaged in sexual abuse of minors, we believe that he should no longer serve as the leader of the City of Seattle. Lloyd Anderson, Jeff Simpson, Maurice Levon Jones, and Delvonn Heckard have all come forward with their personal experiences of abuse and evidence has recently emerged illustrating that Murray did abuse Simpson.



"In addition to the evidence regarding deeply grave sexual abuse, we believe Murray`s response has been harmful and inappropriate, particularly to LGBTQ individuals, survivors of sexual abuse, and individuals with criminal history. Murray has responded to the allegations by invoking the accusers` criminal records as proof of their unreliability.



"We affirm that survivors of sexual assault must be believed and honored, no matter their identity or social standing."



Just minutes after the commission's announcement, four former Seattle mayors said they believe the mayor should finish his term (read the full letter here):





“We firmly believe Mayor Murray should continue to lead the city through the remainder of his term. A transition merely months before electing a new mayor would be messy and time consuming, and would present serious challenges to the day-to-day operations of the city. As former mayors, we know transitions are long, difficult, and important processes, which is why Mayor Murray and his team have already begun the job of preparing for the new mayor to be sworn in next year.”






The former mayors who signed the letter include Charley Royer, Norm Rice, Greg Nickels and Wes Uhlman.



Lorena Gonzalez, who last week suggested Murray should consider stepping down, moved away from that plan on Monday:









This is a developing story and will be updated.