On Wednesday, Time Magazine announced that its 2017 Person of the Year was not one person but a group of people the magazine calls "Silence Breakers." These mainly women but some men too, are all people who came forward this year and told their stories of sexual violence and harassment, in industries from film to media to government.

And on that list is an Oregon state senator, Sara Gelser, a Democrat from Corvallis who has served in the Legislature since 2007.

In October, Gelser came forward with her story that another senator, Jeff Kruse, a Republican from Roseburg who has served since 1997, had been inappropriately touching her for years, even after she reported his behavior to the Legislature's human resources and legal staff.

Gelser is featured in one of the images in the Time's story. Click on the image and you see her story.

"We can't pick and choose based on whose political beliefs we believe in," the magazine quotes Gelser as saying. "And that means we have to be willing to speak out when it's a member of our own party."

On Wednesday, Gelser tweeted about the Time story, saying, "What an honor to be included, and I hope that women and men in every profession know this is their time to be heard."

Time Magazine did an extraordinary job with this piece. What an honor to be included, and I hope that women and men in every profession know this is their time to be heard. No more silence. There is no shame in telling your story. #orpol #orleg https://t.co/RSC8HYd6cc — Sara Gelser (@SenSaraGelser) December 6, 2017

-- Lizzy Acker

503-221-8052

lacker@oregonian.com, @lizzzyacker