https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la- ... story.html
But now, amid new allegations of sexual harassment against Duran by members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, some West Hollywood residents and politicians are saying enough is enough and that times have changed. Three of the city’s five council members have called on Duran to resign, saying he has become a distraction.
Protesters are planning to converge on the City Council meeting Tuesday to call for Duran’s ouster and seek action in another scandal: the recent deaths of two gay black men in the West Hollywood apartment of Ed Buck, a white, wealthy Democratic donor and LGBTQ activist. For several years, Duran worked as an attorney for Buck.
Last week, Robert Oliver resigned as vice chair of the city’s Public Safety Commission in protest after other commissioners declined to condemn Duran.
“It is time that the #MeToo movement comes to West Hollywood,” he said.
Duran, 59, has refused to step down, describing himself as a proudly sensual gay man who lived through a sexual revolution colliding against a prudish #MeToo movement that’s too quick to judge. Bawdiness is just part of who he’s always been, Duran said, and he’s not going to change now.
“There’s a culture clash going on,” the mayor said. “If somebody expresses himself or herself sexually, that doesn’t make it harassment, per se.”
“People are thinking that anything sexual is harassment because somebody feels it is unwelcome, but you have to open your mouth and say, ‘No, I don’t want this.’ … Otherwise, how are any of us able to navigate the sexual politics of 2019? I just think there are bigger, more complex issues at play, that everyone needs to take a timeout and slow down. It can’t be accusation equals guilt.”
Three current or former members of the Gay Men’s Chorus have accused Duran, the longtime board chairman, of crude sexual comments and engaging in unwanted touching.