Name: Shahid Buttar, Nancy Pelosi’s election opponent, accused of sex harassment
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Shahid Buttar, Nancy Pelosi’s election opponent, accused of sex harassment

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A woman who said she has known San Francisco congressional candidate Shahid Buttar for nearly 20 years is accusing him of repeatedly sexually harassing her.Elizabeth Croydon, a comedian, artist and filmmaker, wrote published Tuesday that Buttar harassed her starting when they both lived in Washington, D.C., in 2003, and continued to do so over several years.Buttar is a fellow Democrat, for the San Francisco seat she has held since 1987. He is a democratic socialist who says Pelosi is insufficiently progressive.“We on the left must hold ourselves to a higher standard as we are committed to creating a just and equitable world, free from sexual misconduct, misogyny and bullying,” Croydon wrote. “The left can do better than Shahid Buttar.”Buttar said Croydon’s accusations “are false.”“Every survivor must be heard, and I hope to be allowed the same opportunity to be heard as well,” Buttar, an attorney and activist, said in a statement. “Sexual harassment is despicable. Those who exploit structural sexism and power imbalances must be exposed. I am committed to putting survivors’ interests before my own.”The San Francisco chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is considering rescinding its endorsement of Buttar in response to Croydon’s charges.“Sexual harassment and gender discrimination are antithetical to the principles of democratic socialism, and are issues that DSA San Francisco takes seriously,” Yuhe Faye Wang, co-chair of the organization’s steering committee, said in an email to The Chronicle. Wang said the group is “in the process of gathering information” and would not comment further until it takes up the issue Aug. 4.More on PoliticsButtar said, “I invite their examination of the issues and our campaign welcomes any scrutiny.”Efforts to reach Croydon on Tuesday evening were unsuccessful.Croydon, who has appeared on NBC’s “The Tonight Show” and “Last Comic Standing,” wrote that she first met Buttar in 2003 in Washington, when he lived “in a communal home which served as a hub for freelance opportunities in activism and the arts.” She said she went there to “network and see other artists despite the fact that Shahid consistently made me feel uncomfortable.”She wrote that Buttar “repeatedly pursued me for sex.”“I physically distanced myself from him at parties, turned down invitations, informed a friend I felt uncomfortable, avoided being alone with him, and eventually stopped going to the communal home until he moved out,” Croydon wrote. “Shahid let me know he was sexually available to me for years.”Croydon said one incident that happened a decade later was “intimately embarrassing and traumatic for me to talk about.” After a poetry performance, she wrote, she and Buttar gathered with a group of people to catch up. One friend asked everyone when was the last time they had sex, and Croydon said she had been celibate for years, she wrote.About Our Newsroom“Shahid’s response shocked and embarrassed me,” Croydon wrote. “‘Oh, my god, that is way too long! How can you go without sex that long? That’s insane! I couldn’t do it, you poor thing. It must be so hard.’”Croydon wrote that she had replied that her “celibacy was a voluntary decision because it helped me cope with surviving sexual assaults, batteries and other misconduct. I felt degraded, nauseated, and revolted that he would mock me in front of friends who looked to me as an outspoken voice for women.”In addition to the Democratic Socialists of America, the pro-Bernie Sanders group SFBerniecrats has endorsed Buttar in his race against Pelosi. On Tuesday, the group said it was reviewing Croydon’s accusations.Our statement in response to the allegations made against Shahid Buttar. — SF Berniecrats (@sfberniecrats)There were other signs that San Francisco progressives were backing away from Buttar. Supervisor Dean Preston pulled his name off Buttar’s website after his November election opponent, Vallie Brown, said Buttar’s alleged conductfor office.”“These allegations are deeply disturbing. As soon as I learned of them, I signed a ... petition to unendorse him, and immediately had my name taken off Shahid’s website,” Preston said in a statement to The Chronicle.Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicle’s senior political writer. Email: Twitter:About Our Newsroom

A woman who said she has known San Francisco congressional candidate Shahid Buttar for nearly 20 years is accusing him of repeatedly sexually harassing her.Elizabeth Croydon, a comedian, artist and filmmaker, wrote published Tuesday that Buttar harassed her starting when they both lived in Washington, D.C., in 2003, and continued to do so over several years.Buttar is a fellow Democrat, for the San Francisco seat she has held since 1987. He is a democratic socialist who says Pelosi is insufficiently progressive.“We on the left must hold ourselves to a higher standard as we are committed to...

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Shahid Buttar, Nancy Pelosi’s election opponent, accused of sex harassment

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