Houston? A Lesbian mayor? How sweet is this!
by: Dave Belden on December 13th, 2009 | 5 Comments »
Annise Parker (in pearls), her partner Kathy Hubbard, and their two daughters
Just when you thought the progressive momentum had stalled, comes this!
Annise Danette Parker was elected mayor of Houston on Saturday, winning her seventh consecutive city election and becoming both the first contender in a generation to defeat the hand-picked candidate of Houston’s business establishment and the first openly gay person to lead a major U.S. city.
… Less than two weeks into the five-week runoff, social conservatives mounted a campaign to turn voters against Parker because of her sexual orientation, sending out mailers and e-mail blasts that cast the election as a referendum on gay rights.
While some voters acknowledged it was a matter of concern, many saw no problem voting for a gay candidate, especially given Parker’s assurances that she did not intend to expand gay rights through her position as mayor.
Ray Hill, the dean of Houston’s gay activists, saw victory in more ways than one.
“For me, it means 43 years of hard work has finally paid off,” Hill said. “For Houston, it means we have finally reached the point where being gay cannot be used as a wedge issue to divide the community and prevent us from reaching our aspirations. Annise Parker is not our mayor — she is the city’s mayor.”
43 years hard work. How sweet to see results. We’re far from blind as yet to people’s given identities (sexual orientation, gender, race etc.) and therefore able to elect them solely on the content of their vision, abilities and character. But in this one the latter qualities trumped the former and we can all breathe more freely. Now we just have to hope she’s a good mayor…
Having lived in Houston for 34 of the last 35 years, I am in awe of and so proud of Houston for seeing the light that having talent and leadership qualifications wins over homophobia and narrow-mindedness. I never thought this would happen in my now middle-aged lifetime. Houston (600 sq miles) has become more like the Berkeley area than I ever thought possible in the 1-1/2 years I’ve been gone!! This is a huge leap forward for women and gay rights, the likes of which I hope will generate similar paths in public offices in other cities. Bill White (out-going Houston mayor due to term limitations) is a hard act to follow: one of Houston’s best leaders ever who welcomed and managed the heart-breaking immigration of over 100,000 survivors of Hurricane Katrina – only one of his great accomplishments. I am sure Mayor-Elect Parker, Houston’s second female mayor, will take the reins and lead at least as well as Mayor White.
The link to the Houston Chronicle blog and comments concerning this mayoral election is: http://blogs.chron.com/houstonpolitics/2009/12/parker_wins_it.html
Analysis: Parker’s grass roots too deep for Locke:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6768614.html
Sam Adams has been the openly gay mayor of Portland, OR., surely a major city, for over a year.
Thanks for the correction. I was not aware of that.
I too am a Houstonian and proud of the fact that we have an openly gay mayor. And more proud of the fact that this happened in George W. Bush’s backyard.
I think that a person’s sexual orientation should never matter when it comes to what they are going to do in office. As of now I regret voting for her and I wish I could go back along with all of the Houstonians she is screwing over. It’s amazing that we have a Mayor who “had it in” for HPD and the FD. It’s a shame that she probably got voted in because she is openly gay instead of what she would do for our city. Of course the people who are still happy with her are the people who are not directly affected by this decision she made. My question is how would you feel if your father/ mother were one of the retirees who are barely able to survive with what little income they have? Many of the retirees can’t work because they are disabled (most left their health in the department protecting the Houston citizens) and now they are told to just deal with it? You realize they had NO TIME to prepare! She could have easily found other ways to save money instead of picking on the only people who save and protect. GREAT JOB MAYOR (CLAP)! GREAT JOB HOUSTON FOR VOTING HER IN! She disgusts me :(