Will Houston Elect a Lesbian Mayor?

by Michael Jones · 2009-05-29 07:58:00 UTC
Topics:

Annise Parker

Right now, the largest city with an openly gay or lesbian mayor is Portland, Oregon.  But that all could change in 2009, with the candidacy of Annise Parker in Houston, Texas.  Parker, who is currently the City Controller in Houston, is running for Mayor, and at the moment she's got the largest name recognition of any candidate, and (at least what some are saying) the highest poll numbers.

Gaypolitics.com, an off-shoot of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, has an excellent profile of Parker, covering the historical nature of her candidacy and her chances of becoming the openly lesbian mayor of the fourth largest city in the country.  Here's a quick snapshot from their interview with Parker:

GayPolitics.com: You’ve been elected citywide both to the Houston City Council and the Controller’s office six times. Were you open about your sexual orientation each time, and how did that play out in your previous campaigns?

I’ve always been honest and open with Houston voters. Voters appreciate that honesty, and they have responded to it. Frankly, it’s a quality they do not expect from politicians.

At the end of the day, I believe that voters elect leaders who care about the same things they care about: taking care of our families and making sure our streets are safe, our economy is growing, the potholes get filled and the garbage gets picked up.

GayPolitics.com: If you win, Houston will be the largest U.S. city with an openly gay or lesbian mayor. What do you think that will mean for the city?

It would be yet another affirmation of the fact that Houstonians care more about what you can do than who you are. I have often bragged on the fact that if you work hard, you can succeed in Houston, regardless of where you are from, “who your people are,” as some say in the South, or whom you love. In the end, it would simply mean that Houston voters agreed I was the best-qualified candidate to keep our city moving forward in this incredibly tough economy.

You can check out the entire interview here, and you can check out Annise Parker's campaign page here.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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