This week, im from driftwood, a site that focuses on the lives of every day gays features Houston Mayor, Annise Parker. Mayor Parker beautifully describes her experiences as a young lesbian and struggling to go on dates. In her trademark honest delivery Parker tells us about being fifteen, falling in love and finding “ways to sneak around and see each other”. They even had an old-school-style long-distance relationship while in college. You know, the kind that cost a fortune before cellphones.
Anyways, Ms. Parker says she would never want to be fifteen again! It was miserably, too many evenings spent “sitting in the dark, staring up at her window – hours and hours at a time..” We agree with her, no, thanks, to all that longing!
Unfortunately, even today, many gays still have to go on double dates to spend time with each other.
On November 2, 2010, the Holocaust Museum Houston presented Mayor Annise Parker with the Guardian of the Human Spirit Award, a platform for acknowledging dedicated Houstonians who have worked to enhance the lives of others and to better humankind. Check out her acceptance speech, which includes her thoughts on the recent rash of suicides by gay teens who had been bullied and her advice to others in similar situations that it gets better.
It’s not every Democrat who quotes Calvin Coolidge after spending 100 days in office as mayor of Houston. But then Annise Parker, 53, has never fit the mold. She’s a demure, pearl-wearing lesbian businesswoman with three kids and a longtime partner. When she quoted Silent Cal in her first state of the city address, in April, saying, “There is no dignity quite so impressive and no independence quite so important as living within your means,” it was a sign she would focus on her city’s $100 million budget shortfall during her time in office. And so she has. The fourth largest city in the U.S. is having its belt dramatically tightened. “I feel like a mom planning a family budget,” she says. “We’re going to make sure we still have plenty of healthy vegetables, but we might have to cut back on dessert for a while.”
Former Mayor Bill White won the Democratic primaries for Texas Governor. Check out part 2 of his acceptance speech here. Congratulations to all of last night’s winners!
Houston blogger, Mike McGuff interviews Mayor Annise Parker about her use of social media during her successful campaign to become Houston Mayor. Kudos to Annise for continuing to push the envelope.
“What I hope that this election signals is something larger than me and the GLBT community. It’s that Houston is a wonderful diverse international city that values people for what they can do more than who they are.”
Annise Parker
