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Annise Parker
Annise Parker Sworn
In
On Monday January 4th, Annise Parker was publicly sworn in as mayor of Houston after gaining 54% of the vote in a December 12th run-off. Her official swearing in occurred on the previous Saturday.
Parker
is the city’s second female mayor, and the
first openly gay or lesbian
mayor of a major U.S. city. Although Houston is
thought of as a very
diverse city, it (as well as most of Texas) is
not generally thought of
as a hotbed of liberalism. The
combination of these two factors lead
progressives to see her election as a huge step
forward for the LGBT
community.
Now-Mayor Parker never made an issue of her sexuality, but also never hid it; she instead put the emphasis on her qualifications and experience. Yet the importance of her election was not lost on voters or Parker herself. After her victory was announced, Mayor Parker stated: “Tonight the voters of Houston have opened the door to history. I acknowledge that. I embrace that. I know what this win means to many of us who never thought we could achieve high office.”
Parker's
partner, Kathy Hubbard, held their family bible
while the oath of
office was administered with their three
adopted children present;
mega-church pastor Joel Osteen gave the opening
prayer. The ceremony
was open to the public and took place at the
Wortham Theater Center in
downtown Houston. That afternoon, she held her
first city council
meeting, and the evening ended with a free
concert at Discovery Green.
The latter event goes contrary to the norm of
an invitation-only gala;
Mayor Parker stated that she made this choice
because she wanted “all
of Houston to be able to participate.”