Houston elects gay woman mayor

[iggypop123]

HOUSTON, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- Houston City Controller Annise Parker became the first openly gay person elected mayor of a major U.S. city in Saturday's runoff race.

With almost all the vote counted, Parker led former City Attorney Gene Locke by about 8,000 votes, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Turnout was low for the runoff, a non-partisan race pitting two Democrats against each other.

Parker, a veteran city official, soft-pedaled her sexual identity during the campaign and emphasized her experience, The New York Times reported. Parker was the top vote-getter in the first-round election.

"I am not running to be a role model," she said in a debate. "I am running to be the mayor of Houston."

Locke was endorsed by the police union and ran on a law-and-order platform. Locke, who is black, was also expected to win the majority of black votes.

"White liberal Democrats are behind Parker, and African-Americans are going to go with Locke," Marc Campos, a Locke consultant, told the Times. "Moderate Republicans, fiscal conservatives -- they're going to be the ones who decide this."

While the candidates did not talk publicly about Parker's sexual orientation, others did. Shortly before the election, a group of black ministers said she had a homosexual agenda, and the Chronicle reported earlier this week two Locke campaign officials helped a group that sent out an anti-gay mailing.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2009/12/12/Houston-elects-gay-woman-mayor/UPI-34111260662206/

this thread should be fun. i don't have a problem with it, just with gay marriage, im suprised cnn hasnt covered this, they usually go nuts with these issues

[I. Hustle]

I'm all for voting for the person that is most qualified for a job.

[mookie2001]

thats nice

[BRHornet45]

clam licking!

[PublicOption]

slowly, texas is turning into a blue state.


time to change the Texans name to the Beavers.

[Winehole23]

slowly, texas is turning into a blue state.Yes. Very slowly. How many statewide offices do the Dems hold right now?

time to change the Texans name to the Beavers.You could at least wait for the GOP to lose just one statewide office in Texas to the Dems before you call them all pussies, don't you think?

Or did you mean the Houston Texans? :lol

[Winehole23]

I'm sorry, PO, do carry on.

[Oh, Gee!!]

jam out with your clam out, hustletown!!!!

[boutons_deux]

"texas is turning into a blue state."

never. Some Christian supremacist bubba will probably rape her (because God told him to) to convert her from the unnatural, sinful, chosen lifestyle (and show her what's she's been missing).

[George Gervin's Afro]

what if she marries her partner?

[mookie2001]

Lesbo got elected mayor in the city where a literal piece of shit used to be the shit, nothing surprising here sons.
fuck you

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

"texas is turning into a blue state."

never. Some Christian supremacist bubba will probably rape her (because God told him to) to convert her from the unnatural, sinful, chosen lifestyle (and show her what's she's been missing).


Dude, do you have a mental disorder? WTF?

[boutons_deux]

you Aggie inbreds, some are my best friends so I know, surely subscribe to the bubba philosophy that the only thing a lesbo needs is a good fuck to put back on the right track.

[George Gervin's Afro]

you Aggie inbreds surely subscribe the bubba philosophy that the only thing a lesbo needs is a good fuck to put back on the right track.

she just needs to stop liking her own kind. she obviously chose women over men so she deserves to be ridiculed

[exstatic]

I'm surprised the Fundies came up short with their religiot attack dog BS in TX. That shit doesn't happen but once in a blue moon.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

you Aggie inbreds, some are my best friends so I know, surely subscribe to the bubba philosophy that the only thing a lesbo needs is a good fuck to put back on the right track.


Seriously. You are a walking bag of leftist stereotypes. I almost feel sorry for you. Life's going to be a bitch for someone so ignorant and close minded.

[symple19]

Seriously. You are a walking bag of leftist stereotypes. I almost feel sorry for you. Life's going to be a bitch for someone so ignorant and close minded.

rofl

[jack sommerset]

We won't let the gays get married, we shouldn't let them hold seats in office. Just saying.

[EmptyMan]

Don't mind Boutons, he is a recovering tourettes baby.

[ChumpDumper]

We won't let the gays get married, we shouldn't let them hold seats in office. Just saying.What else do you think they shouldn't be allowed to do?

[jack sommerset]

What else do you think they shouldn't be allowed to do?

8r0_TS09lJc

[ChumpDumper]

What else?

[Winehole23]

Lesbo got elected mayor in the city where a literal piece of shit used to be the shit, nothing surprising here sons.Do you mean Bill White, Blade?

[Winehole23]

Margo Frasier worked out OK in Travis County, I thought. Her being a lesbian didn't much effect her being sheriff that I could tell.

[MiamiHeat]

non-issue

as long as she does the job well, her personal life should stay out of it

[Winehole23]

It did. But she didn't have to hide it either.

[Winehole23]

Of course, we are talking about Austin, Tx. Somewhere else it might still be considered disreputable.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

slowly, texas is turning into a blue state.


:lmao

thanks i needed that

:lmao

[Viva Las Espuelas]

whottt about Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lupe_Valdez


yeah. i was just about to mention her. she turned out to be pretty worthless. i don't care what you do in your bedroom. just do the job you're elected for.

[Jacob1983]

Couldn't you say that no one would give a shit about this story if the woman was straight?

[ChumpDumper]

Yes you could say that, because that's the norm.

Firsts are noteworthy, so this was noted.

[Jacob1983]

So you could say that her gayness is being exploited because people are only noticing this story because she's gay.

[ChumpDumper]

No, I couldn't say that because it's stupid.

[admiralsnackbar]

slowly, texas is turning into a blue state.



It used to be dependably blue until around the mid-70s, believe it or not. That's why DeLay's 2003 gerrymandering was -- and continues to be -- so vehemently criticized.

EDIT:
http://texaspolitics.laits.utexas.edu/10_6_2.html

[rjv]

you Aggie inbreds, some are my best friends so I know, surely subscribe to the bubba philosophy that the only thing a lesbo needs is a good fuck to put back on the right track.

way to beat generalizations with more generalizations.

[Wild Cobra]

Houston elects gay woman mayor
Who cares.

Besides, the article is a lie. She is not the first:

Sam Adams (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Adams_%28Oregon_politician%29), part of article:


He was elected Mayor of Portland in May 2008 with 58% of the vote. He came out in 1993 and is the first openly gay mayor of a top 30 U.S. city.

I really wish people would verify source materiel.

[ChumpDumper]

lol Portland isn't a major city.

[iggypop123]

lol Portland isn't a major city.

[Wild Cobra]

Originally Posted by ChumpDumper

lol Portland isn't a major city.

Figures that stupid shit would make such a claim.

[ChumpDumper]

It's smaller than Austin, and Austin isn't much of a major city.

I'm sure you'd want to whine about the MSA or something. I wouldn't call Riverside all that major in that case.

It doesn't rank in the top 20 in either. Your inferiority complex won't change that.

[Winehole23]

Don't mind Boutons, he is a recovering tourettes baby.Recovering, my leg. :lol

[Yonivore]

Why does her sexual orientation matter? Is she qualified to be mayor?

Besides, I recall a few years back that Houston was marketing their city as friendly to gays to attract homosexuals there for tourism and such.

[Aggie Hoopsfan]

Recovering, my leg. :lol

Right? :lol

I just think it's funny that the supposed outrage by the 'right' on this thread has all been manufactured by the limp wrested lefties on the board.

If she does a good job, who gives a shit who she goes home to at night? If she doesn't, she'll be a one termer, and it won't be because of who she goes home to at night.

Common sense over, please continue on with your manufactured, stereotyped outrage that you're all pulling completely out of your asses.

[ChumpDumper]

Why does her sexual orientation matter? Is she qualified to be mayor?Again, people note firsts. What part of that do you not understand?

[Jacob1983]

Could this woman's victory be out of pity or guilt? Maybe the voters in Houston only voted for her because they thought that if they elected a lesbian that it would make up for the all the bad things that have happened to gays and lesbians in the past. People love firsts. Obama is a fine example of that.

[Winehole23]

Could this woman's victory be out of pity or guilt? Maybe the voters in Houston only voted for her because they thought that if they elected a lesbian that it would make up for the all the bad things that have happened to gays and lesbians in the past. Maybe you really do have a better idea why Houston voted for Annelise Parker than Houston does itself Jacob 1983, but I doubt it.

[ploto]

Only about 150,000 people voted, and estimates are that Houston has about half that many homosexual people living there. I wonder the sexual orientation of those who showed up to vote.

[admiralsnackbar]

Only about 150,000 people voted, and estimates are that Houston has about half that many homosexual people living there. I wonder the sexual orientation of those who showed up to vote.

Does it matter? They voted for who they voted for.

[Blake]

Only about 150,000 people voted, and estimates are that Houston has about half that many homosexual people living there. I wonder the sexual orientation of those who showed up to vote.

obviously the other several million Houston residents didn't give a flip that they were about to have a lesbian mayor.

[TheProfessor]

obviously the other several million Houston residents didn't give a flip that they were about to have a lesbian mayor.
So, a victory for political apathy over prejudice :lol

[ploto]

Who and why they voted is an interesting study in people- that is all. Did it matter that the choice was either an African American man or a lesbian woman? Was there especially low turnout from the white suburban voter? Was there a higher turnout than normal in the Montrose area?

[Blake]

So, a victory for political apathy over prejudice :lol

if there were only 150k voters for a mayoral race in a city of millions, then that's apparently the case.

[Marcus Bryant]

Generally, the impression I've gotten is that most people were tired of the fucking campaign. It's been going on for most of the late summer and fall, nonstop.

While there were some random instances of Parker's sexual life being made an issue, most people seemed to not care or it was viewed as more of a novelty than anything else. Houston is a city more focused on making that dollar than anything else. This isn't dildo up the ass douchebag Dallas.

As for the runoff, the sense seemed to be that both candidates' actual political philosophy and their true patrons were the same. Both were establishment candidates. If anything, Parker's support was a little more corporate. I think that, and apathy due to the long campaign is what contributed to the low turnout for the runoff.

Of interest to me was that Parker did at least try to seem more libertine than anything else and made an effort to court conservatives, at least fiscal ones. Of course, most politicians are anything but in both areas.

[Winehole23]

Of interest to me was that Parker did at least try to seem more libertine than anything else and made an effort to court conservatives, at least fiscal ones. Is that the word you meant, MarcusB? :hat

[doobs]

Is that the word you meant, MarcusB? :hat

I laughed.

[Marcus Bryant]

In the sense of not playing identity politics. I guess an occurrence like her election wrecks the minds on both sides of the binary liberal v conservative, blue v red, screedfest, but frankly it wasn't that surprising.

[ChumpDumper]

if there were only 150k voters for a mayoral race in a city of millions, then that's apparently the case.I'm pretty sure only 40k voted in Austin's last mayoral race. Most people still think Will Wynn is in office.

[Blake]

I can't imagine more than 100k showing up for SA's last mayoral election....probably around 50k too....

now that I think about it.....I do slightly wonder how many of the 150k voters in Houston were from Osteen's church

[Winehole23]

In the sense of not playing identity politics.An oblique usage of libertine? My own impression of it was made of much courser stuff, I must confess.

[sabar]

What is a "major city"?

I'd say the top 50 most populous cities in the U.S. are all quite influential. There are also a ton of cities than have a low population but a lot of high-rises and economic influence.


the first openly gay person elected mayor of a major U.S. city

Vague reporting on purpose I'd guess. It isn't the first, so why is it noteworthy? I mean, as long as it isn't a town of 148 people or something.

In either case, this isn't that surprising. Voter turnout falls as the government becomes more local. The general feelings of the population are harder to reflect with less people, since each persons vote means more. Cities with more than a million people may only get 1000-2000 votes for smaller elected positions!

Massive voter apathy can probably explain nearly every election with strange results.