Houston, we have a new Mayor!

[onestepforward]

Annise Parker won!

I was so excited, I forgot to add:

:toast: :party: :bounce:

[Justitia]

1. Congratulations Madam Mayor! :)

Let's hope the other races turn out well....

[Richardo]

2. Fantastic.

K&R :patriot:

[AllenVanAllen]

3. Excellent!

:toast: :bounce: :party:

Now, let's send Mayor White to Austin!

[WolverineDG]

4. Congratulations, Houston!!

:toast: :party: :bounce: :yourock:

dg

[sonias]

5. I'm so proud of you Houston!

:toast:

Congratulations to Mayor Parker too!!


Sonia

[Lisa0825]

6. I may not be in Houston proper, but I am very proud to have Annise as

mayor of the city up the road!

[sonias]

7. Annise Parker elected Houston's next mayor

Houston Chronicle 12/13/09
Annise Parker elected Houston's next mayor
Nation watches as city becomes the largest in U.S. to choose an openly gay leader

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.

Parker, Houston's current city controller who first emerged in the public arena as a gay rights activist in the 1980s, defeated former City Attorney Gene Locke on an austere platform, convincing voters that her financial bona fides and restrained promises would be best suited in trying financial times. Parker, 53, will replace the term-limited Mayor Bill White on Jan. 1.

Her victory capped an unorthodox election season that lacked a strong conservative mayoral contender and saw her coalition of inside-the-loop Democrats and moderate conservatives, backed by an army of ardent volunteers, win the day over Locke, a former civil rights activist who attempted to unite African-American voters and Republicans.

(snip)
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.

This has the wingers' heads exploding too. Plus a win against a business picked establishment candidate. I love it!

:kick:

Sonia

[HouLib]

8. I'm very excited about her being my new mayor!

[sonias]

11. Welcome to the Texas DU forum HouLib!

Nice to meet you!

:hi:


Sonia

[HouLib]

18. Thanks! Nice meeting you also :)

[Paladin]

9. I Just Went On The LBN Thread That's Reporting This........

....and essentially told all the DU Texas-haters to go fuck themselves. It felt great.

Best wishes to Ms. Parker for a long and productive political career.

[sonias]

10. I know how you feel

I'm waiting for the day/year Texas turns blue once again too. Then this board is ours! :evilgrin:


:hi:

Sonia

[WolverineDG]

12. ....

:loveya:

dg

[Paladin]

13. Like I Told WolverineDG On The LBN Thread:

I bet Molly Ivins is laughing her ass off, right now.........

[sonias]

15. We're all laughing our asses off

Damn it feels good too.

I keep thinking of all of those conservative kickers and panties all twisted too tightly this weekend.

Best Christmas present this year! :rofl:

Sonia

[kentauros]

14. I saw that post and it felt great to read it!

:D :hi:

I just did a search on the topic in GD, and though there is a sprinkling of threads on it, only one is larger than 10-15 posts (the "biggest" at 24 posts), all rather tiny by GD standards. I think that one reply to your LBN post was pointing out the hypocrisy of the haters; that if it's good news, they are suddenly nowhere to be found, but if it's bad news, they swarm. I'd say this is a perfect example of how they react to good news ;)

[tammywammy]

16. That was an awesome post

You have such a way with words. :)

[Paladin]

17. You're Entirely Too Kind. Many Thanks. (n/t)

[sonias]

19. Parker's Partner - story in HouChron

Houston Chronicle 12/20/09
A new role for Parker's partner
Landmark election thrusts shy, reserved companion into spotlight

The moment was subtle, just a couple holding hands as they walked into Houston's City Council chamber, a ritual for incoming members that had passed hundreds of times before with little fanfare.

But this time was different.

The two people holding hands were women. One was Annise Parker, a newly elected councilwoman. The other was Kathy Hubbard, Parker's life partner.

"It was huge," Hubbard said of the ceremonial council session in 1998. "So many barriers were being broken at the time, so much was possible. It was something that seems ordinary for most people, but there are invisible or cloaked boundaries for gay and lesbian people. You hear of the marble ceiling, the glass ceiling, the concrete ceiling. … This one's almost the invisible one, but it's still there."

(snip)
In 1993, Parker had seen 16-year-old Jovon Tyler on the streets several times before she talked to him. He always looked hungry. Once she met him, he told her his grandparents had kicked him out of the house because he was gay.

Parker invited him to come live with her and Kathy and gave him a set of keys to the house before conferring with Kathy. On her way home, Parker agonized about how she would break the news to her companion.

Sweet story. These are the kind of people Parker and Hubbard are. Wonderful!

:grouphug:


Sonia