Houston just elected an openly gay mayor

[mattbell]

Houston just elected an openly gay mayor.

Several smaller cities in other regions have chosen openly gay mayors, among them Providence, R.I., Portland, Ore., and Cambridge, Mass. But Ms. Parker’s success came in a conservative state where voters have outlawed gay marriage and a city where a referendum on granting benefits to same-sex partners of city employees was soundly defeated.

When I visited Houston in 2001, it seemed to me to be a time warp back to the 1960s in terms of race and gender roles.

It blows my mind that a gay mayor could be elected in a city that doesn't support domestic partner benefits. Maybe it's the force of personality that an individual politician can bring to bear that makes the difference. Perhaps some voters object to homosexuality as an abstract concept but can relate positively to Mrs Parker as an individual person. Of course this is silly cognitive dissonance, so perhaps over time these individual examples may start to help people overcome their abstract distaste for it.

Meanwhile, the most powerful person in Houston can't get her employer's healthcare to cover her wife.

Comments

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

Sweet! Despite being an ex-Houstonian I hadn't followed the race at all and didn't even know Annise Parker was running, but I remember her well from her years on city council when I was in college. I think she'll be a great mayor.

[steuard.livejournal.com]

Another explanation for this that comes to my mind is that Parker is a woman. I have gotten the impression that a lot of people who object to homosexuality are mostly bothered by gay men; lesbians are pretty much okay. (One of my friends in grad school went so far as to declare "It's all about the butt sex.")

[jhogan.livejournal.com]

Wow, and a female gay mayor no less. That's crazy.

[dixiemouse.livejournal.com]

Of the friends I still have in Houston, many are EMT's, Police, and Fire Dept... so they see teh "worst" of things... that said, their experiences show them that the gay community are sexually irresponsible, for them, it is the minority that does NOT go to gay bars to do X or Poppers, have unprotected sex in the stalls, or play with themselves/ each other publicly (like roadriverrail discussed in a post over the summer)...

It is for this reason that they will vote against domestic partner benefits. They see (mostly) men in "relationships" but still having unsafe sex with who knows else and see their own premiums going up...

I am not saying I agree, or even think it's right, but when there are THAT many people putting out that strong of an image, it gets difficult to argue the subject.

Also, as far as the racsim in Houston, part of why I hated living there (and left as soon as I could), EVERYONE was racist. It wasn't just a one way strret on that.