Mayor Annise Parker
To be sure, Houston Mayor Annise Parker is an LGBT hero. She’s the first openly gay person elected mayor of a top 10 U.S. city, and she was an LGBT activist long before she became a politician.
But that doesn’t mean Parker is perfect, and today she screwed up.
Perhaps this was one of those times when Parker should have just said, “No comment.” Instead, when asked by the Houston Chronicle, Parker reportedly chose to weigh in on Gov. Rick Perry’s “Day of Prayer,” funded by the American Family Association, an anti-gay hate group. From the Chronicle’s post:
When asked if she considered the AFA holding an event in her city an insult, she said, “No, I’m glad to have anybody’s dollars coming to the city of Houston. They can come back on a monthly basis if they’d like as long as they spend money.”
Really? This event is absolutely an insult to Parker and the entire LGBT community. The AFA not only believes that openly gay people like Parker should be barred from holding public office; they think we should all be thrown in jail.
But that’s OK because they’re spending money in Houston? This implies that hate is acceptable as long as it’s profitable, and Parker’s statement — though maybe a little tongue-in-cheek — seems to be at odds with the position of the Houston GLBT Political Caucus, which she once led:
“We encourage all members of the GLBT community and those others who support equality and oppose hate to stand by our side in condemning this reprehensible act by Governor Perry and demand he exclude AFA from this event,” the caucus said in a statement Tuesday.
not sure what was going through her head with this statement but maybe she was coming from the perspective of Houston is gonna have the last laugh financially. This event maybe be an insult but I believe the majority will think it’s a f*cking joke. Invited governors are dropping like flies and some are saying the equivalency of “sorry I’ll be washing my hair that day.” Let this vocal minority come to Houston and spend money and boost the economy of a city that is supportive of equality. We’ll be outside Reliant showing them that they are not welcomed here and Governor Good Hair does not speak for me or the majority of Texans.
@Tisha: Point taken, but apparently the strategy of dismissing Perry as a joke isn’t working, given that he’s been re-elected three times. At the end of the day, he’ll still be governor and possibly a GOP presidential candidate. Hell, he could be the next president. Will we just dismiss him as a joke then? I think Parker missed a great opportunity here to shine a light on the hatred of Perry and the AFA.
totally agree…considering the alternatives for the republican nom, he’s got a pretty good chance…if you run for President, you do have to give up the governorship right? I personally don’t think he has a chance in hell to win but if it gets him out of TX, fine by me hehe
I have to agree with Mayor Annise Parker on them spending their money. It is sad that church and state are getting so close maybe one day we will have Churches pay taxes like everyone else does.
She said the right thing. Nothing the press or republicans can’t sink their teeth into. She is the mayor of the whole city.
Gov Good Hair is a joke, the apparatus keeps him going here, which is very disappointing. Him run for president, short memory last summer he wanted to succeed. I don’t see how he can swear to defend and support secession at the same time, oops!
@bobg: I believe our openly gay elected officials should speak out against anti-gay hate.
Isn’t the mayor up for re-election? And doesn’t she want to get re-elected? And isn’t re-election more important than Gay civil rights?
I don’t know why the author is surprised. Parker is a huge disappointment. She flatly told the LGBT community that their agenda was not part of her agenda… That’s exactly how she said it. Her idea of fairness and equality is “I got my place at table the rest of you can wait your turn”