- Kathy Hubbard, left, and Annise Parker
Texas Monthly‘s Mimi Swartz discusses the new dynamic of having a same-sex couple govern a major city. We know all about new Houston mayor Annise Parker, but here Swartz gives some insight into H-town’s “first lady,” Kathy Hubbard.
Here’s a snippet:
Parker had a contingent of loyal supporters who believed she couldn’t win without an extreme makeover. All women who run, not just gay ones, experience this, but anxiety over Parker’s fashion sense sometimes sounded like anxiety over her homosexuality. Parker is pretty, but she would never be confused with a Best Dressed List contender. Suddenly, people wanted her to wear more-feminine suits. They wanted her to wear more makeup. They wanted her to ditch her sturdy, sensible shoes. (“Not gonna happen,” one of her campaign aides told a friend of mine who had proffered that advice.) Even when Parker did get dolled up, there was talk: Lesbians generally have an easier time flying under the radar than gay men, but the fact that both Parker and Hubbard wore pantsuits to the inauguration was seen as a way to deflect curiosity about who was the boss in the relationship.
(in redneck voice) “So who’s the man and who’s the woman?”