Will Houston Elect Openly Gay Mayor this Saturday?

[GoodFella69]

Poll shows gay candidate is in the lead ahead of Saturday's election for mayor of the nation's 4th largest city:

 

http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2009/12/10/conroe_courier/news/1211_state_briefs.txt

[GoodFella69]

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[Romann]

Should be an interesting race, one that I'm following with high hopes!

[MsGuy]

Apparently Houston voters prefer a Lesbian policy wonk to a Black lawyer/lobbyist.

 

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6767621.html

[Rick Munroe]

Apparently Houston voters prefer a Lesbian policy wonk to a Black lawyer/lobbyist.

 

I think the lesson learned is that the voters didn't vote for lesbian or black...they chose the best person for the job. This is great progress.

[GoodFella69]

Houston Mayor-Elect's Acceptance Speech

 

Houston's new mayor-elect introduces her life-partner and their three children during her victory speech:

 

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/mayoral_race/091212-runoff-election-voting

[Romann]

Yay!

[uwsman2]

priorities

 

Houston voters apparently believe that in a time of economic challenge it makes more sense to have somebody whose government experience is heavily on the financial side than somebody whose experience is more on the law enforcement side. This is sensible, and it is a pleasure to see that qualifications trumped sexual orientation and race as determinants of the outcome.

[KMEM]

Houston voters apparently believe that in a time of economic challenge it makes more sense to have somebody whose government experience is heavily on the financial side than somebody whose experience is more on the law enforcement side. This is sensible, and it is a pleasure to see that qualifications trumped sexual orientation and race as determinants of the outcome.

 

Would it ever be so.

 

Best regards,

KMEM

[BigK]

Among major US Cities Houston was one of the first to elect a female mayor (Katherine Whitmire), and a black mayor (Lee Brown).

[pierrot]

As long as it's a lesbian, a gay person can be elected. But don't even dream of trying to elect a gay MAN to a post in Texas. We're the ones who are despised by the right wing bigots that are so numerous in such places. The reality is that our lesbian sisters don't carry the same stigma.

[GoodFella69]

The Times They Are A-Changin'...even in Texas.

 

But don't even dream of trying to elect a gay MAN to a post in Texas. We're the ones who are despised by the right wing bigots that are so numerous in such places.

 

Perhaps I'm too optimistic (or naive?), but I believe Texas will elect gay men to future political posts. Although Chicago is my home now, I'm a native Texas and lived in Dallas for many years. Over the past decade, a large and politically powerful gay community has emerged there.

 

Dallas has already elected three openly gay MEN to city council positions. In fact, between 1993 and 2007 Dallas had at least one (and sometimes two) openly gay city council members. In 2007, Dallas sent an openly gay MALE candidate, councilman Ed Oakley, into the mayoral runoff race.

Both the Dallas Sheriff and the Dallas County Judge are both openly gay. The Dallas District Clerk is openly gay too.

 

Indeed, it may be a while before an openly gay man is elected mayor of a large Southern city. However, the times are incrementally changing for the better--even in Texas.

[Guest zipperzone]

As long as it's a lesbian, a gay person can be elected. But don't even dream of trying to elect a gay MAN to a post in Texas. We're the ones who are despised by the right wing bigots that are so numerous in such places. The reality is that our lesbian sisters don't carry the same stigma.

 

True - and a lot of male voters get off on the image of two women doing each other.