Houston mayor calls swearing-in milestone for gays
Houston Mayor Annise Parker said Monday her election to lead the nation's fourth-largest city marked a milestone for gay Americans but was just "one step toward a tomorrow of greater justice."
Parker was sworn in over the weekend in a private ceremony and repeated her oath during a public ceremony Monday. Her partner, Kathy Hubbard, held a Bible that belonged to Parker's grandparents for the swearing-in by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore.
Parker took almost 54 percent of the vote in a runoff last month, defeating former city attorney Gene Locke in a race to succeed Bill White, who had reached his term limit. Her election made Houston the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor.
"I spoke on election night of that being an historic election, and my election made news all around the world," she told the more than 1,000 people who gathered at the city's Wortham Theater. "Now, Houstonians weren't very surprised they elected a gay woman. We have a tradition of electing mayors not for who they are but for what they believe we can do as a city."
The three-term former city controller has never made a secret or issue of her sexual orientation in any of her runs for office. But she was criticized because of her sexual orientation by anti-gay activists and some religious groups, who endorsed Locke and sent out mailers condemning her.
