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Old 12-13-2009, 09:08 PM
 
Location: Austin
2,522 posts, read 6,038,743 times
Reputation: 707

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"Annise Danette Parker was elected mayor of Houston on Saturday, winning her seventh consecutive city election and becoming both the first contender in a generation to defeat the hand-picked candidate of Houston's business establishment and the first openly gay person to lead a major U.S. city."


I can't say I'm shocked, but I'm a bit surprised!.....good for Houston. Now that they are not only the first major texas metro to elect an openly gay major, but the first major US city to do the same, are they default the most progessive Texas city, especially with their strong "Green" campaign?

Welcome to Green Houston! The Official Website of the Mayor's Office of Environmental Programming

Check back in 15 years, and perhaps Austin will finally decide to build some resemblance of traffic control, per POV/HOV lanes and light rail......



And congrats again, Annise!

 
Old 12-13-2009, 10:33 PM
 
532 posts, read 1,393,041 times
Reputation: 970
Quote:
Originally Posted by inthecut View Post
...good for Houston. Now that they are not only the first major texas metro to elect an openly gay major, but the first major US city to do the same...
I think both Providence, RI, and Portland, OR, elected gay mayors a couple of years ago, didn't they? Those cities aren't as big as Houston, but one is the state capital, and I would say that both are considered major US cities.
 
Old 12-14-2009, 01:53 AM
 
25,157 posts, read 53,963,301 times
Reputation: 7058
Houston is really progressive in their own special way. I felt much more welcomed and respected when I was in Houston. Nice city.
 
Old 12-14-2009, 01:54 AM
 
Location: New Orleans
1,977 posts, read 3,578,623 times
Reputation: 2803
Well, Go Houston!!
 
Old 12-14-2009, 07:25 AM
 
809 posts, read 1,862,720 times
Reputation: 195
Quote:
Check back in 15 years, and perhaps Austin will finally decide to build some resemblance of traffic control, per POV/HOV lanes and light rail......

Houston should be the last city to talk about traffic control. I lived there for 3 years and it was a nightmare. the city has been growning faster than the roads for years
 
Old 12-14-2009, 09:22 AM
 
Location: The land of sugar... previously Houston and Austin
5,429 posts, read 14,848,292 times
Reputation: 3672
Quote:
Originally Posted by inthecut View Post
I can't say I'm shocked, but I'm a bit surprised!.....good for Houston. Now that they are not only the first major texas metro to elect an openly gay major, but the first major US city to do the same, are they default the most progessive Texas city, especially with their strong "Green" campaign?
Houston is also the largest municipal purchaser of "green" electricity.

IMO, just a few more examples of how misunderstood and underrated Houston really is to most outsiders.

As far as the gay mayor thing, and many other so-called progressive aspects... Houston is unique in that it doesn't "try" so hard to be progressive or "weird." For example, the Montrose area probably wouldn't be as genuinely cool as it is if Houston had strong zoning laws.

Houston just is what it is. There isn't much of a status quo.

Thanks for the recognition, inthecut.
 
Old 12-14-2009, 12:54 PM
 
Location: Broomfield, CO
1,445 posts, read 3,269,293 times
Reputation: 913
Please tell me where you heard that Austin was progressive in anything?? Ok, maybe smoking dope and weed!! Dallas and Houston are both lightyears ahead of Austin in nearly everything. Please, where are your sources???


Quote:
Originally Posted by AK123 View Post
Houston is also the largest municipal purchaser of "green" electricity.

IMO, just a few more examples of how misunderstood and underrated Houston really is to most outsiders.

As far as the gay mayor thing, and many other so-called progressive aspects... Houston is unique in that it doesn't "try" so hard to be progressive or "weird." For example, the Montrose area probably wouldn't be as genuinely cool as it is if Houston had strong zoning laws.

Houston just is what it is. There isn't much of a status quo.

Thanks for the recognition, inthecut.
 
Old 12-14-2009, 02:37 PM
 
362 posts, read 1,045,076 times
Reputation: 170
Quote:
Originally Posted by inthecut View Post
"Annise Danette Parker was elected mayor of Houston on Saturday, winning her seventh consecutive city election and becoming both the first contender in a generation to defeat the hand-picked candidate of Houston's business establishment and the first openly gay person to lead a major U.S. city."


I can't say I'm shocked, but I'm a bit surprised!.....good for Houston. Now that they are not only the first major texas metro to elect an openly gay major, but the first major US city to do the same, are they default the most progessive Texas city, especially with their strong "Green" campaign?

Welcome to Green Houston! The Official Website of the Mayor's Office of Environmental Programming

Check back in 15 years, and perhaps Austin will finally decide to build some resemblance of traffic control, per POV/HOV lanes and light rail......



And congrats again, Annise!
What makes a city progressive by having a gayor?! Are we progressing to the point where everyone is gay?
 
Old 12-14-2009, 03:52 PM
 
18 posts, read 44,038 times
Reputation: 41
Well, if we're counting gays in government, Dallas has Lupe Valdez. She's not only Texas's only elected female sheriff, but an openly gay, female, elected sheriff. Openly gay, female, hispanic, sheriff. Yes, ma'am. Maybe she's not as high profile as the mayor of Houston, but hey, she's licensed to kill.

Austin is interesting in that it has a population that leans towards being progressive in attitude, but Austin doesn't actually have the kind of diversity in its population to make a lot of progressive things happen. The place is nearly 70% caucasian and the rest is mostly hispanic, for starters. Houston starts with less than half white, Dallas is just over half. I believe that in general, people in Austin actually like the idea of diversity. But, diversity doesn't seem all that interested in Austin. If openly gay people were running for public office here, I have no doubt they would be well received and voted in if they were the most qualified or appealing. I just haven't heard much to-do about it happening. But, maybe I wasn't paying attention when it happened.
 
Old 12-14-2009, 05:42 PM
 
634 posts, read 1,448,845 times
Reputation: 725
It shouldn't matter if she's gay, straight, crooked, bi, try, or whatever. We have a black president and that doesn't necessarily make the United States the most progressive country in the world. Elected government leaders don't necessarily reflect an overall population's penchant for progressive political leaders. How could it when electoral turnouts are often 20-50% of the eligible voting population? Though I'm not privy to the numbers in Houston. Were they high? State and local elections tend to have dismal turnout percentages. I think it matters most that she appears to have earned the trust of the voting population in Houston and seems ready to work for an objective agenda. And it's true that Austin has never had an openly gay mayor, but it's not had an African American mayor either, and only a handful of Latino mayors. I don't know that it proves anything though.

Either way best of luck to her!
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