Tag Archives: Mayor Annise Parker

Houston Goes BIG For Historic Pride Celebration

Sometimes a series of unlikely events converge to yield what is ultimately the best of all possible conclusions.  For months prior to the week of Houston’s official Pride celebrations, the continued success of those festivities was somewhat in question.  Pride Houston, the organization charged with planning producing and executing the massive festival and parade each year, had some early difficulties when it first announced last October that the signature events would be relocated to downtown… away from their traditional home in the Montrose neighborhood.  The move came as a total surprise to the many organizations that plan and participate in Pride, as well as local businesses who often cited the parade’s convenient location to be of great benefit.

Barely one month later, Pride Houston once again frustrated community leaders by announcing plans to change the date of Pride from the expected last weekend of June (June 27th) to one week earlier (June 20th).  Had this move occurred the city’s LGBT celebration would have been in direct conflict with observances of the Sesquicentennial Anniversary of Juneteenth… an event which prior to a contentious meeting with community leaders was unknown to local Pride leaders.

Even despite this arduous journey, in the case of Pride Houston all is well that truly ends well. Leaders rightfully moved the Parade to downtown in part because they hoped to eventually grow the size and scope of the festival.  But because Pride planners also listened to community leaders and decided to hold the festivities on the June 27th date, Houston received the special bonus of being the first Pride celebration in Texas after the Supreme Court’s historic decision to legalize marriage equality across the United States.  What resulted was by all accounts, the largest Pride celebration in city history, in a venue well designed to accommodate the roaring crowds.

On June 26th one day before the planned Pride festivities, city leaders gathered for a joyful and spontaneous rally following the day’s court decision.  Mayor Annise Parker, and now formally recognized First Lady of Houston Kathy Hubbard were all smiles at the event.  With the ruling, their marriage too was now official in the state of Texas.

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Mayor Annise Parker speaking just hours after the Supreme Court struck down Texas’ same-sex marriage ban, and brought marriage equality to all 50 states.

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Houston’s First Lady Kathy Hubbard beams while linking arms with wife, Mayor Annise Parker.  

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Prominent allies like State Senator Sylvia Garcia (above) and State Legislator Garnet Coleman also made time to speak at the impromptu event, and show support on the historic day.  

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On Saturday June 27th, many Houstonians experienced a new way to get to Pride.  Now that it is being held in downtown, celebrants can park their cars, and arrive at the event via MetroRail.  Patrons parked all along the lines, including sites like Fannin South station, Northline Mall and the University of Houston main campus.  

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The iconic canyon skyscrapers lining Smith street became the new backdrop for Houston’s Pride Parade.  

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Record crowds attended the Pride Festival and parade.

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Houston Social Media Director Melissa Ragsdale Darragh, Mayor Annise Parker and First Lady Kathy Hubbard smile before the parade. Melissa also placed 3rd in the 2015 Pride SuperStar singing competition, and is an avid LGBT ally.  (Photo credit:  Mayor’s facebook page

 

No official numbers have been released yet, but many believe that this year’s Pride parade had well over 700,00 attendeesshattering previous records for the city of Houston.  Kudos to all of the incredible volunteers, and to Pride Houston leadership for producing a monumental celebration.  It’s safe to say that many Houstonians and out-of-town visitors will be looking forward to our version of Pride next year.

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Houston Clears Rape Kit Backlog. Will Other Cities Follow?

It was a promise that Mayor Annise Parker made to Houstonians in 2013.  And on February 23rd of this year, that promise was fulfilled, as the city of Houston has now officially tested its backlog of over 6,600 rape kits.  Here’s more from the AP press release (via ABC News)…

Evidence from more than 6,600 rape kits that went untested for years in Houston have turned up 850 hits in the FBI’s nationwide database of DNA profiles, marking a major step in the city’s $6 million effort to address the backlog, officials announced Monday.

Charges have been filed against 29 people, six of whom have been convicted, since the city launched an effort in 2013 to test 6,663 rape kits — some of which dated back nearly three decades. Testing was completed in the fall, and the results have now been uploaded to a database used by investigators nationwide to compare DNA profiles of possible suspects, Mayor Annise Parker said.

“This milestone is of special importance to rape survivors and their families and friends because it means their cases are receiving the attention they should have years ago,” Parker said at a news conference, where she joined local law enforcement officials to announce the results.

Police are continuing to review the matches to see if charges can be filed in other cases. In the cases where prosecutors have won convictions, defendants have received sentences ranging from 2 to 45 years in prison. One case was dismissed after the victim decided not to pursue the case.

Even with the extraordinary lag time in cases, hard work done by the city of Houston in this matter helps to grow the national database of harmful criminal activity, and has already helped to take some dangerous people off of our nation’s streets.  As Mayor Parker has proven, this is important work that needs to be done.

So the question for other cities remains… why hasn’t this been done yet??

While we can champion the hard work done in Houston, the rape kit backlog is still a major problem across the country.  As MSNBC host Ronan Farrow discovered in one of his last shows on the network, cities across the US are having a major problem getting these rape kits tested.  Without the DNA evidence, that means that thousands of criminals are walking the streets.

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(Photo credit:  Ronan Farrow Daily)

Washington and Austin both spend a lot of time arguing over border security. Everyone seems to be incredibly concerned about people coming to this country illegally.  But where is the concern for criminals that are already here??  Are the testing of these rape kits not just as important as what is going on at the Border?  It’s a question that needs to be asked, and at least for Houston, we now have an answer.

Off the Kuff has more.

City Revises Subpoenas, Removes Request For Sermons

Since the story caught wildfire and continues to ricochet across the internet, the City of Houston has decided to revise the HERO Subpoena request.  Here’s more from Mike Morris of the Houston Chronicle

Mayor Annise Parker on Friday followed through on her pledge to narrow the scope of subpoenas sent to local pastors who led opposition to the city’s equal rights ordinance earlier this year.

Though the subpoena’s new wording removes any mention of “sermons” — a reference that created a firestorm among Christian conservative groups and politicians, including Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who accused Parker of trying “to silence the church” — the mayor acknowledged the new subpoenas do not explicitly preclude sermons from being produced.

“We don’t need to intrude on matters of faith to have equal rights in Houston, and it was never the intention of the city of Houston to intrude on any matters of faith or to get between a pastor and their parishioners,” Parker said. “We don’t want their sermons, we want the instructions on the petition process. That’s always what we wanted and, again, they knew that’s what we wanted because that’s the subject of the lawsuit.”

As readers know, the subpoenas became the quick subject of national news, rising up through the Conservative blogosphere, and landing major fodder for every media outlet from Fox News to Time magazine.  And yes of course, Texas Leftist was also reeled in hook, line and sinker.

Further into the press conference, Mayor Parker reveals to ABC 13 reporter Miya Shay that she doesn’t regret the city’s actions

Miya Shay: “Mayor do you think you would’ve bothered to change the language if not for all of the attention?”

Mayor Parker: No, we wouldn’t have.  They knew what we wanted. […] There was nothing inappropriate with their request, but it was worded in a way that allowed misinterpretation.  But no, we wouldn’t have weighed in if it hadn’t been brought to our attention.

Attorney Feldman also commented that the other side broke protocol in an effort to gain press attention.

Feldman:  In the normal discovery process… if the other side has a problem your discovery request, before you file a motion to quash, you are supposed to confer about the issue.  Had they done that in this case… they could have told us they had an issue with this request, and we would’ve agreed.  But they decided to make it a media circus.

From watching the press conference,  it seems pretty clear that the issue has caused a fair amount of stress for the Mayor’s office, due to the heinous amount of hate mail it has likely generated.  Parker was very direct with her responses, and probably just wants the saga to be over. In the end though, it is much better that the City revise and clarify the subpoenas so as not to mislead people assuming sinister intentions.

Firestorm aside, the most important aspect of these cases is yet to come.  The actual trial to determine if there will ever be a HERO referendum takes place in January.  Just remember that as was seen this week, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance is still needed, and in fact laws like it need to be expanded to citizens across the state.  Kudos to the Mayor and the City Attorney on fulfilling a promise they made earlier in the week.  For the sake of all Houstonians, let’s try to move forward from this misstep.

Check out the press conference below…

 

Houston “Will Have a Thanksgiving Parade”

For Houstonians that have been wondering what will become of the city’s annual Thanksgiving Parade, we got our answer today.

“More than 400,000 dollars has been pledged from the private sector to cover the costs for the parade.”- Mayor Parker said. HEB, who has always been an important co-sponsor of the event, is now stepping into a larger sponsorship role, along with many others. Long-time special events company Ward and Ames will plan and produce the parade. They have worked with the City of Houston on a wide-range of events from the annual Freedom Over Texas celebration to the 2004 Super Bowl.

The private company that used to run the parade is the Houston Festival Foundation. HFF announced last week that they would no longer produce the city’s parade, and that they even sold off the city’s collection of parade floats. At the Press Conference, they Mayor was asked how the city plans to cope with this situation…

“I’ve been approached by the Art Car Parade here in Houston. Those folks always want to show off their vehicles.”- Mayor Parker said.

Art Cars at the Thanksgiving parade? An interesting concept.

This is a change, no doubt. But the Thanksgiving Parade is an annual tradition not just for Houston, but for the whole South Central region of the United States. Over the past few years it has grown into one of the nation’s largest and best received parades, and is broadcast all over the state of Texas, as well as other cities like Little Rock, Arkansas. It would be a real shame to let it go just because of financial troubles by one corporate entity. Thankfully, the city of Houston recognizes that being in a metro area with an economy as strong as ours, they can pick up the phone and allow this tradition to continue.

On a personal note, having worked with Ward and Ames Special Events before, I highly doubt Houstonians will be disappointed.

In every adversity, there also lies an opportunity. Let’s see what comes of this one for Houston.

Reconsidered: Annise Parker on GLBT rights

To say that the past few weeks have seen fast progress for LGBT equality would be a gross understatement. Just a few short years ago, it seemed an endless fight. But today, even without full federal protections in place, some states are working hard to change things. Marriage equality has moved with lightning speed over the pass few weeks, being approved in Delaware, Rhode Island and Minnesota. They’ve joined other states that are paving the way to a better, safer and stronger future for all of their residents.

Unfortunately though in Texas, our LGBT communities continue to struggle beneath a firewall of state laws prohibiting progress. And until there are significant changes in state government, that reality would seem to persist in the forseeable future. In fact, with today’s news of a Collin County judge saying a lesbian couple can no longer live together, some would argue that we’re moving as fast as possible in the opposite direction. The efforts in Texas to stem the tide of change are just as extraordinary as the historic changes have been.

It is through this lense of intolrance that Texans have to fight the battle for equality, and in this state, it is every bit a battle. But beyond working to change the law, one of the most important aspects of this fight is setting good examples in our community, and shattering the lies that drive Anti-LGBT sentiment. The more Texans that live out in the open as LGBT, behave as good neighbors, and do all the things that we already do, the better prepared we will be for that moment when our laws can change. I wrote a few weeks back about some frustration within Houston’s LGBT community. Three years after the historic election of Mayor Annise Parker, many laws regarding LGBT equality have not changed. It’s a valid point, and an important opinion to share on behalf of many in the community.

But what was missed in that article is the profound impact that Mayor Parker’s leadership has had within Houston, and beyond. She forged a path to show Houston that an LGBT person is capable of being mayor of a major city. She has continued to prove that Houston is a city that can get major things done to improve the quality of life for everyone. And as I have learned since writing the last post, she has inspired many other LGBT persons in Conservative states looking to be pioneers in their own communities.

Perhaps most importantly though, the Mayor seems committed to making progress, even when the picture for equality isn’t always ideal. In a touching Huffington Post Op-ed for Mother’s Day, Parker shared the following…

People who know gay couples know that we are just as committed to each other as our straight counterparts. And people who know gay parents know we are just as dedicated to raising our children with love and protecting them from harm. We will keep pushing for the government to treat us equally — in marriage and adoption and beyond — and in the meantime, we’ll keep being who we are, openly and honestly, and showing just how alike we all are in the ways that really matter.

This post is not a retraction of the former post, or an endorsement. I still hope that the Mayor will work to pass equal rights into Houston’s laws. But it is a recognition that even if she hasn’t done that, the examples she and other LGBT leaders set are critical in the fight for full equality. And as long as our leaders do that, they create a pathway to the protections we seek.

Is Houston’s Mayor “Playing It Safe” on GLBT equality?

It’s been quite the whirlwind day for GLBT equality, and oddly enough none of the major news was from Washington for once. In the words of the HRC’s Chad Griffin, Jason Collins “changed the face of sports forever” by the being the first active American professional athlete to come out as gay. For the movement toward GLBT equality and acceptance, this can only be seen as a major step forward.

Houston was the scene for a similar step forward in GLBT history 3 and 1/2 years ago, when our Mayor Annise Parker, became the first openly gay person to lead a major American city. It was Houston that achieved this milestone, and not only did we do it in Texas (some would say that is a feat to itself), but we did it before the cities that are assumed to be more progressive like Los Angeles, New York or even San Francisco. Which makes today’s events in Houston all the more complex. Through the digital magazine CultureMap, the mayor held an “Ask Annise” web event, inviting citizens to ask about any questions they wanted about city issues, and even interesting facts. So I decided to participate, and thankfully the CultureMap staff picked up my question. Here’s how it went

Texas Leftist: During your administration, you’ve tackled some of our city’s toughest issues… Chapter 42, city pensions, etc. and as a result have made tremendous progress. But why has so little been done regarding the LGBT community? With the exception of city government and some other select businesses you can still be fired for being LGBT because we do not have a non-discrimination ordinance for general employment. This lags behind other Texas cities such as Dallas, Austin, and Ft. Worth. When will you work to pass city-wide non-discrimination laws for our city? And even if it weren’t to pass council, isn’t the conversation worth having for the sake of all Houstonians?

Mayor Annise Parker: The conversation is worth having and as an openly lesbian politician, it is clearly not an issue I’m afraid to tackle, but see the answer above. I am unwilling to bring an issue forward when I know there aren’t sufficient votes to pass it. A non-discrimination ordinance would be important, but I am more interested in seeing discrimination removed from our city charter.

The city is prohibited by charter from offering domestic partner benefits or from recognizing the domestic relationships of our gay and lesbian employees. It would require a vote of the citizens to undo. I hope Council will join me in placing it on the ballot at the appropriate time.

I think I understand Mayor Parker’s point here… why waste the energy on one contentious issue when there are so many other things that can be done? From a purely political calculus, this type of “playing it safe” approach makes perfect sense.

But the problem here? Equality isn’t safe, and it’s definitely not supposed to be based on a political calculation. Every day in Houston and throughout much of this country, discrimination continues unabated against our LGBT citizens… people ARE losing their jobs because they are gay. They are getting harrassed at work, beaten up, and for some people, right here in the city of Houston, they are even losing their lives. You don’t come out as LGBT in this country to be safe. You don’t support LGBT issues to be safe. You come out and you support equality because it’s who you are, and who you love.

As a constituent, I have great respect for Mayor Annise Parker. The city of Houston has weathered our nation’s economic storms better than any other metropolitan area, in no small part to a thoughtful and responsive city government under her stewardship. She has a not insignificant record on LGBT rights, having appointed Texas’ first Transgender judge Phyllis Frye, and is a member of Mayors for the Freedom to Marry. As the top executive of the city, she has extended equal protection rights to all city employees. The Mayor, having suffered so many of these indignities herself, knows what should be done for Houston. And of course, her election in itself was an important turning point in American politics, and brought new elevation to all of Houston’s LGBT community.

But as someone that cares about progress throughout Houston, Texas and the whole country, it is not sufficient that we continue to “play it safe”. Sometimes progress isn’t about the end result… it’s about the journey to get there. In what is likely to be her 3rd and final term, I hope Mayor Parker considers taking a different path. Not only for the 2.2 million Houstonians that are depending on her leadership, but all of the Progressive forces that have invested in her current campaign, and her bright political future.

To date, Parker has already received high-profile endorsements from the Victory Fund, the Human Rights Campaign, and many other groups that support full equality.

(photo credit: The Dallas Voice)

Smart phone app for Houston Job seekers Launches

Houston is a city with an affinity for forward motion, and Mayor Annise Parker’s new initiative is no exception. In an effort to arm Houston job seekers and employers with a new, 21st century way to connect, the Mayor announced the launch of the ‘Tweet My Jobs Houston’ smart phone app. Now job searches can be hyper-localized thanks to the geo-location software of the smart phone app. If the effort is successful, it will help people connect with jobs in their area at an even greater rate of accuracy.

Here is an excerpt from the city’s official press release…

Houston, TX (April 26, 2013) – Mayor Annise D. Parker announced the launch of “TweetMyJobs Houston!” during today’s State of the City address. This new online jobs platform, powered by TweetMyJobs, revolutionizes recruitment by incorporating mobile and social media. “TweetMyJobs Houston!” is the connective thread that will distribute jobs throughout the greater Houston area and match qualified job seekers with employers. It will also produce hyper-local analytics to help facilitate executive decisions by government and business entities thereby enhancing and fostering future job growth in the Houston metro area.

“Houston is the biggest economic success story in America, however; as you know, the best can always get better,” said Mayor Parker. “That is why I’m launching ‘TweetMyJobs Houston!’ a free, interactive jobs initiative geared to match qualified job seekers with thriving Houston businesses.” The public-private partnership model is a solution for many small to mid-size businesses with limited recruitment budgets as well as recent college-graduates from our booming higher education communities that now need jobs.

By adopting the TweetMyJobs platform, Houstonians will have access to relevant opportunities instantly and directly. Houston based employers will be able to reach quality candidates in a fast, efficient and affordable way. “TweetMyJobs Houston!” includes more than 150,000 jobs in all industries at all levels of employment, from entry level to C-Suite positions in the Houston metro area. The platform is not limited to specific demographics, in fact, “TweetMyJobs Houston!” is a tool for all Houstonians.

Available at www.Houston.TweetMyJobs.com or at the App Store for your mobile device, getting started is as fast and easy as pushing a button to find jobs. Likewise, employers can instantly distribute their job listings to every corner of the digital landscape. “TweetMyJobs Houston!” leverages social media to drive local employment solutions. Job seekers can choose to receive job notifications “pushed” to them via text message on their phone, email or through social media networks like Twitter. The platform is also integrated with Facebook so that job seekers can easily see if any of their friends are connected with the hiring company. Through the site seekers can request a referral from their friend to the hiring company, making their chances of getting the job 20 times higher.