Houston Chronicle Endorses Annise Parker for Mayor

The Houston Chronicle has endorsed Annise Parker, who this week was the target of vicious attacks because of her sexuality, for Houston mayor over her opponent Gene Locke.

Writes the Chronicle:

"In the general election the Chronicle endorsed both Parker and former city attorney and public agency lawyer Gene Locke, her opponent in the run-off. As we noted then, they each “offer deep roots in the city and a dazzling range of life experiences and public service.” And our endorsement of Parker should not be taken as a diminution of the skills and qualifications of Locke, whose back story as a civil rights activist, steelworker and successful major law firm attorney offers a compelling narrative. Houstonians are lucky to face such a difficult choice. But Parker's background and experience offer a better fit for the mayor's office at this point in time...In both her public and personal life, Parker has maintained high ethical standards and decorum in her years as an elected official. No scandals have occurred on her watch. As mayor she will present the city's best face to the world, one of tolerance, diversity and compassion for all our citizens. The Chronicle urges voters to allow Parker to take her high standards and solid record of accomplishment to the city's highest office."

The run-off election takes place December 12. Annise Parker's campaign site is HERE.

Principals, Bus Driver Ignored Pleas for Help from High School Student Beaten with Metal Pipe for Being Gay

Jayron Martin, a 16-year-old student at Langham Creek High School near Houston, was attacked by a group of students on November 12 because he's gay. Martin said he heard the boys were planning the attack and asked two principals and a bus driver for help, but was ignored.

Martin's fears were confirmed when he was chased off his school bus and assaulted for seven minutes by a boy with a metal pipe while eight others watched. The attack was stopped by a property owner nearby who scared the gang away with a shotgun.

Said Martin, who is afraid to go back to school: "All they kept saying was, ‘We going to get you. We going to fight you,’ and all that and so when they started coming after me they were like, ‘You’re not going to be gay anymore.’ They just kept hitting me...You don’t understand, I was just running for my life and nobody was like there at all. Nobody was doing anything for me."

Martin suffered a concussion, cuts and bruises. The 16-year-old who beat him has been arrested. No other arrests have been made.

Watch the report from KHOU, AFTER THE JUMP...

Houston Mayoral Candidate Annise Parker Attacked with Anti-Gay Flyer; Warns of City Run by Someone 'Trapped in Homosexual Behavior'

The homophobic attacks against Houston mayoral candidate Annise Parker have begun, and the first is a doozy. It's a postcard mailing to 35,000 people from local activist Dave Wilson featuring a picture of Parker and her longtime partner, which asks, "Is this the image Houston wants to portray?" and reads:

“I have nothing but compassion, respect and sensitivity towards those trapped in homosexual behavior. I have family members and friends who have been ensnared in this behavior, and I know something of the incredible pain and sorrow it has brought to them and their families. With God’s grace, I carefully balance this love and respect for these individuals with warnings about the promotion and demand for legal and political approval for homosexual behavior that will stifle religious freedom and trap millions of more people in its deadly grip. Therefore, I would ask you to vote against Annise Parker for Mayor.”

KHOU reports:

"Dave Wilson, an electrician who has spent years pestering incumbent politicians of both parties, has turned his sights on Houston Controller Annise Parker. He says that Parker should not be mayor because 'homosexual behavior leads to extinction.' Wilson says he is mailing the fliers to 35,000 Houston voters who cast ballots both in the November mayoral election and in the 2008 Republican presidential primary. 'I'd like to energize the conservative Christian base in Houston, and get them to vote,' he said...'I don't see a good family, a Christian family, one man, one woman,' Wilson said. 'It's a picture of her and her mate being sworn in in public and that's the image I have a problem with.' 11 News asked Wilson what he believes is wrong with the city having an openly gay mayor. 'The openly gay lifestyle leads to extinction,' he said. 'You can't reproduce.'"

Aside from the irrational bigoted nonsense and hate behind Wilson's perspective,  what the F does reproduction have to do with running a city?

A poll published yesterday showed Parker leading her opponenet Gene Locke by a margin of 47-34:

"A recent Lake Research Partners survey of likely voters in Houston's upcoming mayoral runoff shows that City Controller Annise Parker holds a strong lead over former City Attorney and lobbyist Gene Locke. In our recent survey, among likely voters with previous participation in past city runoff elections, Parker leads with 47 percent (37 percent strong) to 34 percent for Locke (27 percent strong). A fifth of voters (19 percent) remains undecided. Parker holds this large lead even though the poll simulated high turnout among African American voters. The sample was comprised of 54 percent Anglos, 30 percent African Americans, and 12 percent Latinos. Parker remains the best-known and liked candidate in the race and she maintains her lead even under a simulated attack. Only a substantially negative campaign from Locke can interrupt her momentum. Sixty-seven percent of voters have a favorable impression of Parker and 62 percent think she has done either an excellent (21 percent) or good job (41 percent) as City Controller. Fifty-seven percent of voters hold a favorable view of Locke."

A news report on the flyer, AFTER THE JUMP...

The run-off election is December 12th. Annise Parker's campaign site is HERE.

Anti-Gay Attacks Planned Against Houston Mayoral Candidate Parker

Right-wing groups are planning an attack on Houston mayoral candidate Annise Parker, who is in a run-off election with City Attorney Gene Locke:

"The group is motivated by concerns about a 'gay takeover' of City Hall, given that two other candidates in the five remaining City Council races are also openly gay, as well as national interest driven by the possibility that Houston could become the first major U.S. city to elect an openly gay woman. Another primary concern is that Parker or other elected officials would seek to overturn a 2001 city charter amendment that prohibits the city from providing benefits to the domestic partners of gay and lesbian employees. 'The bottom line is that we didn't pick the battle, she did, when she made her agenda and sexual preference a central part of her campaign,' said Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastor Council, numbering more than 200 senior pastors in the Greater Houston area. 'National gay and lesbian activists see this as a historic opportunity. The reality is that's because they're promoting an agenda which we believe to be contrary to the concerns of the community and destructive to the family.'"

Parker, however, has not made these issues a central part of her campaign: "Parker has tread carefully in her candidacy for mayor, stressing frequently that she is running not as a gay candidate but as a qualified city official who's won election six times. In a televised debate last month, she voiced 'no current plans' to revisit the city charter amendment if elected, although she said the city will need to offer benefits to the same-sex partners of its employees 'at some point.'"

Most of the forthcoming attacks are expected to involve mailings.

A CNN profile on Parker, which ran earlier this month, AFTER THE JUMP...

News: London Cloud, Rock Hudson, United Airlines, Annise Parker

Signorile on Congress and Obama's LGBT agenda: Why is the "low-hanging fruit" still hanging? And here's the checklist.

Architectural "cloud" proposed in London.

America's Next Top Model's Miss J is the father of a 7-year-old boy: "A French lesbian had asked if we would be sperm donors. "So we thought, 'OK, you want me to do you?' And she was like, 'Ooooh, I'm not that talented.' So I said, 'Okay fine.' So we did a little test tube."

D.C. Council committee advances marriage equality bill: "A DC Council Committee voted 4 to 1 this afternoon to send a bill legalizing same-sex marriage to the full council for debate. Council member Phil Mendelson, chairman of the Committee on Public Safety and Judiciary, said the legislation was 'both simple and monumental.' With the committee vote, the full council will take up the bill in early December. It is expected to easily pass."

Virginia lawmaker to introduce legislation extending protections to state workers who are gay or lesbian.

Celine Dion "no longer pregnant".

Opposition party in Australia drafts bill to keep single mothers and gay couples from accessing surrogacy: "Under the laws...introduced, only married and defacto heterosexual couples who have been together for at least two years would legally be able to have a child by surrogate."

First look at The Addams Family Musical.

American researchers "rebuild" sexual organs on rabbits, believe procedure could work on men: "Male rabbits given the implants attempted to mate within one minute of being introduced to a female partner, and 83 per cent succeeded."

REPORT: Rock Hudson's lover Marc Christian has died.

Goran Visnjic to star as Christopher Plummer's boyfriend in the Mike Mills film Beginners: "It’s a Gay-December romance for the ages!"

Houston mayoral candidate Annise Parker gets endorsement from opponent: “One candidate stands out with a 12-year proven track record of public service, particularly in terms of efficient, transparent government, the quality of life in our neighborhoods, and fiscal responsibility, especially important in these difficult economic times."

Ashleigh and Jakob were definitely the best part of So You Think You Can Dance last night.

Lady Gaga gossips about Gossip Girl.

Some photos by Dav.d Daniels from the Mormon testimony at the Salt Lake City LGBT ordinance hearings.

United Airlines pilot arrested for intoxication before boarding a flight full of passengers at Heathrow.

FireDogLake blogger Jane Hamsher talks about the DNC donor boycott: "If you're suppressing your base, and the other side is revving up theirs, and midterm elections are all about turning out the base, I sort of question what their strategy is here."

Ontario gym owner in transgender bathroom legal battle: "A fitness club owner in southwestern Ontario said Tuesday he has wasted tens of thousands of dollars fighting a legal battle with a transgender woman over which washrooms she should use, only to have the case thrown out by the Ontario Human Rights Commission."

Lesbian Annise Parker Hopes to Be Mayor of Houston

Note: Political director Corey Johnson and I will be live-blogging election results tomorrow evening here on the site. Please join us.

CNN's The Situation Room looks at the Houston mayoral race, where open lesbian Annise Parker is in such an extremely tight race that no candidate is expected to get a majority tomorrow, putting contenders in a run-off in December.

Parker would be the nation's first openly gay female mayor of a major city. Watch,
AFTER THE JUMP...