Annise Parker, the three-term mayor of Houston, has had a long road to the mayorship. Gracing the cover of The Advocate's June/July double issue, Mayor Parker discussed campaigning, family, her past, and her future with reporter Tom Dart. You can read the full article here, but if you want the abridged version, then here's five things we learned about Annise Parker.
1. She's a Texas oil woman/LGBT activist. Before becoming Mayor, Parker spent nearly 2 decades as an economic analyst for Mosbacher Energy while working as activist.
2. Parker never hid her sexuality; she made it an asset. She put it "on every printed piece of literature [her campaign] had as part of [her] political resume."
3. She faced some hate during her 2009 campaign, but considering what's she been through, she was unfazed. "I had death threats," says Parker of work as an activist in the 1980s. "I would debate homophobes on radio or TV and come out to the parking lot by myself and find my car covered with Bible tracts or the tires slashed."
4. She's a mom. Annise married her partner of 23-years, Kathy Hubbard, this January in a private ceremony in Palm Springs. In attendance were her four now fully-grown children: her two adopted daughters, a third girl whom the couple took in as a teenager, and a boy they took in when he was kicked out of his home for being gay.
5. She's not done yet. "I hope Wendy Davis becomes the next governor of Texas, and then four years from now I'll be on a ticket with her, perhaps," says Parker.
