A minister asked one of my employees the other day,  (a day or so before the election) “How bad has the fallout been since you all endorsed Annise Parker?” Apparently he was giving voice to the thoughts of some people in the Black community that we must have been out of our minds to support someone who was an admitted lesbian.
Although I’m sure that many of those same people had no problem with the Chronicle’s endorsement, I can tell you that at the time of the writing of this editorial, the calls in favor of Parker for mayor has been something like 100 to 0 in her favor. And that includes the hgh-profile heads of organizations who would not go on the record because their homo phobic members were against her.
Another employee (and by the way all of them did not agree with our choice for one reason or another) told of how he has been the butt (no pun intended) of homosexual jokes just because his yard was the only one in the neighborhood that carried her signs instead of those of her opponent. The truth is, the question of her sexuality never entered my mind when it came down to who the newspaper would support in this election.
I know it mattered to a group of African-American pastors who proclaimed she had a “gay agenda,” and it mattered to another activist who distributed flyers featuring her and her partner along with the question, “Is this the image Houston wants to portray?” But to us, it was always who we believed would be a better voice for the under served citizens of Houston, the same as it has always been in every election.
In this case it was Annise Parker. And don’t think just because the decision was easy, it was taken lightly.
It came by way of 30 years of working with Parker and growing together in mutual respect. I have to tell you in that same time-frame, I have seen many so-called men and women of God, and heterosexual leaders fall off their pedestals.
Self-righteous pastors and laypersons alike who try to use the Bible to justify their opposition to her put me in the mind of the people who voted against President Barack Obama because of the color of his skin.
If Obama had relied only on the Black vote, he would have lost by the biggest numbers in recent history. If gays were the only ones voting for Parker, she would have lost—pure and simple.
Thankfully many “straight” people saw through the blatant attacks on her character and her ability and voted their conscience. The rest of the city will find out what many of us already know, Parker is a hard worker who looks beyond her own needs to meet the needs of the citizens in whom she has charge over.
That’s not something you develop overnight. But it’s the same stuff that allowed her to give of herself by adopting two Black girls. Like I said before, as mayor, Parker will work to get an independent crime lab and a public safety plan emphasizing protecting the police budget and getting more police on the streets through coordinated efforts and fast-tracking cadet classes.  She is a champion for public safety and will work to make us more safe.
She has continually stood up for all folks, including us, when it wasn’t the easiest or most popular thing to do. That’s what’s most important to me and to this newspaper. Whether or not you believe in Santa Claus, the fact is, Houston got an early Christmas present.
Thankfully, there is no reason to exchange this one.