After Maine: Can Houston Provide a Much-Needed Victory for the Gay Rights Movement?

“Our founding fathers did not intend for people’s constitutional rights to be determined in a political campaign.” That’s how gay activist Chad Griffin responded to news that Maine voters had overturned the state’s gay marriage law in November. As Griffin noted, more than 70 percent of Americans disapproved of interracial marriages when Loving vs. Virginia ruled that states must allow them in 1967. Although support for gay marriage has increased significantly in the past ten years, gay rights activists have grown increasingly impatient with the movement’s inability to win support for marriage rights at the ballot box. The disheartening results of California’s Proposition 8 in 2008 and Maine’s Proposition 1 in November have led some to question the wisdom of a political strategy and to wonder aloud when LGBT Americans would be able to celebrate a major electoral victory.

They might not have to wait very long. On December 12th, deep in the heart of Texas, Houston voters can make Annise Parker the first openly gay mayor of a major US city. Having served on city council for six years and as city controller for six more, Parker is already one of the most prominent gay officials in the country. But if she manages to win election in the country’s fourth-largest city, she might just provide that night of celebration that the gay rights movement has been waiting for since anti-gay politics rose to prominence in the 1970s.

The road to victory for Parker has always been a difficult one, and this election season is no different. Her opponent, attorney Gene Locke, has benefited from mailers attacking Parker for receiving the endorsement of the city’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Political Caucus. The piece was the work of conservative activist Steven Hotze, who ran a “Straight Slate” of candidates for city council on an anti-gay platform in 1985 and has been active in opposing gay rights since then. Locke refused to decline the endorsement, and his campaign is sure to benefit from social conservatives who are offended by the idea of an openly gay mayor. The election should be a close one: Parker led the general election with 31 percent of the vote to Locke’s 26 percent, earning a spot in the run-off.

For social conservatives worried about the growing support for gay rights, Parker’s election would represent a major blow. Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastor’s Council, made clear the stakes of the campaign: “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.” For her part, Parker has run a campaign based on her experience, qualifications, and vision for the city. Besides having the support of the city’s gay community, she has earned endorsements from a wide array of business and political leaders and garnered support from across the political spectrum. Her campaign has focused on issues like the budget, crime, and transportation, but she has also been forthright about what a victory would mean for the gay movement that first spurred her political involvement as a college student. “I absolutely believe that the citizens of Houston will vote for me knowing that I’m gay and knowing that it will mean a lot to my community,” she said. “But they’ll elect me knowing I’m the best, most qualified candidate. I have always been honest with the voters, including about my sexual orientation.”

While Parker has kept her focus on the local issues that dominate mayoral campaigns, the significance of a victory would be undeniable for a movement that has struggled to push its agenda forward. As Parker’s campaign celebrated the general election results on November 3rd, news trickled out that in Maine, voters had struck down marriage equality for same-sex couples. For LGBT Americans, the result was one more reminder of how far the gay rights movement must go to ensure equality for everyone. No federal protections currently exist for employment non-discrimination, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” continues to force loyal Americans out of the military, and the Defense of Marriage Act has not been repealed. Although progress has come rapidly in the past several years, the cold reality is that even many liberal states do not provide the full protection of the law for gay citizens.

Following the general election, one picture featured prominently in local media. It was a snapshot of Parker celebrating the victory with her partner of twenty years, Kathy Hubbard. For the city’s gay community, that image could not have been more striking. When Parker became a gay rights activist, she could never have known that the movement would eventually be challenging for marriage rights or that it would have become such a powerful constituency in national politics. By her own admission, “It was a very different time. We faced death threats, slashed tires, and vandalism.” But on December 12th, the activist of the 1980s could become the face of hope for millions of gay Americans, particularly those who, like Parker, reside in red states. The photographs of Harvey Milk that have inspired generations of gay activists could be supplemented by a very different image. If Annise Parker can pull off a victory, the picture of her celebrating with her partner and their children would speak volumes about where America has been and where it is going. A committed same-sex couple, an interracial family, and a victory for the ages: That is a picture of progress that would surely bring a smile to the face of every supporter of equal rights.