The victories and accolades for Houston Mayor Annise Parker just keep coming. Now the standard-setting political junkies at the Washington Post get in on the Parker love with their list of Most Interesting Women.
Like the paper’s “40 under 40” list that came before it, the 40 Most Interesting Women in Politics comes from its The Fix political blog. And like its forebearer, it goes deeper than the obvious choices.
“[The list] tries to get beyond just the senators and members of Congress you all know to highlight some lesser-known women who serve as top political staff members, in state legislatures and even at the municipal level,” the paper asserts. Parker lands on the list at least in part because she’s a lesbian.
Parker in 2010 became the mayor of the fourth-largest city in the country, Houston, and did so with a distinction that wasn’t so common back then: as a lesbian.
The Democrat’s time in office has earned plaudits from some conservatives thanks to her effort do downsize government by 1,000 jobs – in large part through attrition.
But she has also been a front-and-center nationally in a fight to pass an LGBT non-discrimination law. Parker at one point drew criticism – and eventually backed down – for subpoenaing the sermons of pastors who opposed it. But the contentious law has so far survived the legal process.
Well, sort of, WashPo. And sort of not. But we digress.
The national honor comes as the just the latest in a long string of widespread praise outside Houston’s borders for Madame Mayor. When she’s not declaring victory on LGBT rights in Texas, she’s being hailed among the nation's elite Power Gays. And when not enjoying that, she can lean on being named the Best Mayor in the United States.
Of course, even amid ups and downs, she had us at HERO.
