Administrativia

In more ways than one... Yesterday, in addition to beating the Saint Louis Cardinals, it was "Pride in the Park" day at Minute Maid -- celebrating Houston's rich diversity and the LGBT community.  This is the first year that such an event has been planned and held in conjunction with a pro sports team in Houston -- the now defunct Houston Comets being the exception. Ticket sales through the Houston Astros "Pride" web page benefitted local LGBT organizations.  At last count, more than 1200 tickets were sold through that site, making the event one of the largest events of its type in the country. Mayor Annise Parker threw out the opening pitch and the Bayou City Chorale sang the national anthem. All in all, a great day... and another example of why Houston is a great place to call home.

Last night I had the privilege of presenting the 2010 Out & Equal Houston Trailblazer Award to Mayor Annise Parker.  The Trailblazer Award is presented to a person, group or company that has demonstrated commitment to LGBT workplace equality and inclusion. In presenting the award, I noted that "... a 'trailblazer' in not just someone who gets there first.  There are plenty of examples of people being first and doing nothing more.  A true trailblazer is someone who helps the next person get there as well... One of the more remarkable things that happened during last year's campaign was the conversation that it engendered. People from all parts of the political spectrum were actually talking about whether or not a person's sexual orientation had any bearing on their ability to do their job. We all know how the election turned out. Voters chose competency and honesty over ignorance and the political low road. The conversation may have started in Houston,...

Beautiful day, great weather, and lots of people out for the Walk...

I will admit to being something of a packrat... so when I do start to clean out things, I never really know what sort of "treasure" I might find. I found the January 20-26, 1995 issue of "This Week in Texas" with then Council member aspirant (now Houston Mayor) Parker.  There was a special election that year to fill the vacant seat created by Sheila Jackson-Lee's election to Congress. Echoing what she would say in her future campaigns, "Potholes and street resurfacing and things like that really don't have a gay agenda..." What struck me as I leafed through the pages was how much has changed in the 15 intervening years. In 1995, about half of the non-bar advertisements were for 1-900 chat lines... the Internet was still a few years from coming into its own.  The majority of the other advertisements were for "viatical services" -- brokers who were buying up the insurance policies of people diagnosed with HIV. A particularly macbre...

Remarks by newly sworn-in Mayor Annise Parker to GLBT community supporters on Sunday evening. More than 500 people from the community packed the ballroom at the Four Seasons hotel to "Celebrate Victory! -- A Party to Welcome the New Mayor of Houston, Annise Parker!" Among the event co-hosts: Equality Texas Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund HATCH Houston Area Stonewall Democrats Houston GLBT Community Center Houston GLBT Political Caucus Houston Transgender Unity Committee (HTUC) Houston Stonewall Young Democrats (HSYD) Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Impact Houston Lambda Legal Out & Equal Houston Pride Houston Seniors Preparing for Rainbow Years (SPRY) Attendees included veteran GLBT activist Ray Hill, Harris County's first openly gay judge, Judge Steven Kirkland, former Mayor Kathy Whitmire, and a host of others. As Ray Hill said in introducing our Mayor, "We did not elect Houston's first lesbian Mayor. We gave our best to the people of Houst...

It being "the thing to do" on New Years Eve, here are some of the things that came to my mind about the last decade: Houston & the Weather Tropical Storm Allison flooded Houston causing more than $5.5 B in damage and 41 deaths -- as usual, the story was overlooked by the national media because a) it was happening in Houston and b) they were manically covering the Timothy McVeigh execution countdown.  Were it not for 9/11, Allison would have been the largest disaster of 2001. Hurricane Katrina devasted the central Gulf Coast, flooding New Orleans with water and Houston with evacuees.  While the nation watched the Bush Administration fail in its duties, Mayor Bill White and the people of Houston stepped into the void -- providing shelter and a path forward for countless "new" Houstonians. Hurricane Rita taught us that our own hurricane plans were inadequate. Hurricane Gustav taught us how quickly a major storm could develop. Hurricane Ike showed how re...

Although Mayor-elect Parker is not Houston's first gay mayor (see Hoffienze & the Chutes leather bar back-room bust in the late 70's), she is the second female mayor, first openly gay mayor and the first mayor-elect in a generation that beat out the back-room selected candidate of the business-elites. It was a campaign that, for many of us, is a sign of the ascendency of Houston's LGBT power base - and a hopeful sign for things to come.

Today was a rare day -- a snow day -- in Houston... and this makes my 600th post since starting my blog in December of 2007.

taken from the Houston Center Club, 49th floor, One Shell Plaza

A view of Buffalo Bayou from Allens Landing as it winds its way past the Wortham Theater Center and Bayou Place (formerly the Albert Thomas convention center). Assuming they're not sold out, there are several boat tours you can take -- including one that highlights historical architecture of downtown Houston or one of the Waugh Bridge Bat Colony . The parks and recreation folks just added a new observation deck near the bridge for viewing the evening emergence of the bats as they go out foraging for insects.

Taken with my iPhone out at Reliant Park last March during the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo... about 10 minutes later, the skies stopped threatening rain and opened up a torrent.

Home to Houston's opera and ballet companies...

Soon to be torn down (end of 2009), the Downtown YMCA which sports a roof-top jogging track.

From Downtown Houston, looking across Buffalo Bayou...

This is a tilt-shift view of the sky-ring walkway that connects two of the Chevron office buildings in Downtown Houston.

"Tilt-shift" takes real-life photos and manipulates them to look like miniatures. This is from the Heritage Society's collection of historic homes: Pillot House -- built in 1868.

Very nice evening -- although a bit low-key from an entertainment standpoint, which I suppose is a sign of the times. (See tweets on the right.) Highlights: Mayor Bill White gave an uncharacteristically impassioned speech about being on the right side of change -- that those who stand in the way of equality and civil rights for GLBT people are on their way out. He started out the speech (accepting the HRC Political Courage Award) with a great quote, "I've received many awards for a variety of reasons. I hope that we get to a time where we no longer need to give awards for simply treating people with dignity and respect." Christine Baranski was bright and funny and entertaining -- ably weaving her personal story into the theme of the evening. Not-so-highlights: The fund-raising aspect of the evening was particularly heavy-handed. The hard-press is somewhat understandable given the climate for non-profits -- and HRC did just recently lay a bunch of staff off and Solmone...

Aaron Brooks takes it to the Lakers to tie the series 2-2. This year's Rockets defy prediction.

Tranquility Park, downtown Houston, sits next to City Hall and is one of the parks created to sit on top of the underground parking system that serves the Theater District and City Hall -- and includes entrances to the Houston Tunnel System which connects virtually all of downtown. The system of interconnected tunnels and public skywalks makes it possible to traverse downtown from end-to-end (during regular business hours) without ever going outside. During the week, it's possible to enter the tunnels at Tranquility Park and walk all the way to the other side of downtown, coming up at Discovery Green -- Houston's newest park addition.