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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

WATCH: Anti-gay pastor accuses Mayor Annise Parker of promoting 'GLBT agenda for Houston'

This post originally appeared on Houstini.com on Oct. 25, 2011
If LGBT Houstonians needed another reason to run, not walk to the polls, this video from mayoral candidate and Houston Area Pastor Council Executive Director Dave Welch should provide it:
The video, complete with soundtrack appropriate to the third act of a Lifetime original movie, attempts to suggest that Mayor Annise Parker, who is seeking re-election to a second term, has engaged in an insidious plot to advance the "gay agenda." As evidence Welch provides the mayor's executive order clarifying that the city's employee nondiscrimination policy covers gender expression and identity, an executive order policy prohibiting police or city employees from barring transgender people from use of gender appropriate restrooms, and the appointment of Texas' first out trans judge, Phyllis Frye (maybe Welch meant to say "trans agenda"). Welch also attacks Parker for the Greater Houston Convention & Visitors Bureau efforts to attract LGBT tourists, a tactic we've already seen in this race from candidate Fernando Herrera.

Welch's most damaging evidence, however, is the chaste, almost Victorian, peck on the check that Parker gave her partner of 20-some-odd years, first lady Cathy Hubbard, immediately after being sworn in. The horror of the kiss is repeated twice in the video, both times in slow motion so viewers can understand the true terror of two people in a loving mutual relationship. Welch closes by encouraging viewers to show the video at their churches.

Early voting in the Houston mayoral race started Monday. Early numbers show historically low voter turnout with only 2,557 people voting in person. That's down almost half from the 4,089 people who voted on the first day of early voting in 2009 when Parker was first elected.

Monday, October 24, 2011

From the people who brought you Legislative Queery, it's Houstini.com

Thank you so much to everyone who has made Legislative Queery such a success.  When I started this blog a year and a half ago I was unemployed and living in a new city. This website was started so that I could "keep my hand in" the goings on at the state capitol and, more or less, to keep myself busy.  I have been humbled by people's response to this project, and the opportunities it has created for me. 

One of those opportunities was writing a weekly column during the legislative session on LGBT legislative issues for the Dallas Voice's Instant Tea Blog. That relationship has developed into my latest project. I am very excited to announce the launch of my newest project, Houstini.com.  The new site, produced in partnership with the Dallas Voice, will cover LGBT life, art and politics in Houston and around the state.

Legislative Queery still lives!  This site will continue to offer the same hyper-nerdy, detailed writing on goings-on under the pink dome, but I hope that you will also make a point of checking out Houstini, and following me on this journey. Become a fan of Houstini on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

Thank you all for your support and encouragement.

-Daniel