Lesbian Annise Parker Voted Best Mayor in U.S., 7th Best in World

Out lesbian Houston Mayor Annise Parker has been voted top mayor in the U.S., and seventh best mayor in the entire world, reports the City Mayors Foundation, an international think tank that is dedicated to urban affairs.

"It's a great honor to be recognized for doing what I love for a city that I dearly love," Parker told Houston CultureMap. "Being mayor of Houston is the best political job in the world. It provides the opportunity to shape the future of one of the great American cities. I am humbled that others view this work as worthy of being right up there with the accomplishments of my mayoral colleagues around the world."

Parker was selected as one of 26 nominees for the Foundation's semi-annual World Mayor Prize in December -- the only U.S. mayor to crack the top 10. First place went to Calgary's Naheed Nenshi. The World Mayor Jury offered its own summary of the thousands of emailed vouchers from Parkers's supporters in the contest:

"Annise Parker should be 2014 World Mayor because of her adept balancing of social and economic issues while making significant progress on both during her three terms as mayor of my hometown, Houston, Texas, USA. Her policies, which enabled the city to remain fiscally healthy during the worst of the recent recession, set the stage for the tremendous economic growth Houston enjoys today. Meanwhile, she champions human rights issues such as by being a pioneer -- first openly-gay mayor of a major city -- and a role model."

The total number of testimonials received for the 26 nominees exceeded 256,000. While a number of top-ten ranked mayors were supported by thousands of followers, the World Mayor jury considered the size of support as only secondary.

Too bad her own state doesn't give her such recognition. While receiving international honors, Parker has come under fire for pro-LGBT initiatives in her third and final two-year term. She's been sued for extending benefits to the same-sex spouses of city employees, and over the City Council's decision to pass an Equal Rights Ordinance containing LGBT protections.

On Monday, February 2, Parker took the stand in a jury trial over the Equal Rights Ordinance. ProjectQ.us reports that she took heat from opposition attorneys that tried to characterize her testimony as evasive. In turn, she fired right back on the "fraud and forgery" by HERO opponents.

"They've made a lot of public allegations about what I did or did not do, but they really didn't ask me about what my job was and what I actually did do, which was surprising," Parker told the Houston Chronicle. "They spent a lot of time asking me to second-guess the work of the legal department. As I had to reiterate, I wasn't down in the weeds, that wasn't my role."

But Parker also noted during a press conference that HERO opponents used dishonest tactics in gathering signatures, adding that it wasn't the main problem with the petition. The ordinance prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations.

"I want to be clear: There was fraud, there was forgery. There were lots and lots of mistakes," said Parker. "But the vast majority of things that were disqualified, pages that were disqualified, was because they didn't follow the form and the process laid out in the charter, and that's not optional."

The city's rejection of the petition prompted the lawsuit from anti-LGBT groups, led by former Harris GOP Chair Jared Woodfill and pastors including Dave Welch, executive director of the Texas Pastor Council.

If HERO opponents prevail, a referendum on the ordinance likely would appear on the November ballot. If the city prevails, the ordinance approved by the City Council last May will finally go into effect.