The Houston Chronicles

Well, it sure got ugly. But in the end, Houston became the nation's largest city to ever elect an openly gay mayor.

The New York Times reports:

When asked why Houston became the first big city in the United States to elect an openly gay mayor, rather than New York or San Francisco, the woman who had broken that barrier, Annise Parker, above with her partner Kathy Hubbard, raised her eyebrows and said her victory came as no surprise to people who live here.

“I think the rest of America had the wrong impression of Houston,” Parker said after winning on Saturday night. “We are a diverse, amazing, international city.”

Sadly, with no viable Republican candidate running, it was a fellow Democrat who was pulling out all of the anti-gay stops to defeat Parker in this runoff.