Los Angeles Times | Dec. 12, 2009 | 8:50 p.m.

Breaking: Houston voters elect first openly gay mayor

Annise Parker, a lesbian who has never made a secret or an issue of her sexual orientation, tonight was elected mayor of Houston, the nation's fourth-largest city.

Parker, 53, captured 53% of the vote and her opponent, Gene Locke, 61, conceded tonight.

Parker, Houston's city controller, becomes the first openly gay mayor of such a large American city.

Her victory comes just two days after Democrats in California's Assembly unanimously tapped Assemblyman John A. Perez of Los Angeles to be their speaker. He will be the first openly gay lawmaker to hold the powerful post.

HERE'S MY TWO-BITS WORTH ..................

My deceased (gay) Uncle died at age 80 about 30 years ago and never came "out" (he was a respectable stockbroker in Chicago). We did come out to one another when he was about 60, but he made me swear I'd never discuss his sexual orientation with anyone in the family. He hated gay-lib and liked his life-style ... being a contented bachelor, having clandestine encounters on the side and also secretly socializing with a small group of gay friends. They all liked being in the closet. I can see both sides of the fence, but much prefer being openly gay.

Things are changing but perhaps we need to look more closely. There's something very deep in our culture that supports a macho mentality where men and women display unhealthy behavioral differences. Two straight-looking jocks can be gay and "married". That's sort of "cool". But a "sissy" at some rural school still gets beat up in the locker room.