Annise Parker

Annise Parker ( born May 17, 1956 in Houston, Texas) is an American politician (Democratic Party). Since January 2010 she has been mayor of Houston.

Life

Parker grew up in a suburb of Houston. In 1971, her father, who was employed by the Red Cross, transferred to Germany, and she spent two years in Mannheim. She studied at Rice University and completed her studies in 1978. She was then 20 years in the oil and gas industry. Since 1997 she was a member of the City Council of Houston and was re-elected in 1999 and 2001. From 2003, she worked as director of the accounting system of the City; also in this office, it was confirmed twice.

In November 2009, she not won the most votes in the election for mayor, but the required majority. Therefore, in December there was a runoff against the second-placed Gene Locke, which she decided, with over 53 percent of the votes cast for themselves. In January 2010 she joined the successor to Bill White, who was in office since 2003 and after three terms in office was not allowed to run again. Annise Parker is the first openly gay mayor of a major city in the United States. Parker is also a member of the Supervisory Board of the Holocaust Museum Houston, and the Board of Directors of the Houston Zoo.

Parker has lived since 1990 with her partner Kathy Hubbart and has adopted together with her two children.