It had to happen…

The mayoral race here in Houston is heating up, with election day coming up fast. And it’s been nice to see that one thing we have not heard much about is Annise Parker’s sexual orientation – she’s one of the leading candidates, she’s currently city controller, and she is a lesbian.

That she is open and casual about who she is has not kept her from getting elected city-wide before. But I didn’t expect we’d get through the whole race without someone trying to make it an issue.

Kuff writes today about a mysterious group called “Christians for Better Government” (distinguishing themselves from those Christians who support bad government, which is also known as the Harris Country GOP). Here’s what they said:

In this election our city is faced with a major deficit and how best to turn our city around financially. That is why Christians for Better Government has decided to endorse Gene Locke for Mayor. Gene is the proven leader this city needs “for such a time as this”. He is a family man and a person that knows how to get things done. He has always been on the forefront on issues that affect the community. Gene understands the community and its needs; the others only talk about understanding.

Here is why Peter Brown and Annise Parker are not the best choice for Mayor. Peter Brown puts out false claims that he is a champion for issues affecting the community. Annise Parkers lifestyle that of being a HOMOSEXUAL is not the proper role model to lead the fourth largest city in the United States. The Bible speaks clearly against the lifestyle she represents, James 1:8 says, “A double minded man is confused in all his ways”. She does not believe in what the scripture says about her lifestyle which in return means she doesn’t believe in God.

Kind of predictable. Locke, to his credit, has rejected the group’s endorsement in a press release, calling them out on the homophobia.

Something I missed: a telephone push poll with leading questions about Parker’s sexual orientation. The blogger on the other end of that link notes that she thinks it must have come from the Locke or Brown campaigns because the people she knew who got it were all strongly Democratic voters. (The only other candidate likely to have money for this stuff is Roy Morales, a Republican.)

This is to be expected in pretty much any race with an openly gay candidate. Sad.

UPDATE: Charles updated his post; apparently the Christians for Better Government thing was a hoax, with the actual group with that name as the target; sounds like some right-wingers who wanted their domain were upset that Christians for Better Government is not a bunch of right-wingers.