Never underestimate the importance of role models. I had the pleasure yesterday of hearing Mayor (and lesbian mom) Annise Parker of Houston, Texas, and Laverne Cox, one of the stars of Orange is the New Black, speak at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force’s Creating Change conference. It’s Friday, so put your feet up and watch. You’ll be glad you did.
Parker entered the room to thunderous applause, then deadpanned to the crowd, “You’re acting as if you’ve never seen a lesbian before.”
“This is what a lesbian mayor looks like,” she told us. [As is this.] She lit up City Hall in rainbow colors for the conference — but that’s the least of what she’s done for our community. She also issued an executive order preventing employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression as well as sexual orientation, including among the city’s contractors and vendors. She appointed the first transgender judge in the state (and one of the first in the country), Phyllis Frey. Parker is in her third and final term as mayor of America’s fourth largest city, but I have the feeling we haven’t heard the last of her.
If Parker was inspiring, Cox was captivating, gut-wrenching, and brilliant. She spoke of the challenges she has faced as a trans woman of color, those who still face them, and those from whom she has learned. It’s a powerful speech that puts to rest any misconception that she’s just another pretty face on television.
Their speeches were part of the longer opening plenary session, which the video below captures in full. Parker starts at 45:30 and Cox at 55 minutes (but comedian Kate Clinton is in between, so you may not want to skip too much).
