100 Women We Love Class of 2010
A Houston, Texas native, Annise Parker has remained close to her roots. She was sworn in as the 61st mayor of Houston in January, becoming only the second woman and first openly gay person to hold that office. She graduated from Rice University and worked for two decades in the oil and gas industry, with 18 of those years spent at the Houston-based Mosbacher Energy Company. For ten years, she co-owned Inklings, a Houston-based independent gay bookstore. Parker was involved in Houston politics for several years prior to becoming mayor, serving six years as a member of the City Council and one six-year term as Houston City Controller. -CB
As the first decade of the new millennium comes to an end, we take a moment to celebrate 100 out lesbians who have made the past year one of inspiring change and amazing progress.
Ellen Hart
Minneapolis-based mystery writer Ellen Hart is the author of 25 novels and has received numerous accolades for her work, including three Minnesota Book Awards for Best Popular Fiction and five Lambda Literary Awards for Best Lesbian Mystery. Writing two popular series of books, the Sophie Greenaway Series and the Jane Lawless Series, Hart has consistently published for two decades. Her latest title, The Mirror and the Mask, from the Jane Lawless series, was nominated for a Lambda Literary Award this year. Of her work, Hart says, “I’ve known that LGBT mysteries were essentially subversive in the sense that I can take a well-known literary form, the crime novel, and add an element that isn’t mainstream: a lesbian sleuth. I want to give my community an opportunity to see themselves portrayed in popular fiction—not as the victim, not as the twisted perpetrator, but as the hero.” -CB
