Out Magazine Power 50
Houston mayor ranks high on list of nation's most influential LGBT people — again
Annise Parker has made the Power 50 list again.
Houston's mayor comes in at No. 19 on Out magazine's annual ranking of the most influential LGBT people in America. She is up two notches from 2014 and ranks as the second most powerful politician on the ninth annual list, behind Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, who is ranked No. 4.
About Parker, Out says:
The openly gay mayor of the United States’ fourth largest city has been elected to her post three times, and was a progressive public official and an LGBT activist before that. Named one of the top 10 mayors in the world by the City Mayors Foundation in 2014 (the only U.S. mayor on the list), Parker was praised for making the city greener and more walkable, and for expanding nondiscrimination protections."
Apple CEO Tim Cook ranks No. 1 on the list, followed by talk show host Ellen Degeneres (No. 2) and MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow (No. 3).
The eclectic list also includes transgender actress Laverne Cox (No. 9), actress Jane Lynch (No. 12), Fox News anchor Shepherd Smith (No. 20), CNN anchor Don Lemon (No. 22), fashion designers Michael Kors (No. 30) and Alexander Wang (No. 32), football player Michael Sam (No. 31) and basketball player Brittney Griner (No. 37.)