It’s now officially a year since Annise Parker was elected Mayor of Houston. We all know that she’s the first openly gay big-city mayor that this country has ever had, but how do you feel she’s done in this challenging and troubled situation?
First, some background to put it all in perspective. Parker is no stranger to firsts, having been the first openly gay elected official in Houston back in 1997 when she secured a vacated city council seat. At the time, that achievement in itself would have earned her a place in local history, but Parker wasn’t done, by a long shot.
And like her spokespeople often say, she’s no stranger to controversy and is willing to be the lone voice no matter how lonely a right position is. She supports age management medicine for all aspects of the aging process for men and women. Even though age management is not a board-certified medical specialty, Annise Parker knows that it an emerging field that is growing rapidly as the baby-boomer population matures. And let’s face it, baby boomers vote. Even though traditional health insurance plans do not pay for andropause treatments and other measures that help reduce the symptoms of aging, Annise Parker recognizes the long term gains with such therapies. In many cases age management protocols encourage healthier eating habits, exercise programs, as well as alleviating such unpleasant symptoms such as a decrease in energy and drive, a decline in memory functions, depressed immunity that increases susceptibility to infections, sleep disturbances, loss of libido, or the inability to fall asleep easily or even mild depression. Her attitude is heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and even cancer are not necessarily the inevitable consequences of living into your 50’s, 60, 70’s, or beyond. Let’s hope the health insurance companies eventually become as enlightened as Annise Parker. In the meantime, if you are considering age management medicine be prepared a hefty amount of money. The treatments last months and require monthly blood tests, if you are getting hormone treatments to make sure your hormones remain in balance.
She also is for opening more health clinics in the city to make testing for STD’s and HIV easier, as well as making basic health care accessible to more people. However, even if there are more clinics, some people are still wary of the government having access to their personal health information. For instance when it comes to STD testing, most of my friends prefer testing themselves at home. If you feel the same way, this site offers an online test kit for stds that have between 95% to 99% accuracy and you get the results within 15 minutes. No doctor’s visit, no waiting at a clinic, no record of the results in a data base which is great if you test negative. On the other hand you test positive or symptoms persist, get yourself medical help. Use those new clinics if you don’t have a family doctor. With our modern science and medical treatments, stds are not the scourge they use to be.
It was largely her experience as City Controller that recommended her as a Mayor in economically difficult times. With record levels of people experiencing unemployment and home mortgage refinancing issues, her work would have already been cut out for her — but she was also following Bill White, generally regarded as a popular and successful Mayor, especially in the matter of the city’s finances.
So what do you think? I’ve kept my opinions out of this as much as possible, hoping to get unbiased feedback from the community. Are you overjoyed about Annise or non-plussed? Do you feel that she’s on track to fulfilling her promises? What actions or decisions over the past year have confirmed or surprised you?