Houston
Mayor Annise Parker said this week she believes President Barack Obama
“needs to evolve a little bit faster” on the issue of marriage for
same-sex couples, and that she supports an effort to include marriage
equality in the Democratic platform. Meanwhile, Parker rejected a local
pastor's call for her to resign over her increasingly public stance on marriage.
"I do my duty to uphold the state Constitution and the U.S.
Constitution. I swore an oath to that. I take that oath very seriously,
but I have my First Amendment rights to free speech. We all have the
right to do that and I’m sorry [he doesn't] understand the
Constitution," Parker said.