A Truly Joyful Inauguration Day

For those who have been following the Houston mayoral election -- and the victory of Annise Parker -- yesterday was a particularly joyful day. Though her official swearing-in ceremony was Saturday, a public event Monday made it official: Parker is the first openly-gay mayor of the fourth largest city in America, and stunning video from the ceremony, featuring her uplifting speech, was chronicled by the Houston Chronicle as you'd expect, but also carried by CNN.

Certainly, this indicates the national significance of such an election. On one hand, Houston is coming together as a city under Parker's leadership, but Parker's rise in Houston politics represents an era in which being an openly gay candidate does not preclude one from winning an election. It's not only a great day for the city of Houston, but it's a great day for the entire nation, able to point to this inauguration as a marker of progress.