After more than two decades, Houston Mayor Annise Parker married her partner Kathy Hubbard on Thursday in Palm Springs, California, the Associated Press reported.
Parker and Hubbard have been sharing a life together for the past 23 years and the couple chose to get married Thursday to mark their anniversary and a new phase of their relationship, according to the AP.
"This is a very happy day for us," Parker said in her statement, according to the AP. "We have had to wait a very long time to formalize our commitment to each other.
According to Parker's office, the couple wed at a private home in sunny Palm Springs while a small group of their closest friends and family members looked on, the AP reported.
"Kathy has been by my side for more than two decades, helping to raise a family, nurture my political career and all of the other ups and downs and life events that come with a committed relationship. She is the love of my life, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life married to her," Parker said in her statement, according to the AP.
Parker's mother and Hubbard's sister were both in attendance at the ceremony performed by Rev. Paul Fromberg who runs the St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church in San Francisco, the AP reported.
Rev. Fromberg is also gay and lived in Houston where he was the rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church before moving to San Francisco, according to the AP.
After Parker's election in 2009, Houston became the largest U.S. city with an openly gay mayor, the AP reported. Because Texas does not recognize same-sex marriage, Parker stated Hubbard will "not participate in the new policy granting city health insurance benefits to spouses of legally married city employees," and will find insurance elsewhere.
