News Stories of the Year

From marriage celebrations in D.C. to
beleaguered youths taking drastic action to a prominent activist
succumbing to pressure, 2010 was as dramatic as they come. But the good
news outweighed the bad, with happy endings for people like Constance
McMillen, Dan Choi, and the students in Arkansas's Midland School
District. Here's our list of the most riveting news events of the year.

Annise Parker Takes Office

Somewhere Harvey Milk smiled on January 2: Lesbian Annise Parker began her first day as mayor of Houston, the nation’s fourth-largest city. Even though her city is on relatively stable financial ground, Parker still had to deal with an economy that has yet to fully recover. City council members showed how much faith they have in Parker’s leadership that they voted unanimously in December to give her the ability to order mandatory furloughs.