On May 3, Houston’s gay and lesbian community loses a powerful friend and ally. Grant Martin, who has managed the campaigns of Controller Annise Parker, Council member Ada Edwards, Texas Rep. Garnet Coleman and Sue Lovell is moving to San Francisco.

Back in 1996 it seemed the other way around: Martin had moved to Houston from San Francisco after ending a five-year relationship.

Sue Lovell, the former President of the Houston Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus (PAC), remembers first hearing of Martin through her friend, Roberta Achtenberg, the former undersecretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. “She called me and told me I have a dear friend who is moving back to Houston and I want you to take good care of him.”

The two met and talked about politics for hours.

Later it would be Martin who would take care of Lovell when she ran for an at-large council seat in 2003. “Grant is one of those really unique kind of campaign managers who takes a candidate who doesn’t have the resources of other candidates but uses his skills, his knowledge and his grass-roots organization to make that candidate competitive.”

Lovell did not win that election, a feeling with which another Houston politician could easily identify. Annise Parker had unsuccessfully run for city council twice before she met Martin.

Parker determined her third try would be her last shot at a city council position. “I had scheduled a meeting with people committed to being a part of my finance council. And I don’t know how Grant found out about it, but he came and he stopped to chat. He worked in the campaigns—not any successful ones, mind you. He was shopping around for someone to work for. I don’t know, over a few minutes of conversation, we just clicked. I thought about it—he didn’t have a job so he worked cheap.”

Parker credits Martin for being very aggressive with fundraising. “It was really the most expensive council race to the point. I was able to spend toe-to-toe with the white-guy businessman.”

Parker made history winning the position.

“It was a great day for the city and her and everybody,” Martin recalled. Martin would subsequently run Parker’s re-election campaigns as well as her successful bid to become the City Controller.

But in between the campaigns, Martin met someone at a Passover Seder, Paul Fromberg, an Episcopal priest.

“I thought he was cute and attractive and fun but I thought, how could I date a priest—I mean I don’t even go to church!”

It took two and half years of thinking about the issue and missed opportunities before Martin took action. “He was flirting with me, so I called him up and asked him out. And we’ve been together ever since. Apart form the U-Haul, we’ve had a 100-percent lesbian relationship and proud of it!”

The only problem with the relationship was the leadership of the Diocese of the Episcopal Church of Texas. “The Episcopal Church nationally is progressive,” Martin said, referring to the Rev. Gene Robinson being consecrated as the denomination’s first openly gay bishop. “But the diocese of Texas is not really a friendly place for openly gay priests.”

The couple decided to relocate to San Francisco, thinking Fromberg could get a job there and live an open and honest life as a gay man. “As soon as he got his job, which was a month ago, we set the date for moving,” Martin said.

“The fact that Grant is leaving Houston because his partner cannot live the life he needs to lead underscores the fact that Houston needs people like Grant,” said Parker. “And I will miss him tremendously.”

Lovell echoed those sentiments. “This is not only a big loss for the gay and lesbian community with Grant leaving, but it’s also a big loss for the city of Houston.”

Martin admits to having mixed feelings. “I’m excited to build a brand new life with my lover, but I’m going to miss my friends and clients in the community terribly.”

“I think that life is easy in Houston,” Marin reflected. “It’s got a low cost of living. You can have a nice lifestyle for relatively little money, but I think that breeds complacency. And just because they have economic comforts, people don’t realize their freedom is at stake.”

Martin said he hasn’t ruled out running for a political position himself. But right now he’s looking forward to helping other candidates like he’s helped in Houston. “In many ways, if your ambition is to make a difference, you can almost make a difference behind the scenes.”

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