Glen Maxey
Encyclopedia
Glen Maxey is an American politician from Austin, Texas
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

, who was the first openly gay member of the Texas Legislature
Texas Legislature
The Legislature of the state of Texas is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Texas. The legislature is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The Legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin...

. Active in the fight for gay rights, Maxey was a central figure in the establishment of facilities for the education and care of HIV-infected individuals, especially the AIDS Services of Austin (ASA). In 2008, he was an unsuccessful candidate for Tax Assessor-Collector in Travis County, Texas
Travis County, Texas
As of 2009, the U.S. census estimates there were 1,026,158 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile . There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile...

.

Early life and education

Maxey is the son of Byron Hale Maxey and Mary Ursula Ocker. His family ran a traveling rodeo. Maxey was educated at Sam Houston State University
Sam Houston State University
Sam Houston State University was founded in 1879 and is the third oldest public institution of higher learning in the State of Texas. It is located in Huntsville, Texas. It is one of the oldest purpose-built institutions for the instruction of teachers west of the Mississippi River and the first...

. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree and Masters of Education from Sam Houston State University.

Maxey taught fifth grade and worked as a reading and math specialist working with migrant students in Navasota, Texas
Navasota, Texas
Navasota is a city in Grimes County, Texas, United States. The population was 6,789 at the 2000 census. In 2005, the Texas Legislature named the city "The Blues Capital of Texas," in honor of the late Mance Lipscomb, a Navasota native and blues musician....

.

Political involvement and activism

Glen Maxey first entered politics in 1968 as a volunteer on the Texas Democratic Primary campaign of Senator Eugene McCarthy
Eugene McCarthy
Eugene Joseph "Gene" McCarthy was an American politician, poet, and a long-time member of the United States Congress from Minnesota. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1949 to 1959 and the U.S. Senate from 1959 to 1971.In the 1968 presidential election, McCarthy was the first...

.

While teaching school, Maxey continued to volunteer for local, state and federal campaigns. In 1980, while teaching in Navasota, Maxey joined the successful campaign of Kent Caperton
Kent Caperton
Kent Allen Caperton is an attorney and political consultant in Austin, Texas, who served from 1981 to 1991 as a Democratic member of the Texas State Senate from District 5, encompassing twenty-one counties from The Woodlands, to Crockett, and Caperton's then city of residence, Bryan, Texas.-Early...

, a candidate for the Texas State Senate. Caperton, a young Bryan
Bryan, Texas
Bryan is a city in Brazos County, Texas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 76,201. It is the county seat of Brazos County and is located in the heart of the Brazos Valley . It shares its border with the city of College Station, which lies to its south...

 attorney who was seeking to unseat the legendary "Bull of the Brazos," William T. "Bill" Moore
William T. Moore (Texas politician)
William Tyler Moore, Sr., known as W. T. 'Bill' Moore , was an attorney and businessman in Bryan, Texas, who was a conservative Democratic member of the Texas State Senate from District 5 from 1967 until 1981.Moore originally represented District 14 from 1949 to 1953 and then revised District 11...

. Moore had held the Senate seat centered around Bryan for thirty-two years before Caperton defeated him in the Democratic primary that year. After the election, Maxey joined Caperton's staff in 1981 as a legislative aide.

The following year, Maxey ran for an open House seat in College Station against House Appropriations Committee Chairman Bill Presnal in the Democratic primary, and later joined the campaign of Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower
James Allen "Jim" Hightower is an American syndicated columnist, activist and author.-Life and career:Born in Denison, Texas, Hightower came from a working class background. He worked his way through college as assistant general manager of the Denton Chamber of Commerce and later landed a spot as...

, who was then a candidate for Texas Agriculture Commissioner.

In November 1982, Maxey joined the staff of Democratic State Senator Oscar Mauzy, who was Dean of the Texas Senate at the time, and became his Chief Legislative Aide.

While on Mauzy's staff, Maxey was active in HIV/AIDS activism, and urged Mauzy to become involved in the case of a man suffering from HIV who had been threatened with quarantine by the Texas Board of Health. In 2001, Maxey discussed this watershed moment in HIV and AIDS awareness in an interview with the Austin Chronicle
Austin Chronicle
The Austin Chronicle is an alternative weekly, tabloid-style newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demographic...

:

As Maxey recalls the episode, "It was very early in the AIDS crisis, the disease wasn't very well understood, and the commissioner of health began talking about declaring HIV a 'quarantinable disease.' I was working with AIDS activists, and I went to Mauzy and asked him could we get involved. He answered, as he always did, 'Well, get something organized.' So we called committee hearings, and I contacted Dr. Mathilde Krim
Mathilde Krim
Mathilde Krim, Ph.D. is the founding chairman of amfAR, an association for AIDS research.-Biography:Krim received her Ph.D. from the University of Geneva, Switzerland, in 1953...

, at the time the foremost authority on AIDS and an advocate for patients. She came down here and testified against the quarantine.".


In 1987, Maxey left Mauzy's staff and became the first Executive Director of the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas.

Legislative service

In 1991, Maxey was elected to the Texas House from the Austin seat held by Lena Guerrero, who had been appointed by Governor Ann Richards
Ann Richards
Dorothy Ann Willis Richards was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was...

 to the Texas Railroad Commission.

Serving from 1991 to 2003, Maxey passed hundreds of bills and substantive amendments and played a leading role in passing the Children's Health Insurance Program.

During his six terms in the Texas House, Maxey served on committees including Appropriations, Public Health, Administration, Pensions and Investments, Cultural Affairs and Human Services. He has been the most prolific bill sponsor in the Texas House. During his last terms in that body, Maxey passed more legislation than any other single member of that body.

During his tenure in the Texas House, Maxey was also a key player in the group of House members that helped elect Pete Laney Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives
The Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is the presiding officer of the Texas House of Representatives. The Speaker's main duties are to conduct meetings of the House, appoint committees, and enforce the Rules of the House...

 and reformed that body's rules.

While passing hundreds of bills through the process, Maxey was also well known for his abilities to defeat bad legislation through use of the rules and parliamentary procedures. He was a founding member of the Texas Legislative Study Group, a membership organization of legislators who banded together to work on progressive legislative issues. He served as floor whip for the LSG members for four sessions.

Awards & honors

Maxey has won numerous other awards for his public service. He has been recognized as Legislator of the Year by several dozens of advocacy organizations, including on three occasions by the Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...

. Common Cause
Common Cause
Common Cause is a self-described nonpartisan, nonprofit lobby and advocacy organization. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican former cabinet secretary under Lyndon Johnson, as a "citizens' lobby" with a mission focused on making U.S. political institutions more open and...

 of Texas awarded him the "Star of Texas" award for his work in reforming the House rules of procedure. He has won accolades and awards from the Grey Panthers, Public Citizen
Public Citizen
Public Citizen is a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, headed for 26 years by Joan Claybrook, and is now headed by Robert Weissman.-Lobbying Efforts:Public Citizen...

, the Austin Police Association, the Brain Injury Association, the Texas Network of Youth Services, United Cerebral Palsy
United Cerebral Palsy
United Cerebral Palsy is an international nonprofit charitable organization consisting of a network of affiliates. UCP is a leading service provider and advocate for adults and children with disabilities, including cerebral palsy...

, the Save Our Springs Coalition, ADAPT
ADAPT
ADAPT is a grassroots United States disability rights organization with chapters in 30 states. It is known for being part of the militant wing of the disability rights movement due to its history of nonviolent direct action in order to bring attention to the lack of civil rights the disability...

 of Texas, the Texas Nurses Association, Coalition of Persons with Disabilities, Consumers Union
Consumers Union
Consumers Union is a non-profit organization best known as the publisher of Consumer Reports, based in the United States. Its mission is to "test products, inform the public, and protect consumers."...

, Advocacy, Inc, the Texas AIDS Network, the Human Rights Campaign
Human Rights Campaign
The Human Rights Campaign is the United States' largest LGBT advocacy group and lobbying organization; according to the HRC, it has more than one million members and supporters...

 and many others. Maxey has been voted "Best Legislator" in the Austin Chronicle
Austin Chronicle
The Austin Chronicle is an alternative weekly, tabloid-style newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demographic...

 Reader's Poll on eight separate occasions.

Legislative retirement & later political activities

Maxey's final term in the Texas House ended in January, 2003. Maxey was among many veteran House members who announced their retirement following the 2001 Legislative Session.

Since retiring from office, he has worked as a lobbyist and public affairs adviser. He ran the Travis County
Travis County, Texas
As of 2009, the U.S. census estimates there were 1,026,158 people, 320,766 households, and 183,798 families residing in the county. The population density was 821 people per square mile . There were 335,881 housing units at an average density of 340 per square mile...

 Democratic Party's 2004 coordinated campaign and served as field director in the 2006 coordinated campaign effort.

Maxey was a candidate for the Chairmanship of the Texas Democratic Party
Texas Democratic Party
The Texas Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in Texas and the local branch of the United States Democratic Party. It is headquartered in Downtown Austin within close proximity to the Texas State Capitol.-19th century:...

 in 2006. The same year, he served as statewide field director for the gubernatorial campaign of Democrat Chris Bell
Chris Bell
Chris Bell may refer to:*Chris Bell , singer-songwriter and guitarist of the band Big Star*Chris Bell , former Congressman and 2006 candidate for Governor of Texas...

.

In the summer of 2007, Glen Maxey announced his candidacy for Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector. He was beaten by a 74% to 26% margin in the March 2008 Democratic primary by incumbent Nelda Wells Spears. http://www.co.travis.tx.us/county_clerk/election/20080304/files/DemCume.pdf

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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