A big gay congratulations to Joel Burns! Despite some anti-gay folks' best efforts, the politico has become Fort Worth's first openly gay councilman!

Real estate agent Joel Burns defeated Fort Worth school trustee Juan Rangel Jr. in a runoff election Tuesday to represent District 9 on the Fort Worth City Council.

Burns will replace Wendy Davis, who resigned to run for the Texas Senate in 2008.

Burns won with 54 percent of the vote. About 14 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the runoff, down from 18 percent in the Nov. 6 election.

Burns' political turf includes downtown Fort Worth, the hospital and Texas Christian University.

Talk about dirty politics! Fort Worth City Councilman Chuck Silcox urged voters to endorse Chris Turner because his opponent, Joel Burns (pictured), does dudes.

This is an excellent time to have Republicans get out and support a Republican: Chris Turner. We have two people of opposite partisan politics, opposite philosophical persuasions and opposite sexual orientations. [Turner's] married to a female, and the other's married to a male. You make your own mind up.

Burns says he's not surprised by Silcox's sneaky, distasteful tactics and expressed his disappointment: "It is unfortunate that Mr. Silcox and Mr. Turner want to bring partisanship to a nonpartisan race."

Silcox defended himself and insisted he doesn't mean to be derogatory:

I'm not trying to be derogatory about the young man. I've never even met him …From what I understand, he is openly gay. I'm not saying good, bad or otherwise.

Well, actually, you sort of did.