Source: Parker, partner plan January wedding

Houston mayor Annise Parker, center, celebrates her election victory with her partner Kathy Hubbard, right, during a campaign party at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, in Houston. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle ) less Houston mayor Annise Parker, center, celebrates her election victory with her partner Kathy Hubbard, right, during a campaign party at the George R. Brown Convention Center on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2013, in ... more Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Staff Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Staff Image 1 of / 15 Caption Close Source: Parker, partner plan January wedding 1 / 15 Back to Gallery

Mayor Annise Parker and her partner of 23 years, Houston tax preparer Kathy Hubbard, are planning to marry, a source close to the couple said Friday.

The source, who spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the matter, said Parker and Hubbard plan to wed in Palm Springs, Calif., in January. "I heard it from her own lips," the source said.

The mayor's wedding plans were reported earlier Friday by the website CultureMap.

Parker, recently elected to her third and final term as Houston mayor, long has pledged that she and Hubbard would not marry until Texas legalized same-sex marriage.

In recent public statements, though, the mayor has suggested she might reconsider her position. She said developments such as the Supreme Court's striking down of the federal Defense of Marriage Act have prompted her to consider the message her inaction might be sending to the couple's two adopted children.

California is one of 18 states in which same-sex marriage is legal.

Mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Michan said in a statement via email: "The mayor very much appreciates the interest in the 23-year relationship she has shared with her life partner, First Lady Kathy Hubbard. However, marriage is a private matter and she has no announcements she wishes to make at this time. If that changes, we will let you know."

A native New Yorker, Hubbard has said she spent much of her childhood longing to live in a warmer climate.

She achieved that goal when she followed her sister to Houston in the 1980s. In 1990, Hubbard met the future mayor when she visited Parker's Inklings book store in Montrose to see if the business needed a tax consultant.

Parker hired Hubbard to handle her personal taxes, and with time affection blossomed.

In 1993, Parker encountered a hungry-looking, apparently homeless youth in her neighborhood. The teenager, Jovon Tyler, told Parker that his grandparents had kicked him out of the house because he was gay.

Parker gave the youth the keys to the house, then broke the news to Hubbard. Tyler, now 37, calls each woman "mom." He graduated from mortuary school in 2009.

In 2003, Parker and Hubbard adopted two sisters, Marquitta, now in her late teens, and Daniela, now in her early 20s.

Mike Morris contributed to this report.