Politics | 01/28/2009 10:05 am
Iceland Set to Pick Lesbian Prime Minister

Johanna Sigurdardottir may make history this week.
Iceland’s Parliament is expected to appoint Sigurdardottir as their nation’s interim prime minister, a move that would make her the world’s first openly gay person to hold such a position. Iceland’s former prime minister, Geir Haarde, resigned on Monday amid a failing government and growing economic woes. Those woes would be Sigurdardottir’s main priority — Iceland’s economy failed earlier this year and politicians are scraping by as they consider long-term solutions. Sigurdardottir’s party peer, Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir, celebrated her possible appointment, and thinks the rest of the nation will agree: "She is a senior parliamentarian, she is respected and loved by all of Iceland." Former Prime Minister Haarde disagrees, "Johanna is a very good woman — but she likes public spending, she is a tax raiser."
A former flight attendant, Sigurdardottir got her political start as a labor organizer and first ran for Parliament in 1972, an election she won. The 66-year-old has been Iceland’s social-affairs minister since 1999. She lives with her civil partner, journalist Jonina Leosdottir, and has two sons. Those kids, from a previous marriage to a man, will no doubt be proud to see their mother in the Parliament’s prime seat.























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