Icelandic Minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, Would Be World's First Gay PM

[IndianaGreen]

Source: Huffington Post

Icelandic Minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, Would Be World's First Gay PM



Icelandic Social Affairs Minister Johanna Sigurðardottir would be the world's first openly gay leader if she becomes Prime Minister of Iceland, as is widely expected. Although Per-Kristian Foss served as acting Prime Minister in Norway very briefly in 2002, this represents the first time that a gay leader would assume the reins of a modern state.

As has been extensively reported, Iceland is in the midst of an economic and political crisis that has brought down the ruling coalition of Geir Haarde. Although elections have been called for in May, Mr. Haarde has announced that he will step down because of the discovery of a malignant tumor on his esophagus earlier this week.

<snip>

Sigurdardottir, 66, has a long background in Icelandic liberal politics. She has been a member of Althingi (the Parliament) since 1978, was Minister of Social Affairs in 1987 until 1994, and again in 2007. She is one of the most popular politicians in the country; in a recent Gallup poll 73 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with her work. She is also the only minister whose popularity had increased compared to a similar poll undertaken in December 2007.

Sigurðardottir is the mother of two grown sons and is married to Icelandic writer and playwright Jonina Leosdottir. She is often described by many of her countrymen as the only politician who really cares about the "little guy." She has devoted her career to fighting for the welfare and equality of minority groups - women, the elderly, the poor, disabled, and immigrants. She holds no fancy foreign diplomas - she has a Commercial degree from the Commercial College of Iceland - nor extensive family or wealth connections like many Icelandic politicians but has diligently worked her way up the political ladder through hard work and determination. Her professional career includes working in the 60s and 70s as a flight attendant for Icelandair (the old Loftleidir Airlines) and an office worker in Reykjavik.


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/iris-lee/icelandic-pm-would-be-wor_b_161311.html

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Johanna married her partner in 2002.

[HEyHEY]

1. Only in Iceland!

[marshall]

37. Isn't she bisexual?

She was married to a man for a number of years, and married her current partner in 2002.

[fujiyama]

2. She sounds impressive

Hope she can help turn things around in her country.

[harry_pothead]

3. I hope to see the next Icelandic state visit to the US

Where President Obama and Sec. of State Clinton formally introduce The Prime Minister of Iceland her beautiful wife the First Lady of Iceland to the United States.

[Divine Discontent]

4. I thought there was someone who was Gay who served (it was interim as shown in the story)

but she would be the first to hold the true title as a nation's leader. Who knows if there was (someone probably does) world leaders in the past who were openly and exclusively Gay, but in the modern world, this is great to see!

[B o d i]

5. Iceland is ahead of the curve, in many ways.

The longest lasting parliamentary democracy in the world, dating back to 930 A.D.

Leading the charge in trying to be get off fossil fuels, with hydrogen at the pump at some stations in Reykjavik.

Bjork (ok, I'm just throwing that one out there to start a flame war, lol)

The canary in the mine (or one of, anyway, we can't forget Ukraine and Hungary) for the global banking system collapsing.

Now this. Congrats to her.

[BR_Parkway]

9. So much so that they don't even mention gays as one of the minority

groups, I guess once they're given full rights as the rest of the citizens, they're lumped in with everyone else (a very good thing)

"She has devoted her career to fighting for the welfare and equality of minority groups - women, the elderly, the poor, disabled, and immigrants."

Good luck to her, she'll have her hands full trying to rebuild it all. The nice thing is that she appears to get a slate that's been cleaned of the corporate influences we've got here and a population quite willing to take to the streets and demand change.

[Blue Dog Dominion]

13. I totally agree!

[Cronopio]

6. Iceland, you rock!

First female head of state, now first openly gay head of state. Talk about bold moves in a crisis.

:toast: :loveya: :yourock: :headbang: :fistbump: :woohoo: :applause: :thumbsup:

[Norrin Radd]

7. Well, cool.

Good luck to her.

[sasquatch]

8. Wow, that is so appealing to me in more ways than one

[Delphinus]

10. She really does sound

like she's for "the little guy". I love it that she doesn't have fancy diplomas - sounds like she has common sense and maybe that's what's needed right now.

And I have to say, she's beautiful.

[moggie]

11. Are you bothered by Obama's "fancy" Harvard degree? n/t

[Delphinus]

17. Oh, heavens no!

I'm just happy to see a regular person rise to the top.

[Aristus]

36. I agree. At first I thought: "Striking". Then I realized: "No...no, she's beautiful!"

And she is. :-)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

38. "I love it that she doesn't have fancy diplomas"

Let go of that thought. It is wrong and dangerous.

[Tab]

12. I think the correct term would be

the first known openly gay PM.

Gay or not, she's inheriting a hell of a mess over there.

[BoneDaddy]

14. yay

brains and beauty to match.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. If Johanna was an American

She would have no marriage, and would not be allowed by religionists to rise to any level of power, much less PM. She'd have lived a life based on one fact: politics is closed to you as an avenue of making change. She'd be a social worker or an artist.
And that's fine, because the USA is doing so great, and we can fully afford to reject large populations of talented people. We have far too many good ideas, far too much money being made, and a future too fantastic to bother seeking the best and brightest. Everything is perfect here, and why mess with that?

[xchrom]

16. recommend

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

18. What does that "not a partial differential" character in her name sounds like?

"ð"?

[Posteritatis]

19. "th," I think (nt)

[Eryemil]

20. That is an edd. It's pronounced "dh" (like 'they') as opposed to...

the thorn, þ, which is prounounced 'th'. Like 'thing' or the name of the Icelandic parliament. The Alþingi.

[Eryemil]

21. Beautiful lady with an impressive resumé

[Doctor Cynic]

22. Gay woman minister to become Iceland's PM

Source: AP

REYKJAVIK — The woman expected to become Iceland's interim prime minister is an openly gay former flight attendant who rose through the political ranks to lead a new leftist government.

Johanna Sigurdardottir, the island nation's 66-year-old social affairs minister, began as an union organizer for flight attendants and is now among the country's longest-serving lawmakers.

Both political parties forming Iceland's new coalition government support her appointment — and a decision could be announced as early as Thursday.

“She is a senior parliamentarian, she is respected and loved by all of Iceland,” said Environment Minister Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir.

Read more: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090128.wiceland0128/BNStory/International/home

[TankLV]

23. That'll happen when HELL freezes over...!!!

oh, wait, it is ICELAND...

[Shiver]

24. Iceland is actually very green and beautiful

It's Greenland that's covered with ice.

[Doremus]

26. I was there once in the 70s.

Spent 7 hours' layover buying sweaters and jackets in their duty-free store ... which was the reason Icelandic was the cheapest airline to Europe back then. So they could bring planeloads of passengers and turn them into customers.

That was back before Milton Friedman got his dirty hands on them and convinced them that investment banking (cough cough) was better than sustainable commerce. :eyes:

Didn't get to see any of the scenery, unfortunately.

[KamaAina]

34. I thought it was because they weren't part of the IATA treaty

the duty-free shop would have been gravy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandair#History

In 1945, Flugfélag Íslands (Iceland Airways Ltd) made its first international flights to Scotland and Denmark. Scheduled international services were commenced in 1946 with converted B-24 Liberator aircraft leased from Scottish Airways. Loftleiðir began international operations in 1947 and its pioneering low-fare services across the North-Atlantic commenced in 1953. At the time, IATA determined the fares for airlines flying between Europe and North America, and all airlines charged the same amount. Loftleiðir was not a part of IATA and could, therefore, determine its own fares, undercutting all competing airlines. This made them a popular hub for travel between Europe and North America.

[JayMusgrove]

27. Yeah, this is NOT about Hillary! n/t

[superconnected]

25. Good for her!

It will be nice if in my life time, sexual preference and religion are not even factors worth mentioning because it's the job someone does that counts. However for now, she is one of the pioneers in getting people to accept it in the first place.

"began as an union organizer for flight attendants and is now among the country's longest-serving lawmakers."

Sounds like she's been competent for a long time!

[Shardik]

28. Let's see... A well loved lesbian on an Island.

Is her name Sappho? If so, they need to change the name of the island. :)

Seriously, this is good news for Iceland and the world.

[xchrom]

29. ...

:applause:

[Eryemil]

30. I'd love to see this here in Canada

I am 19 so I expect it will happen within my lifetime here but we're ahead of most of the world anyway.
I doubt the choice of PM for a tiny island nation will influence the rest of the world but we can always hope.

[subsuelo]

31. cool! n/t

[eppur_se_muova]

32. ... that we know of. nt

:)

[tama]

33. Not for long, I'd guess

The stupid and very uninformative article does not expose her party affiliation - Independence Party or Social Democrats or even some else - but no matter what, she's representative of a party that is part of the ancien regime, discredited by the economic collapse of Island. The elections are very likely to bring very big changes into Icelandic political map...

[LeftishBrit]

35. She sounds like a decent and intelligent person; hope she can make a difference

I wish her luck - she'll NEED it as PM of that bankrupt country!