Iceland gets a lesbian prime minister

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Minister for Social Affairs Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, 66, was appointed to the job Feb. 1 by the new governing coalition when the previous government fell apart after the nation’s banks collapsed because of the global economic meltdown.

She is the world’s first openly gay or lesbian head of a national government, though openly gay Per-Kristian Foss served briefly as acting prime minister of Norway in 2002 when more senior ministers were out of the country.

In the 1960s, Sigurðardóttir was a stewardess for what is now Icelandair. She has been in a registered partnership with writer Jónína Leósdóttir since 2002.

Iceland has a population of 304,36.