On February 1, 2009, the modern world’s very first openly gay Head of State, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, was elected Prime Minister of Iceland. She also became Iceland’s first female Prime Minister.

Iceland has been plagued by deep financial troubles and political unrest in the aftermath of the global financial meltdown. For example, Iceland’s banks, once a dominant source of wealth and strength, were nationalized to protect them from financial disaster. Protesters took to the streets and forced the prior government to resign. And Iceland even requested to join the European Union for assistance with its financial difficulties – an act which Iceland refused to do prior to its economic problems.

Sigurðardóttir’s background resonated with the disgruntled Icelandic middle class in the aftermath of Iceland’s economic troubles. The middle class voted for change – and they got it. Sigurðardóttir comes from the working middle class and left school after obtaining her high school diploma. She began working as a flight attendant, moved into the office of a box factory, and entered politics at the age of 36.

Sigurðardóttir became a member of the Althing (Iceland's parliament) for Reykjavík in 1978 and won eight consecutive re-elections. She also acted as Iceland's Minister of Social Affairs and Social Security from 1987–1994 and 2007–2009. Upon her election to Prime Minister, Sigurðardóttir held the highest approval rating of all past Icelandic ministers according to opinion polls.

Iceland holds some of the most progressive same-sex rights laws in the world and many Icelandic people (population around 320,000) support laws protecting same-sex lifestyles. For example, same-sex couples in Iceland can marry and adopt children. Sigurðardóttir has openly admitted to being gay but she maintains a low public profile with her civil partner Jónína Leósdóttir.

February 1, 2009, will go down in modern history as a step toward the promotion of same-sex couples’ and women’s rights. But many of the people in Iceland have already accepted these changes and their focus centers on how to fix the current economic crises they face.