Voters in Iceland have voted in their first gay prime minister, Johanna Sigurdardottir, in general elections Saturday, The New York Times reported Sunday.

Sigurdardottir, an openly gay female politician, took over the reins of Iceland's government as interim prime minister on February 1 after Independent Party leadership was ousted in January amid increasingly violent public demonstrations that blamed the conservative Party for Iceland's economic ruin.

Iceland has been hard hit by the global economic meltdown. All of Iceland's banks have collapsed, unemployment looks likely to surpass 10% this year in a country used to 1% unemployment, and its currency, the krona, continues to plummet.

Siguroardottir's government profile includes personal details about her life, including her marriage to writer and playwright Jonina Leosdottir. She is the mother of two adult sons from a previous marriage.

Siguroardottir, previously the country's Social Affairs Minister, has a storied background of middle-class mom goes to Reykjavik and does good. Free from familial political connections, she is seen as a trusted ally of the people, a fact born out in her whopping 73% approval rating, making her the most popular minister in the country.

In Saturday's special election, voters overwhelming rejected the conservative Independent Party that has been in power for 18 years in favor of Siguroardottir's Social Democrats and their partners, the Left-Greens. The two parties are expected to gain a 3 seat majority in the 63-seat Parliament.

While the rest of the world looked on in awe as a lesbian prepared to take over the reins of a country in January, Icelanders appeared nonchalant about her personal life. The fight for gay and lesbian equality in Iceland is all but won. The tiny country (pop. 32,000) established civil unions, which include provisions for adoption, for gay and lesbian couples in 1996.

“Being gay is not an issue in Iceland,” Frosti Jónsson, chairman of Iceland's gay and lesbian association, told Time in January. “There are so many openly gay prominent figures in the public and private sector here that it doesn't affect who we select for our highest offices. Our minds are focused on what counts, which is the current situation in the country.”