Ontario elects first openly gay head of government in North America

(Image credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

Canada's largest province, Ontario, has just made history by electing the first openly gay leader of a provincial or state government in North America, with the victory in Thursday night's election by Premier Kathleen Wynne and the Liberal Party.

Wynne, who is also the first woman to be Premier of Ontario — a similar position to being the governor of a U.S. state — succeeded to the office last year when she won the Liberal Party's leadership contest, at what was very much a tough time for the party after the resignation of her predecessor. Tonight however, Wynne led the Liberals to an election victory in her own right, in a three-way campaign against both the right-wing Progressive Conservatives and the further left-wing New Democratic Party.

In her victory speech, Wynne notably invited her partner up on stage, and also commented briefly on her status as the first woman to be Premier of Ontario. She also told her cheering supporters: "That thing I said in my leadership [campaign] about how Ontarians do not hold prejudice in their heart, that Ontarians want to be an open and inclusive people — we have so proven that tonight." --Eric Kleefeld