Jackie Biskupski has just made history.
On Tuesday, she was elected the capital of Utah, the conservative state home to the Mormon church
"Today is not just about making history," Biskupski said. "It is about people. It is about affecting change."
Ms Biskupski received 19,896 votes to incumbent Ralph Becker’s 18,702 – claiming 52 percent of the votes on a 3 percentage-point margin of victory, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. She takes over amid several incidents that were considered setbacks to the LGBT community.
Troy Williams, executive director for Equality Utah, congratulated Ms Biskupski for her historic victory.
"Her victory sends a powerful message to all LGBTQ Utahns that their sexual orientation will never be a limitation to public service," he told the Tribune. "We look forward to working alongside Mayor-elect Biskupski to advance policies that will benefit all Utahns."
Just last week, a judge took away a child from lesbian foster parents because he believed children "do better" with heterosexual parents. After widespread criticism, the judge returned the child to the parents and recused himself from the case several days later.
Days prior, the city's Mormon church also targeted gay members with new policies that would ban them from baptizing their children until they turn 18 and disavow same-sex marriage, the Associated Press reports. Ms Biskupski has said that she hopes to meet with the church leaders to discuss the new policies.
