Former Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was awarded an honorary award at the annual rainbow gala hosted by the Quebec LGBT Council in Montreal, Canada. Jóhanna accepted the award at a ceremony in Quebec.
Jóhanna, who not only became Iceland’s first female Prime Minister on February the 1st in 2009 but also the world’s first openly lesbian head of government, got the award as a thank you for being an inspiration and a role model to LGBTI+ people all over the world.
Jóhanna has garnered considerable respect and fame within the LGBTI+ community and was quite popular at the gala, with various guests asking her to pose with them for photos.
The icing on the cake was an act that went on during the whole ceremony where artist Ariane Blais painted a painting that was inspired by Jóhanna. Ariane started out with a white canvas and at the end of the ceremony she unveiled the painting.
The Quebec LGBT Council, or Conseil québécois LGBT in it’s original language, is an organization that aims to defend the human rights and freedom of LGBTI+ people. Besides Jóhanna, various people were awarded at the gala hosted by the council. People who have all done their fair share to raise awareness and fight for the rights of LGBTI+ people.
Jóhanna attended the award gala with her wife, Jónína Leósdóttir, a writer and playwright and a former journalist. Jóhanna and Jónína also had a two-hour long program at the University of Quebec in Montreal where Jóhanna gave a speech about women in politics, gender equality and LGBTI+ issues and Jónína discussed her book “Við Jóhanna” (Jóhanna and I) which centers around their relationship.
