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World

Poland gets its first openly gay mayor in elections with record number of LGBT candidates

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz, right, congratulates Mayor of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz as first exit polls are announced after the end of local elections runoff, in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, Nov. 30, 2014. The elections are considered a test of strength for new Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz and the ruling Civic Platform party ahead of presidential and parliamentary elections next year. Problems with the computerized vote count of the first round spurred opposition leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski to question the validity of the results. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) (The Associated Press)

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    In this Nov. 28, 2014 photo , lawmaker Robert Biedron, Poland’s first openly gay lawmaker, speaks to The Associated Press at the parliament building in Warsaw, Poland. Biedron, 38, was elected Sunday Nov. 30, 2014 to be the mayor of the northern Polish city of Slupsk, making him also the first openly gay mayor in Poland. His political success comes amid growing social acceptance for gays and lesbians in Poland, a conservative and mostly Roman Catholic country. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) (The Associated Press)

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    In this Nov. 28, 2014 photo , lawmaker Robert Biedron, Poland’s first openly gay lawmaker, speaks to The Associated Press at the parliament building in Warsaw, Poland. Biedron, 38, was elected Sunday Nov. 30, 2014 to be the mayor of the northern Polish city of Slupsk, making him also the first openly gay mayor in Poland. His political success comes amid growing social acceptance for gays and lesbians in Poland, a conservative and mostly Roman Catholic country. (AP Photo/Alik Keplicz) (The Associated Press)

WARSAW, Poland – Voters in Poland have elected the country's first openly gay mayor, a sign of growing tolerance for gays and lesbians in a country that has long been defined by a deep Roman Catholic conservatism.

Robert Biedron, who already made history in 2011 by becoming the first openly gay lawmaker in parliament, was elected mayor of the small city of Slupsk in northern Poland.

Results were released Monday of the runoff race, which took place on Sunday.

The elections for regional parliaments and municipal government saw a record number of openly gay candidates, though none of the others won seats. Most of them are young and making their first runs for office, and they mostly represented left-wing parties that did poorly. The elections took place in two rounds over two weeks.