U.S.

Salt Lake City elects its first openly gay mayor

/ CBS/AP

SALT LAKE CITY -- Former Utah lawmaker Jackie Biskupski has become the first openly gay mayor of Salt Lake City.

Official election results released Tuesday show the 49-year-old Biskupski defeated two-term incumbent Ralph Becker with a winning percentage of 51.55, CBS affiliate KUTV reports.

Her win marks a milestone for the LGBT community in the conservative state, even as the Mormon church and a small town judge delivered setbacks.

A judge in central Utah last week ordered a foster child to be removed from a lesbian couple and placed with a heterosexual couple, citing the well-being of the child. He later reversed his decision.

Days earlier, the Mormon church issued a new policy that bans baptisms for children of gay parents until the kids turn 18 and disavow same-sex relationships.

Biskupski is not a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and said she hopes the faith reconsiders the policy.

CBS/AP

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