The Times They Are A-Changing

Today is a day for the history books.

The world is about to get its first openly gay head of state.

Icelend's Johanna Sigurdardottir breaks all the moulds. She is a woman. She is 66. She is a Social Democrat. She is glamourous. She is openly gay and in a civil partnership. She has two grown-up children. She is popular, having been dubbed "Saint Johanna" - according to a report on page three of today's Independent - and hailed as an "unexpected but brilliant" choice to take her party's centre stage.

This is one progression to have emerged out of the global economic crisis.