Jackie Biskupski

Witnessing openly hostile actions taken against Utah’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community, and an absence of progressive leadership on Utah’s Capitol Hill, Jackie Biskupski ran for the Utah House of Representatives in 1998 and became Utah's first openly gay elected official. She won seven consecutive elections to represent Salt Lake’s 30th legislative district for 13 years.

Biskupski worked diligently all those years with advocates, allies in the legislature, the ACLU and LGBTQ attorneys from Utah to fight for LGBTQ+ rights. In 2000 she gave her historic speech about the right for same sex couples to adopt children and although legislation passed that day making it illegal for gay couples to adopt, she never stopped working.

In 2005, she was joined by Senator Scott McCoy, who she mentored and together they helped defeat five anti-gay bills in a single year. This was a turning point in Utah history. Having an openly gay elected official in the House and Senate empowered us in a way that most states in the country had not experienced. For the first time, the LGBTQ community could pursue legislation to protect our rights and in 2006 a new Hate Crimes bill was passed with her help.

Biskupski adopted her son, Archie, in 2010 as a single parent and in 2011, after the session ended, she retired from the legislature. She had left a lasting impression on Speaker Becky Lockhart, a conservative Republican, who was elected in 1998 as well. During Speaker Lockhart’s next 3 years of service she took it upon herself to hold all anti-gay bills in Rules, preventing them from passing.

In 2015 Biskupski ran for Salt Lake City Mayor as a single mom, lesbian, and female. Not an easy endeavor in a conservative state like Utah, but she won!

In January of 2016 she was sworn in as the 35th Mayor of Salt Lake City, the second female to hold this position and the first lesbian to lead a capitol city in the United States.

During her time as mayor, Biskupski partnered with state and local leaders to bring the 68th United Nations Civil Society Conference to Salt Lake City. Thousands of people from around the world gathered in Utah to engage in dialogue with leaders of the world’s most important civil society organizations to address the need for sustainable and inclusive communities. Following the event, she co-founded the Global Leaders Scholarship Fund to keep emerging young global leaders in Utah involved in critical conversations that address the most pressing issues of our time.

Biskupski married Betty Iverson in 2016, together they have two sons and two sweet dogs they rescued.