Fort Lauderdale elects city’s first openly gay mayor

Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has elected its first openly gay mayor.

Attorney Dean Trantalis was elected Tuesday to be the next mayor of the Florida city, the Sun Sentinel reported.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) praised Trantalis, saying he has a “true passion for public service and fighting for civil rights.”

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“This is a massive victory for Broward County and the LGBT community nationwide,” she said in a statement.

Equality Florida also celebrated the win, noting that Trantalis is the “first gay mayor of a major Florida city.”

“We’ve made tens of thousands of calls to pro-equality voters in the City of Ft. Lauderdale about the importance of voting in this election,” the group said in a news release.

“When Dean takes office, Fort Lauderdale will be the largest city in the South with an openly LGBTQ mayor and his voice will resonate throughout the region.”

Trantalis said his win demonstrates that the city has “evolved into a much more diverse and cosmopolitan municipality.”

“It was a campaign about infrastructure and traffic and overdevelopment and the homeless,” he said. “The landslide that now occurred gives me a feeling I’ve been handed a mandate for change, and that’s what I’ll do.”