(CNN) A gay woman has taken control of the biggest city in Colombia, and she's isn't bothering to hide in the closet from the country's conservative, mostly Catholic voters, either.

Claudia López kissed her partner amid a roaring crowd last weekend as she became the first woman to be elected mayor of Bogotá, a position considered second in importance only to the presidency, in a country known for its culture of machismo. She is now the first openly gay woman to be elected to that office throughout Latin America.

The 49-year-old won Sunday's election with 35.21% of the votes, just beating out Liberal candidate Carlos Fernando Galán, who received 32.5% of the votes.

"I'm aware that I've received the fruit of the labor and fights of many generations, of many women," López said in her victory speech. "They led the way for us to get here."

López was raised by her mother in the working-class neighborhoods of Colombia's sprawling capital, with five younger siblings. She worked as a housekeeper while getting her Masters in Public Administration and Urban Policy from Columbia University in New York and later earned a PhD in Political Science from Northwestern University.

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