Jacinda Ardern felt she was either "doing a disservice to the church or my friends."

New Zealand has a new prime minister, and she’s willing to make sacrifices in the name of equality.

Jacinda Ardern, who formed a coalition government between NZ First and the Labour Party on a campaign of “relentless positivity,” is the country’s youngest leader in 150 years. The 37-year-old is being compared to Canada’s Justin Trudeau and France’s Emmanuel Macron, and like those young, charismatic politicians, she’s serious about fighting for gay rights.

Hannah Peters/Getty Images

Ardern was raised in the Mormon Church, which holds strict anti-LGBT views and spent millions on fighting against same-sex marriage. She said it was questioning those homophobic views in her early 20s that led to her decision to leave the religion.

“For a lot of years, I put it to the back of my mind. I think it was too unsettling,” she told the New Zealand Herald. “If something like religion is part of your foundation, and then suddenly you start questioning that—it’s quite a confronting thing to deal with.”

The prime minister explained that it was after becoming friends with gay people that she truly had to rethink her participation in the religion.

“Even before the Civil Union Bill came up, I lived in a flat with three gay friends,” she said. “I was still going to church every so often and I just remember thinking, ’This is really inconsistent—I’m either doing a disservice to the church or my friends.’ Because how could I subscribe to a religion that just didn’t account for them?”

Sandra Mu/Getty Images

Ultimately, the politician says the issue made her leave the church, acknowledging that there will always be things you may disagree with when it comes to your religion, but that the prejudice against gay people was too much.

“I could never reconcile what I saw as discrimination in a religion that was otherwise very focused on tolerance and kindness,” she said.

Ardern says that although she respects people who have religion as a foundation in their lives, she doesn’t see herself being a member of organized religion again. For now, she has her hands full as New Zealand’s new prime minister, and will continue to be led by her beliefs of inclusivity and equality for all.