At a meeting yesterday that one City Council member called “more emotional than ‘Steel Magnolias,'” Christine Quinn made history when she became the first female speaker of the City Council and its first openly gay leader.

With her father, Lawrence Quinn, and her partner, Kim Catullo, on hand in the council chambers, Ms. Quinn, 39, told the standing room-only crowd that she was “incredibly proud” that her colleagues viewed diversity “as a strength, not an impediment.”

The Manhattan council member, who got choked up several times during her speech and liberally doled out hugs to her colleagues, said the 51-member body needs to be more than a report card on the mayor, that it should be a “incubator for big ideas.” Her near unanimous election capped off a year of political maneuvering and ended the seven-person race to replace the speaker, Gifford Miller, who was termed out of office.

With yesterday’s vote, Ms. Quinn will become the primary counterweight in city government to Mayor Bloomberg on new legislation and in negotiating the city’s more than $50 billion budget. While she has fiercely battled the mayor on several big-ticket issues in the past, she extended an olive branch to him yesterday when she said it is the council’s job to work with the mayor, regardless of party affiliation.

“Mr. Mayor, I will go anywhere you need to stop the flow of illegal guns into this city,” she said, piggybacking on an issue Mr. Bloomberg has vowed to take on in his second term.

One of the most telling aspects of the noon meeting was that the three political party bosses who helped tip the speakership to Ms. Quinn – Thomas Manton from Queens, Assemblymen Vito Lopez of Brooklyn, and Jose Rivera of the Bronx – had VIP seating, next to the other elected dignitaries.

Mr. Manton, a former congressman who is widely regarded as the linchpin in the election of the speaker, rose to his feet and gave Ms. Quinn a wide grin when she made a joke about being Irish.

When asked after the meeting to respond to criticism that party bosses have too much influence, Mr. Manton said: “The bosses are always there to kick around. If you haven’t gotten any better lines, beat up on the bosses.”

He said she probably would have become speaker even without the counties’ help. But he said rewarding the people who have helped you is basic politics.

“There’s nothing new in this,” Mr. Manton said. “This happens every day. It’s, you know, Politics 101. You try to elect candidates who you think are worthy of being elected.”

Some have speculated that the election of Ms. Quinn as speaker makes her the most powerful gay woman in the country. Ms. Quinn was beaming yesterday, and most of her fellow council members showered her with praise and expressed pride that she was breaking a glass ceiling and making history.

The council’s Republican minority leader, James Oddo, whose views are far more conservative that Ms. Quinn’s, recalled how the two started as staffers together in 1992 when “you had brown hair” (it’s now a fiery red) “and I had hair.” His tone quickly became more serious when he made a request for tissues – “just in case” – and added, “My admiration and respect for you has grown immensely.”

Council Member Charles Barron broke from his colleagues, abstaining from voting because he was upset about how much influence the county leaders had in electing her. After the meeting, he said that while she is making history as the first female speaker and first openly gay council leader, she is off to a “bad start.”

“The first thing she did I have problems with,” he said. “She kicked Yvette Clarke off the rules committee. It just shows that it’s business as usual.” Ms. Clarke served on the rules committee under Mr. Miller but backed Ms. Quinn’s chief opponent in the speaker’s contest, Bill de Blasio.

Political observers said they expect Ms. Quinn to be more policy-minded and less political than Mr. Miller. They described her as a salty veteran with a commanding grasp of city government who is willing both to take the mayor to task and to work with him.

Many political analysts are watching to see whether Ms. Quinn will run a more transparent and open council. She will have some interesting litmus tests out of the gate. She already has said she favors extending term limits and many will be watching to see if she punishes and rewards allies and opponents in divvying up council posts.

The senior attorney for the New York Public Interest Research Group, Gene Russianoff, said there is reason to be hopeful about the new leadership, but that her committee assignments will be telling.

A former congresswoman, Elizabeth Holtzman, said that while the council’s first “Madam Speaker” had an emotional meeting yesterday, she has a “spine of steel” and will be an effective leader.