Much has been said about the historic election of Tammy Baldwin, the first openly gay woman to be elected to the Senate, but did you know that the first openly bisexual woman was elected* to congress?
I am throwing an asterisk in there because the election hasn't been officially called, but, in AZ-9, Kyrsten Sinema is currently leading Vernon Parker 47.5 to 46.2 with 100% of precincts reporting. Provisional ballots still need to be counted, so there is always that chance things could change, but for now, it appears Sinema is heading to Washington.
The most amazing thing, is that her sexuality was never made a factor in the race. There were hundreds of brutal ads put out by the RNCC and superPACS, but none of them brought up her sexuality.
Sinema is a 36-year-old former state senator who is a tireless advocate for gay rights.
In 2006 she cochaired Arizona Together, the campaign that defeated Proposition 107, which would have banned the recognition of same-sex marriage and civil unions in Arizona. And in 2008 she led the campaign against the Proposition 102, a marriage equality ban that was ultimately approved by the voters. She’s been an outspoken advocate for public education and economic development, and an outspoken opponent of the state’s controversial immigration law and lax gun control.
Arizona does a lot of things wrong, but every once in a while we get it right. When looking back at this election and what it meant for LGBT rights, I hope we can add Sinema's apparent win to the column. Not only because she won, but also because her sexuality was never even a factor, despite her history of LGBT advocacy.
UPDATE -- The race HAS been called for Sinema.