Getty Kyrsten Sinema is a Democrat running for the Senate in Arizona. If she wins the Senate race, she will make history as the first openly bisexual woman in the Senate.
If Kyrsten Sinema beats Martha McSally tonight in the hotly contested Arizona Senate race, Sinema will be the first openly bisexual person elected to the Senate.
Sinema’s first public comment about being bisexual happened in 2005, according to an Elle profile, when she was an elected public official responding to a Republican colleague’s speech that she believed had insulted LGBTQ people. She said, “We’re simply people like everyone else who want and deserve respect.”
Later, when a reporter asked why Sinema had used the first person plural in that statement, she replied, “Duh, I’m bisexual.”
Sinema is single, but she has been married in the past. Shortly after college, she married a fellow BYU classmate named Blake Dain. She and Dain eventually were divorced, after which she announced her bisexuality, according to the Arizona Republic.
Here’s what you need to know:
Sinema Has Repeatedly Told Reporters That Her Sexuality Is None of Their Business
Grateful every day. #Arizona #beststate
Although Sinema has been public with her bisexuality, she has also gotten frustrated with reporters who ask about her relationship history or preferences. When asked by Elle in an interview about what it’s like to consider dating or having children as a U.S. congresswoman, she replied, “I don’t really think that’s any of your business. Not a lot of people ask young men in politics.”
Similarly, Washington Post reporter Manuel Roig-Franzia wrote in a profile of Sinema in January, 2013, “Even a softball question about how her sexual orientation has informed her thinking about public policy — she was, after all, the architect of a successful campaign to block a same-sex marriage ban in Arizona — peeves her.”
At one point, Sinema said in the interview, “I don’t have a story to tell. I don’t think this is relevant or significant. I’m confused when these questions come up.” She added, “I’m not a pioneer. I’m just a regular person who works hard. Nor am I a poster child. I’m not forging away or pioneering . . . .”
In a Washington Post Profile, Sinema Argued That Bisexual People Are the Same as Gay People
GettyKyrsten Sinema attends the Autism Speaks and HollyRod Foundation Super Kid Honors 2015 at Joe’s Crab Shack on January 30, 2015 in Tempe, Arizona.
In the Washington Post profile by Roig-Franzia, Sinema said that she didn’t remember when, exactly, she knew that she was bisexual. She said, “For me it just doesn’t matter. It just doesn’t matter if that other person is a man or a woman.”
She further added that she didn’t really believe in the common notions of strict sexual orientation. She said, “Bisexuals are gay people — we’re all gay. Some people don’t like that.”
There Are Several Openly Gay Men & Women Serving in Congress, But No Openly Bisexual People
Kyrsten Sinema speaks onstage at The Human Rights Campaign 2018 Los Angeles Gala Dinner at JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. LIVE on March 10, 2018 in Los Angeles.
There are multiple publicly gay and lesbian politicians in Congress, including Senator Tammy Baldwin, Colorado Democrat Jared Polis, and Houston Mayor Annise Parker. Polis is currently on the verge of history, himself, as he is running for governor in Colorado and could become the first openly gay governor.
In Nov. 2012, when Baldwin was elected as the first openly gay senator in U.S. history, she reiterated to CNN that she was not trying to make history, but simply to “make a difference.” She added, “Having a seat at the table matters and I think we will see a Senate that is more reflective of America. We’re certainly not there yet, but this will be a change that moves us forward. People … see our country and our states moving toward full equality in many respects. When you have legislative bodies that look more like America, that happens.”