Kyrsten Sinema to Become First Openly Bisexual Senator

Nearly a week after the election, openly bisexual Democrat Kyrsten Sinema has been declared the victor in the race for the Arizona Senate.

Sinema was initially trailing behind Republican candidate Martha McSally as the votes rolled in on election night, but hope grew slowly as mail in and provisional ballots closed the distance and ultimately left her with a lead of 1.7 percentage points as of November 12th. With fewer and fewer ballots remaining, the race was called, Sinema declared victory, and McSally conceded.

Sinema’s election to the Senate will make her the second openly LGBTQ member of the Senate presently serving, alongside Tammy Baldwin, who won her bid for reelection in Wisconsin this year. Harris Wofford served as a Senator for Pennsylvania from 1991 to 1995, but didn’t come out until 2016.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives is practically teeming with members of the LGBTQ community, boasting eight openly queer representatives, even after Sinema and Jared Polis (soon to be the first openly gay governor of Colorado) prepare to leave and fill their new roles. This brings the total number of LGBTQ Congresspeople to double digits, an undeniable sign of the growing acceptance among the general public and a good omen for representation among the community.

While some on the left don’t consider Sinema's win a full victory, as she has become known for her more centrist positions, and has vowed to be “an independent voice for all Arizonans,” it still marks a step away from business as usual for the people of Arizona. The state has long been a Republican stronghold, with no Democrat winning an open Senate seat since Dennis DeConcini in 1976. Whether the midterm shift will be reflected in 2020 remains to be seen, but many Arizona Democrats are hopeful.

In an election year where over 100 LGBTQ candidates won their races throughout federal, state, and local levels, it’s almost becoming difficult to keep track of the “firsts” achieved. But as we still have many members of government who want to roll back protections and LGBT rights, we’ll gleefully celebrate each win as a step in the right for the gay agenda. Maybe one day we’ll even be like that town in Florida that just elected an entirely gay city commission. Hey, some dreams can come true.