First out bisexual Senator Kyrsten Sinema sworn in by Mike Pence

US Senator from Arizona Kirsten Sinema holds a law book as she is sworn in by Vice President Mike Pence on January 3, 2019.

Kyrsten Sinema has become the first openly bisexual person to take up a seat in the US Senate.

The Arizona Democrat was sworn in on January 3 after a narrow victory in November’s midterm elections, becoming the first out bisexual person, and only the second out LGBT+ person elected to the Senate.

Ironically, the duty of swearing in the newly-elected Senator Sinema fell to Vice President Mike Pence, known for his opposition to LGBT+ rights.

Senator Kyrsten Sinema participates in a swearing in ceremony with Vice President Mike Pence on Capitol Hill on January 3, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Senator Kyrsten Sinema participates in a swearing in ceremony with Vice President Mike Pence on Capitol Hill on January 3, 2019 in Washington, DC. (Zach Gibson/Getty)

The incoming senator, who is divorced hasn’t remarried, cracked a joke with Pence when she noted the empty spot where a senator’s husband or wife would usually stand.

She quipped: “Oh, it says spouse… Could we get a spouse?”

Kyrsten Sinema was sworn in on a law book

Sinema is also the only current member of Congress who is openly religiously unaffiliated, and instead of a Bible opted to get sworn in on a law book from the Library of Congress containing texts of the US and Arizona constitutions.

A spokesperson for Sinema told the Arizona Republic: “Kyrsten always gets sworn in on a Constitution simply because of her love for the Constitution.”

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