First out bisexual Senator Kyrsten Sinema sworn in by Mike Pence

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. (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.”

Kyrsten Sinema, the first female Senator from Arizona and the first openly bisexual Senator in history, was sworn in by Mike Pence today. Also, she swore on a law book and not a bible.pic.twitter.com/lslrHy7M6w

— Negar (@NegarMortazavi) January 4, 2019

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