After a hard-fought race in a newly formed Arizona congressional district, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema was declared the winner today, becoming the first openly bisexual member of Congress.
Sinema, a former state senator, joins at least five openly gay Democrats who were elected to House seats, and Tammy Baldwin, who became the first openly gay candidate elected to the Senate.
When asked by ABCNews.com how it felt to be the first openly bisexual member of Congress, Sinema said, “We’ve made history, and we’re proud of that, but what I am interested in is making history by making things better for the people of Arizona’s 9th Congressional District.”
Sinema, 36, had a razor-thin lead on Election Night against her opponent, Tea Party candidate Vernon Parker, but she ultimately pulled ahead, finishing with a 6,000-vote edge over the Republican, the Associated Press reported today.
Wow, just wow!
Not only did this woman win this seat in Arizona, she also had to fight like hell against another one of those teabagging dipshits, WHILE being openly bisexual, AND an atheist.
If IM had Congressional mascots, SHE would be it.
I am going to pay very close attention to Ms. Sinema because I think she is going to be a never ending source of awesomeness.
Update: It appears that Sinema is not terribly comfortable wearing the label Atheist. Here is more from The Friendly Atheist:
“Kyrsten believes the terms ‘nontheist,’ ‘atheist’ or ‘nonbeliever’ are not befitting of her life’s work or personal character,” the spokesman, Justin Unga, said Thursday in an e-mail. “Though Sinema was raised in a religious household, she draws her policy-making decisions from her experience as a social worker who worked with diverse communities and as a lawmaker who represented hundreds of thousands.”
Furthermore, Ms. Sinema “is a student of all cultures in her community,” Mr. Unga said, and she “believes that a secular approach is the best way to achieve this in good government.”
Okay well Arizona's new Congresswoman may not want to be encumbered with the baggage that accompanies the title "Atheist" (After all in politics there not much worse you can be called in America), however I am almost as pleased with her courage in embracing the "secular approach."
It is still a victory for logical thinkers, and those who want their leaders to make decisions based on reality and not fantasy.
Balls, boobs, & brains...what's not to love!
ReplyDeleteShe's cute, but from one bi-sexual Atheist chick to another, she's just not my type, but good for her for not employing a "beard" of a husband and pretending to be something she's not.
ReplyDeleteIf she's Bi, he wouldn't be a beard,exactly, would he?
DeleteAtheist is a term many shy away from, as it connotes a negative. Secular humanist is the preferred alternative, as it is a belief in the possibility of finding common ground through reason.
ReplyDeleteAnd FYI, I believe she is a public breastfeeding advocate.
You don't get to decide what anyone "should" call themselves, or adhere to regarding any moniker.
DeleteSorry, but your post sounds condescending, and almost like a religious person wanting to demean someone else.
Finding common ground through reason isn't respected much by many religious people anyway, so calling someone an atheist, non-theist, agnostic doesn't really matter to evangelicals.
They won't take anyone seriously who isn't on board with their brand of religious prejudice, so why worry about it?
Hooray!!!
ReplyDeleteReally, other than the hypocritical rebiblicans, who gives a rat's ass whether she is bisexual, omnisexual, asexual OR an atheist. It's all beside the point, isn't it? After all, where in the Constitution does it address someone's sexual orientation? Hmmmm, Constitutionalists? Crickets.
ReplyDeleteAmen.
DeleteI look forward to not having to hear about anyone's sexual preference. I just don't care. Maybe someday this will be no more newsworthy than what kind of toothpaste the prefer.
I'm reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel and one of my favorite passages from his intro is regarding the fact that he finds Agnostics to be "wishy washy" but finds Atheists to be solid in their beliefs. It rather solidified my upbringing and adult stance as Atheist, because truly, we don't question any of it, we are firm in our beliefs and we just don't believe in God, any of 'em, all of them that have been put in front of us for all these millennia. It's a firm stance that should be respected and I for one have never been willing to forgo that for a "wishy washy" title such as "Humanist". BTW, if you haven't downloaded Life of Pi to either your Kindle or iPad, I'd really suggest reading it. What a fabulous tale and so wonderfully written. It might actually get me to the cinema after a 12 year break.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing wishy-washy about "Humanist." Many practical atheists are philosophical agnostics,with good reason. There is as little empirical proof for the absolute non-existence of a supernatural god as there is for existence of same.
Delete"...we are firm in our beliefs and we just don't believe in God, any of them..."
DeleteSorry, I know it may seem trivial to a LOT of people, but that sentence contains the essence of one of the main arguments I hear all the time from people who are into religion and consider an atheist to be anathema to them. "...we just don't believe..." That gives the opening for their statements which boil down to "you don't believe in anything".
Personally, I DO believe that God(s) do NOT exist. Minor point? Perhaps to you.
I love this, "...she draws her policy-making decisions from her experience as a social worker who worked with diverse communities and as a lawmaker who represented hundreds of thousands.”
ReplyDeleteAll of our policy decisions should be made with this kind of background.
I am looking forward to seeing her shake things up in Congress.
And Gryphen, I think you are awesome too, and thanks for always posting interesting and thought-provoking articles.
Well said!
DeleteI am also happy to see she has experience as a social worker! More people with such a background should be involved in politics - I would think they would have an advantage as they would have a keen understanding of how decisions would affect people in diverse circumstances.
DeleteAlso she seems lovely. Good for her and I wish her all the best of luck in the Congress with those crazy teabaggers.
From perusing the web today, I've read many articles from the ultra right christians bemoaning their fate, and decrying the election of Ms Duckworth and Tammy Baldwin.
ReplyDeleteThey really are foaming at the mouth, and are expressing their intolerance in very disturbing terms.
Civil war, impeachment, and violent overthrow of the government are just the beginning of their hatred for someone with a different sexual preference.
We can only hope to avoid more theocratic movement here in the USA. Reading through this article at GOP, it's startling to see that 227 members of the US House of Reps are now hardcore rebiblicans.
http://godsownparty.com/blog/2012/11/the-rebiblican-seat-at-the-table/
These people are determined to force religion on us at all costs, and are the most serious opponent to bipartisan lawmaking, comity, and getting budget matters settled.
I know it's "news" because LGBT issues have been taboo for so long, but I long for the day when the only label that matters is the (D), (R), or (I) after a candidates name.
ReplyDeleteI think we still have a while to go before an Atheist gets elected, but it'll happen.
This should scare the "H E double hockey pucks" out of the so-called Christians in Arizona. I hear they are still counting ballots out there and that Jeff Flake may not have won the Senate seat.
ReplyDeleteHey teabaggers -- thanks!
ReplyDeleteNow, please keep nominating crazy people, willya?
Mascot, schmascot! I am proud to say that Kyrsten Sinema is MY Congresswoman and I voted for her and worked on her campaign. Before that she was my state senator. Want to hear something hilarious? Before your first post about her, Gryphen, I was totally unaware of her sexual orientation or her status as a non-religious person. Want to know what else? It mattered not one bit! All I know is that this woman has spent her adult life working like a trooper in the service of families and the middle class in general. That has always been her focus and that is why I support her and will continue to do so.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing very seldom mentioned, is that Kyrsten, by Arizona law, had to resign her state senate seat before she could even gather signatures on a petition to seek the House seat. It appeared for months that she would run unopposed as a Democrat in the Primary. Finally the Democratic "good old boys" realized that she was a deadly serious candidate and several of them ganged up to stop her from winning "their" seat. As a woman, it was insulting the way they attempted to push her aside, and I admire the way she refused to play the game by their "rules".
ReplyDelete