On Wednesday, Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown (D) was sworn in as governor, following the resignation of John Kitzhaber amid an ethics scandal. Brown, 54, was a state legislator for 17 years before being twice elected secretary of state — Oregon doesn't have a lieutenant governor, so that put her next in line for the top job. And she is now the first openly bisexual governor in U.S. history.
"Advocates for the LGBTQ community — lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer or questioning — cheered the milestone," says Maria L. La Ganga at the Los Angeles Times. "Libertarian-leaning Oregon — liberal in Portland, conservative elsewhere — mostly yawned." Though Brown, who is married to a man, has sparked some interest in the often-overlooked "B" in LGBTQ.
“I don't think anybody cares” that Brown is bisexual, Bob Moore, a Republican pollster, tells the LA Times. “The whole thing seems irrelevant to me. But what does it mean to be a bisexual and married? What does that mean?” Watch Brown take the oath of office below. —Peter Weber
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