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Thursday, January 3, 2013

The new Congress will be the most diverse in history

The 113th Congress will be the most diverse in U.S. history, though it still lags behind the changing demographics of the country.

View the story "The 113th Congress will be the most diverse ever" on Storify The 113th Congress will be the most diverse ever The 113th Congress will be the most diverse in U.S. history, though it still lags behind the changing demographics of the country. Storified by Digital First Media· Thu, Jan 03 2013 07:12:57 The 113th Congress will be the most diverse in U.S. history, though it still lags behind the changing demographics of the country. Below, a look at some of the firsts among the new senators and representatives.

First Buddhist senator

Twimg Photo courtesy of Mazie Hirono. Mazie Hirono, a Democrat from Hawaii, will succeed retiring Sen. Daniel Akaka. Raised in the Jodo Shinshu school of Pure Land Buddhism, she considers herself a non-practicing Buddhist. Two other Buddhists serve in Congress: Reps. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., and Colleen Hanabusa, D-Hawaii.

First openly gay senator

Asset-cache U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin celebrates her victory in November. (Darren Hauck/Getty Images) A seven-term member of the House, Wisconsin Democrat Tammy Baldwin will be the first openly gay senator and one of seven lesbian, gay and bisexual members of Congress, making them the largest group to serve in Congress to date. In the last Congress, just four members were openly gay.

First Hindu in Congress

Asset-cache Tulsi Gabbard speaks at the Democratic National Convention in 2012. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) A former state legislator in Hawaii, Democrat Tulsi Gabbard was elected to the House in November and plans to be sworn in on a copy of the Bhagavad Gita. She is also the first American Samoan woman elected to Congress as a representative. (Del. Eni Faleomavaega serves as a non-voting delegate from American Samoa.)

First openly bisexual member of Congress

Fbcdn Kyrsten Sinema photo courtesy of kyrstensinema.com. A former state legislator in Arizona, Democrat Kyrsten Sinema was elected to the House in November. She will be the first openly bisexual member of Congress, although she prefers not to talk about it.

The most female senators

Asset-cache Sens. Patty Murray, Maria Cantwell, Claire McCaskill, Debbie Stabenow and Amy Klobuchar speak at a 2012 press conference (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) The incoming Senate will have 20 women (16 Democrats and four Republicans), the largest number in the history of the Senate. The previous Senate had 17 women.

Seventh African-American senator

Asset-cache Then-Rep. Tim Scott leaves a Senate Republican lunch with Sen. Jim DeMint in 2012. (Alex Wong/Getty Images) Sen. Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, was appointed to the Senate to replace Jim DeMint, who left to become president of the Heritage Foundation. Scott is the seventh African-American senator and the first from the South since the Reconstruction era.

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The new Congress will be the most diverse in history

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