The Senate and House have officially sworn in the members of the 113th Congress, and the new representatives' unprecedented racial and gender diversity means that for the first time ever, white males don't represent a majority of House Democrats, the Huffington Post [5] reports.
All in all (including new senators), this year's class of elected officials includes four African Americans, five Asian Americans, 10 Latinos and 24 women. Plus, bonus diversity points for religion and sexual orientation. The group is starting to look a whole lot like, well ... America. Imagine that.
Rep. Tim Scott was named to replace outgoing Republican Sen. Jim DeMint, making him the first black senator from the South since Reconstruction.
The new Congress members also represent a wide range of religious diversity, including Rep. Tulsi Gubbard (D-Hawaii), the first Hindu to serve in either the House or Senate and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), the first Buddhist senator.
The class also includes Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), the first openly bisexual congresswoman. She is also the first member of Congress to identify herself as "religiously-unaffiliated," although members have not specified religious affiliations in the past. Wisconsin's Tammy Baldwin is the first openly gay politician elected to the U.S. Senate.
Read more at the Huffington Post. [5]
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