Brown will also be the first openly bisexual governor to serve. Politico reports:
Brown came out as bisexual in the 1990s and has been married to her husband, Dan Little, for 15 years. She and Little live in Portland, according to the Oregon Blue Book, the official state government directory.
She hasn’t addressed her sexuality much publicly, save for an apparent essay for “Out and Elected in the USA,” a survey of gay officeholders conducted by the website OutHistory.org. A Brown spokesman declined to confirm or deny the authenticity of the essay.
Brown’s promotion was announced on Friday after John Kitzhaber stepped down in the middle of a corruption scandal.
To give you a sense of how underrepresented the LGBT community is among elected officials, the Washington Post points out:
There are about 525 openly LGBT public officials in office at all levels of government, according to the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund. Most of them are Democrats, said interim executive director Denis Dison, and only about 20 are Republicans.
Photo via AP.