Rep. Mondaire Jones aims to make LGBTQ history again with re-election campaign

By Gerren Keith Gaynor, theGrio

Jones, who currently represents New York’s 17th Congressional District, told theGrio that having the opportunity to represent the 10th District would be a full-circle moment.

Nearly two years ago, U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) did what he thought was impossible when he was elected as the first openly gay Black member of the United States Congress.

“I never imagined someone like me could run for Congress, let alone get elected,” Jones told theGrio during a recent interview.

After the court-ordered redrawing of New York’s congressional map, Jones – who currently represents New York’s 17th Congressional District – decided to seek re-election in a new district, the Big Apple’s 10th Congressional District, which is comprised of Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. The West Village neighborhood, where the 1969 Stonewall Riots took place and paved the way for the gay and queer liberation movement in the United States, is also in the 10th district.

If re-elected to Congress to represent the 10th District, Jones would make history, yet again, as the first openly gay member of the U.S. House to represent said district, which is steeped in LGBTQ history and thought of by some as the bedrock for queer and trans equality. 

Jones told theGrio that having the opportunity to represent the 10th District would be a full-circle moment. The 35-year-old lawmaker, who lived most of his life as a closeted gay man, spent his 20s in New York City neighborhoods like the West Village, where he developed the will to embrace his queer identity. 

Continue reading about Jones’ re-election campaign.

Jones isn’t the only candidate making waves this election cycle.

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