Openly Gay & Black Future Members of Congress

Two New Yorkers On Track to Make LGBTQ History as First Openly Gay, Black Members of Congress

Lucy Dollinger

Ritchie Torres (D-NY15) and Mondaire Jones (D-NY17) are on track to make LGBTQ+ history as the first openly gay, Black members of Congress. Each of them won their primaries on June 23rd and are predicted to win in November (Ring, 2020). 

Torres, who was elected to the New York City Council in 2013 at the age of 25, defeated notorious anti-LGBTQ Congressman Rubén Díaz Sr. He would also be the first gay, Afro-Latinx Congressman (Ruiz, 2020). In an interview for spectrum News NY1, Torres reminds voters why he is running: 

“It would be the honor of my life to represent this borough. It's my home. And I would not be here today were it not for my mother, and the south Bronx is full of mothers like mine who have suffered and struggled and sacrificed so that her baby boy can have a better life than she did. And the opportunity to represent the essential workers of this borough, to represent the powerful mothers of this borough, it's the culmination of a dream.” 

Jones, a Harvard Law graduate who worked in the Justice Department under the Obama Administration (Ruiz, 2020), reflected on this monumental achievement in a speech shared by NowThis Exclusive:

“Of course, the historic nature of this campaign is not lost on me. Growing up poor, Black, and gay, I never imagined that somebody like me could run for Congress, again let alone be a leading contender for the nomination in the great New York 17th Congressional District. Had I been able to look to someone quite like myself, it would have been direct evidence of the fact that things really do get better later in life.”

Sources:

MSNBC Morning Joe, (June 23, 2020). Two NY candidates poised to be first openly gay Black men in Congress. Retrieved from https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/two-ny-candidates-poised-to-be-first-openly-gay-black-men-in-congress-86476869908 

Ring, Trudy. (June 24, 2020). Two New Yorkers Poised to Become First Black Men in Congress. The Advocate. Retrieved from https://www.advocate.com/election/2020/6/24/two-new-yorkers-poised-become-first-black-gay-men-congress 

Ruiz, Michelle. (June 24, 2020). Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones are Poised to Make LGBTQ+ History in Congress.Vogue Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.vogue.com/article/ritchie-torres-mondaire-jones-first-gay-black-congressmen