{"id":108076,"date":"2019-11-20T12:26:49","date_gmt":"2019-11-20T17:26:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/"},"modified":"2019-11-20T12:26:49","modified_gmt":"2019-11-20T17:26:49","slug":"meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet the man<\/a> who may become America\u2019s first Black gay<\/a> congressman<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Mondaire Jones is a Harvard Law School grad and Obama Justice Department alum <\/span>currently running to represent New York\u2019s 17th congressional district. Last week, he turned his relatively quiet campaign up roughly ten decimals by releasing an emotional campaign video<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t come from money. I\u2019m Black. I\u2019m gay<\/a>. And so I don\u2019t see people like me in office very often,\u201d Jones, who first announced his candidacy to little fanfare in a June Medium<\/a> <\/em>post, says. \u201cEveryday we wake up and it feels like the world is on fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t need more millionaires in Congress,\u201d he says later in the video<\/a>. \u201cWe need more people of color, more young people, more queer people.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cWe need more people in office who understand that experience, who can speak to people who have been shut out of the political process. The stakes are too high for us to just sit out on the sidelines.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
\n

White kids used to spit on my grandfather while he walked to school in the Jim Crow South. <\/p>\n

Now I\u2019m running to be the first black, openly gay<\/a> Congressmember in America. Watch our first campaign ad & help us make history: t.co\/rxvQCmja2O<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/B5QFioKBr8<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mondaire Jones (@MondaireJones) November 14, 2019<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Speaking to NBC, Jones says he\u2019s \u201cproud\u201d to be a part of the wave of fresh faces with their sights set on Washington, D.C. in 2020, though he admits there was once a time he didn\u2019t think it would ever be possible.<\/p>\n

Jones, who came out when he was 24, says he never thought he could run for office \u201cbecause it would mean that I had to be my authentic self.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only had I not yet come to terms with that aspect of myself, but I certainly doubted that other people would be accepting of it,\u201d he explains. \u201cBut so much has changed over the past decade, and even over the past five years.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cGrowing up, struggling with my self-acceptance, if I had been able to look to an example like what I would provide, someone who is a respectable individual, an openly gay<\/a> black man<\/a> in Congress, life would have been a lot better for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

So Jones decided to be the change he wanted to see. If elected in 2020, he will become America\u2019s first Black gay<\/a> U.S. congressman.<\/p>\n

Related: This man hopes to make history as the first out gay Black congressman in Mississippi<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
\n<\/a> <\/a>\n<\/div>\n

\nwww.queerty.com\/meet-man-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman-20191120?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet the man<\/a> who may become America\u2019s first Black gay<\/a> congressman Mondaire Jones is a Harvard Law School grad and Obama Justice Department alum currently running to represent New York\u2019s 17th congressional district. Last week, he turned his relatively quiet campaign up roughly ten decimals by releasing an emotional campaign video<\/a>. \u201cI didn\u2019t come from … Continue reading Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay<\/a> congressman<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[784,32418,32417,32419],"class_list":["post-108076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-gay","tag-jim-crow-south","tag-mondaire-jones","tag-so-jones"],"yoast_head":"\nMeet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman Mondaire Jones is a Harvard Law School grad and Obama Justice Department alum currently running to represent New York\u2019s 17th congressional district. Last week, he turned his relatively quiet campaign up roughly ten decimals by releasing an emotional campaign video. \u201cI didn\u2019t come from … Continue reading Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-20T17:26:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/2019\/11\/Mondaire-Jones-670x396.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GayFriendschat.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@gayfriendschat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@gayfriendschat\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GayFriendschat.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GayFriendschat.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/person\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f\"},\"headline\":\"Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-20T17:26:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/\"},\"wordCount\":454,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/2019\/11\/Mondaire-Jones-670x396.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"gay\",\"Jim Crow South\",\"Mondaire Jones\",\"So Jones\"],\"articleSection\":[\"NEWS\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/\",\"name\":\"Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/2019\/11\/Mondaire-Jones-670x396.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-20T17:26:49+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/2019\/11\/Mondaire-Jones-670x396.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/2019\/11\/Mondaire-Jones-670x396.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/\",\"name\":\"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com\",\"description\":\"LGBT BLOG\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"GayFriendsChat.com\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Logo.jpg\",\"width\":243,\"height\":96,\"caption\":\"GayFriendsChat.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/gayfriendschat\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/person\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f\",\"name\":\"GayFriendschat.com\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GayFriendschat.com\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/author\/gayfriendschat-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","og_description":"Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman Mondaire Jones is a Harvard Law School grad and Obama Justice Department alum currently running to represent New York\u2019s 17th congressional district. Last week, he turned his relatively quiet campaign up roughly ten decimals by releasing an emotional campaign video. \u201cI didn\u2019t come from … Continue reading Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman →","og_url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/","og_site_name":"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","article_published_time":"2019-11-20T17:26:49+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/2019\/11\/Mondaire-Jones-670x396.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"GayFriendschat.com","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@gayfriendschat","twitter_site":"@gayfriendschat","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GayFriendschat.com","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/"},"author":{"name":"GayFriendschat.com","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/person\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f"},"headline":"Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman","datePublished":"2019-11-20T17:26:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/"},"wordCount":454,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/2019\/11\/Mondaire-Jones-670x396.jpg","keywords":["gay","Jim Crow South","Mondaire Jones","So Jones"],"articleSection":["NEWS"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/","name":"Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/2019\/11\/Mondaire-Jones-670x396.jpg","datePublished":"2019-11-20T17:26:49+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/2019\/11\/Mondaire-Jones-670x396.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/queerty-prodweb.s3.amazonaws.com\/2019\/11\/Mondaire-Jones-670x396.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/meet-the-man-who-may-become-americas-first-black-gay-congressman\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Meet the man who may become America\u2019s first Black gay congressman"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/","name":"GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com","description":"LGBT BLOG","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#organization","name":"GayFriendsChat.com","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Logo.jpg","width":243,"height":96,"caption":"GayFriendsChat.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/gayfriendschat"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/#\/schema\/person\/181913201d50f65b9bba7437f822a17f","name":"GayFriendschat.com","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/42a0cb75ed5dd34c6dc3e0aa48adf030c1c38a2c9dc59146f4afdf18e4bdf1d4?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"GayFriendschat.com"},"url":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/author\/gayfriendschat-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2466"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108076\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}