The first black, openly gay members of the U.S. House of Representatives
-
Energized by the US’s massive anti-racism protests, history-making progressives from New York — young, black, Latino and gay — want to shake up Congress’s status quo when they are likely elected in November.
Mondaire Jones, 33, and Afro-Latino Ritchie Torres, 32, are set to become the first black, openly gay members of the House of Representatives following the November 3 vote.
Galvanized by the Black Lives Matter demonstrations, they recently won primaries to become the Democratic Party’s candidates in districts that overwhelmingly vote Democrat, all but securing their election to Congress’s lower house.
Currently, only two of the US Senate’s 100 members and seven of the House’s 435 representatives identify themselves as LGBTQ.
Although the LGBTQ community comprises 4.5 percent of America’s population, members occupy only 0.17 percent of elected roles, according to the Victory Institute.
-
I hope they have more sustance than just BLM.
-
More visibility is needed.
-
More visibility is needed.
Maybe, but the right kind of visibility.
It does more harm to have a useless clown being our visibility than someone of substance.
It's like saying we needed to vote for Hillary solely because she had a vagina, and ignore all the problems and baggage.
