Democratic Texas state Rep. Jolanda Jones doesn’t wait for permission to speak her mind. A trial lawyer, former NCAA champion, and the first Black out LGBTQ+ member of the Texas legislature, Jones is now running for Congress in Houston’s 18th District.
If she wins today’s special election, she’ll be the first Black out lesbian in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jones, raised in Houston’s Third Ward, built her career fighting for regular, everyday people. She’s proud to call herself “the people’s champ, not the ivory tower champ.” At the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund’s Black Leaders Caucus, Jones called out inequities in political giving: “When Black LGBTQ+ people run, we don’t get the same support as white LGBTQ+ people. If you want your money to go to a white gay person and not a Black gay person, ask yourself why.” She came out at 50 and says she’s never looked back.
