Aaron Schock: Former Republican congressman who voted against numerous pieces of LGBT+ legislation comes out as gay

In a lengthy post, published on both Instagram and his own website, former Republican congressman Aaron Schock, who voted against many pieces of LGBT+ legislation, has come out as gay.

During his time in Congress, representing a Republican district in Illinois, Mr Schock voted against a bill to amend federal hate crime laws to include crimes on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability. He also voted against the repeal of the military's “Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy.

In his coming out statement, Mr Schock references his poor record on LGBT+ policies and that when he ran for Congress he was against same sex marriage. He also points out that in 2008 his position was in line with John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barack Obama.

“That fact doesn’t make my then position any less wrong, but it’s sometimes easy to forget that it was leaders of both parties who for so long wrongly understood what it was to defend the right to marry,” says Mr Schock.

Reaction on Twitter focussed on two words that many as saw missing from his statement: “I'm sorry”.

Mr Schock says: “The truth is that if I were in Congress today, I would support LGBTQ rights in every way I could. I realise that some of my political positions run very much counter to the mainstream of the LGBTQ movement, and I respect them for those differences. I hope people will allow for me the same,” he says. He also acknowledges the role of “community activists, leaders, and ordinary LGBT folks” that have fought to advance LGBT+ rights.

In the post Mr Schock talks candidly about his conservative, religious upbringing in Minnesota and Illinois, how he put off directly acknowledging his sexuality by becoming driven to succeed at a young age. He was elected to the Illinois state legislature at the age of 23.

Joining Congress in 2009 as its youngest member at 27, he became the subject of much speculation concerning his sexuality, focussed mostly on the way he dressed and his physical fitness. He was accused of flamboyantly decorating his office in the style of the TV show Downton Abbey — which he claims to have never seen.

Mr Schock resigned from Congress in March 2015 amid a scandal involving his use of public and campaign funds to pay for lavish trips and events. A federal grand jury indicted him in November 2016 and he pleaded not guilty. Over two years later in March 2019 all charges were dropped after an agreement was reached with prosecutors. His campaign committee pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour count of failing to correctly report expenses.

He decided it was time to come out to his family after what Mr Schock describes as “four years of legal hell”. However, before he could speak with his mother, pictures surfaced online of a weekend at the Coachella music festival of a shirtless Mr Schock kissing another man, that “made clear what I was en route to tell my mother in person”. He was told that he was not welcome.

Still estranged from much of his conservative family, some of whom send him emails “trying to sell me on conversion therapy”, his mother recently reached out at a relative’s wedding to say that she would like to meet anyone special in his life.

Describing himself as optimistic and ready to start the next chapter of his life, Mr Schock says: “This journey has taught me a valuable lesson: that, whether you are gay or straight, it’s never too late to be authentic and true to yourself.”