Congressional Candidate Claims The US Is "Targeting" Women & Minorities; Was Forced To Keep Sexuality A Secret From College, Air Force [#TXPolitics 24/7]

Twenty-third Congressional District Democratic candidate Gina Ortiz Jones believes the US is "Targeting women and minorities," and called the 2016 was an "emotional event" for her in a recent interview with a Boston University newspaper.

In an interview with BU Today, the newspaper of Boston University, from which she graduated in 2003, Ortiz Jones said the country is in a Constitutional crisis because of the 2016 election, which has caused her to take action and run for office.

"I think the election was such a significant emotional event for me because I’ve seen what it looks like in other countries when women and minorities are targeted. I’ve seen what it looks like when a government disregards conflict of interest, and hollows out the middle class, and ultimately their democracy."

She reacted just as strongly to the pictures of children of illegal immigrants who have been pictured held in detention facilities, a practice she called "egregious" and "atrocious."

"The pictures we’ve seen! With 40 percent of the border in the district, I think we see this issue just a little bit differently than the rest of the country. But frankly, as Americans, we all know that seeing a young child, a toddler, crying as they’re being held in a cage like an animal—that’s not the right thing to do. It’s so far from American, it’s unbelievable."

If the former Air Force intelligence officer beats two-term Republican incumbent Will Hurd in November, she'll become the first woman to represent her district. She will also be the first Filipina American and the first lesbian to hold a US House seat from Texas.

She opened up about her sexuality to the paper, saying she kept it a secret while attending BU on an ROTC scholarship, and throughout her career in the Air Force, which occurred during the time the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy was still in effect. She said she was forced to keep being a lesbian a "very deep secret."

"I could not be as open as I would have liked, because I needed that scholarship to stay at BU. I knew what I had to do. And when I served in the Air Force, that policy applied to me too. If someone is ready and willing to serve their country, there shouldn't be any policies - especially policies rooted in bigotry - that would prevent that."