Aaron Jon Schock (born May 28, 1981) is a former American politician who was Republican U.S. Representative for Illinois's 18th congressional district from 2009 until 2015. The district is based in Peoria and includes part of Springfield. He was the first member of the U.S. Congress born in the 1980s; when he took his seat in 2009 he was the youngest member of Congress. Previously, Schock had served two terms in the Illinois House of Representatives, also as its youngest member.
Aaron Schock, the former Republican congressman who was long suspected of being gay, came out in an Instagram post on Thursday. “The fact that I am gay is just one of those things in life in need of explicit affirmation, to remove any doubt and to finally validate who I am as a person,” Schock said. “In many ways, I regret the time wasted in not having done so sooner.” Schock, who served in Congress from 2009 to 2015, has been dogged by gay rumors for some time.