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.
The former Republican congressman, who held a number of anti-LGBTQ stances during his career, made the announcement in a lengthy post on Instagram about his sexuality, where he said it should “come as no surprise” to people who know him. “The fact that I am gay is just one of those things in my life in need of explicit affirmation, to remove any doubt and to finally validate who I am as a person.