LGBTQ advocates are celebrating the fact that two of New York's newest members of Congress will be the first openly gay Black men to sit in the federal legislature.

Ritchie Torres, who identifies as Afro-Latino, and Mondaire Jones, who is Black, will both be sworn into Congress on January 3. 

Human Rights Campaign president Alphonso David believes their victories will help young people of color feel that they can be Black, Latino, gay, and electable.

"There is a future for LGBTQ rights and they have a future in our democracy and politics," David said.

Torres, a New York City Councilmember, will succeed Democrat Jose Serrano in the 15th Congressional District in the Bronx and Westchester. Jones, an attorney, has won the seat vacated by retiring Democrat Nita Lowey in the 17th Congressional District, covering Westchester and Rockland counties.