During his time of advocacy in Indiana, he was involved in helping Ryan White and working to advance the rights of gays and lesbians.
[1] That night, two plainclothes Indianapolis Police Department officers approached Jones, questioned him, frisked him and one groped his genitals.
"After having had received 23 complaints, including mine, within just a few weeks, the ICLU moved to the center of attention, speaking out against this harassment of gays.
Dr. Bruce Voeller, then president of the Mariposa Foundation and former director of the National Gay Task Force, and Jones were among the speakers.
[9][10] In addition to Ryan White's case, Jones worked to persuade state legislators to support a statewide gay and lesbian rights bill in Indiana's 104th General Assembly in 1985, but failed when the legislation lost its sole sponsor, State Senator Louis Mahern, Jr.[11][12] Jones spent much of his tenure speaking at events throughout the state, aiming for wider acceptance of gays and lesbians and to build support for gay and lesbian rights protections.
"[15] Jones was a youthful, ordinary, and congenial spokesman for the gay and lesbian community at a time when few others spoke up and homophobic stereotypes were still widespread.
[16] He served as editor of the local gay publication Edge Magazine and wrote extensively about the AIDS activist movement.