After the LGBT community celebrated Doug Jones’ senate win last week in Alabama, beating homophobic and accused sexual predator Roy Moore, the queer community celebrated something else. Internet detectives discovered Jones had a gay son, Carson Jones, and a new Instagram hunk was born.

We had the opportunity to ask Carson Jones some questions about his father’s win, if he’s single or taken and what his DM box is looking like these days now that he has a whole lot more thirsty followers … including us.

Hornet: Since we first blogged about you, your Instagram following has grown by more than 15,000 followers. How does it feel to have such a strong following now and what are you going to do with your platform?

Carson Jones: It was honestly kind of overwhelming as the followers started to climb really quickly. But I have had so many really nice people reach out with words of encouragement and support. So many people have just simply said “Thank you” and all of that really means a lot. Moving forward, I probably will get a bit more vocal about issues. But honestly who knows what the future holds at this point.

What do you know now that you didn’t know at the start of your father’s campaign?

Alabama really can change. I was definitely very pessimistic before the victory and while I saw Alabama changing, it was very very slow. This victory was just so monumental that it really demonstrates that my home state can and will be a place that puts people first.

Do you ever see yourself becoming more involved with politics yourself, especially since there are so few LGBT out politicians in office?

I honestly have no idea what the cards will hold later on. I absolutely love what I do now as a zookeeper and really can’t ever imagine leaving the field. This has been my passion since I was about five years old and I’m finally getting to do some really amazing things with animals and to inspire conservation action. But all that being said, I’ve always been interested in politics, so nothing is getting ruled out for sure.

What has your personal experience been with dating apps like Hornet?

I mean like pretty much every gay guy my age, I have definitely had my fair share of positive and negative experiences with the “app culture” in the gay community. I kind of go through periods where I am using them constantly for a few weeks and then forget all about them for a while and then go back to them. It’s a cycle.

Are you single or taken? 

(Laughs) I’m very much single.

What do you look for in a partner? 

Just getting started dipping my toe in the dating pool which has been exciting but also terrifying. I mean, I’m looking for what I think most people are: someone handsome and charming but also someone genuine and real. Someone that is engaged with the world around them and supportive when I binge eat Chinese food at 3:00 a.m. after a night out on the town. (Laughs)

If you could sit in a room with some of the men and women who voted for your father, what’s the first thing you would say to them?

It would just be thank you, thank you, thank you. It was amazing to stand in the stage behind my dad on election night and see supporters in the audience bawling at how happy this victory was for them. It really makes you understand how important this election really was. This victory isn’t my dad’s victory, this is their victory and I would tell them that.

If you could say one thing to your 16-year-old self, what would it be?

I think my 16-year-old self was way too tightly strung. I’m still an A-type personality, but 16-year-old Carson took that way too far. So I would simply say, “Chill out. Everything is going to work out.”

What’s the craziest DM you got from a new follower this week?

Honestly, everyone has been surprisingly tame. No dick pics or anything. Lots of marriage proposals but also a lot of really amazing supportive messages. I definitely get a lot of “ZADDY” comments. I honestly had no idea what that meant and had to look it up. And now my close friends are trolling my Instagram and commenting “ZADDY” everywhere. (Laughs)

So what’s next?

Finishing grad school is the top priority. I’ll be done in May and then I’ll see where that takes me. Hopefully a really amazing zoo wants to hire me on full-time and I can really get going with my career. But I also just want to take some time and travel and relax. It has been a crazy year to say the least, so if more naps could be in my future in 2018 … that would be perfect.