WASHINGTON (AP) — Barney Frank, the longtime Democratic congressman and leading liberal who brought new visibility to gay rights and crafted the most
FILE - Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. gestures during his news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Nov. 29, 2011. . WASHINGTON — Barney Frank, the longtime Democratic congressman and leading liberal who brought new visibility to gay rights and crafted the most significant reforms to the financial system in a generation, has died.
He was 86. After representing broad swaths of Boston’s suburbs in Congress for 32 years, Frank and his husband moved to Ogunquit, Maine. He entered hospice there in April with congestive heart failure and is survived by his husband, Jim Ready, and sisters, the longtime Democratic strategist Ann Lewis and Doris Breay, along with brother David Frank. A self-described “left-handed gay Jew,” Frank was known for his acerbic wit, combative style and focus on marginalized communities.
He represented the party’s left wing while keeping close with Democratic leaders who sometimes frustrated progressives. He is best known as a pioneer for LGBT rights. After decades of grappling with his sexuality, he publicly came out as gay in 1987, the first member of Congress to do so voluntarily. With his 2012 marriage to Ready, he became the first incumbent lawmaker on Capitol Hill to marry someone of the same sex.
But in an April interview as he entered hospice, Frank said he hoped he would be remembered for advocating a brand of politics that embraced progressive ideals without forcing them on voters prematurely. It is an approach he feared was being rejected as Democrats prepare for what could be a rollicking primary as they hope to retake the White House in 2028 and move past the Trump era.
“I hope I made the point that the best way to accomplish the improvements in our society that we need, particularly in making it less unfair economically and socially, is by conventional political methods,” Frank said. “The main obstacle to our defeating populism and going further in the right direction is that mainstream Democrats have to make it clear that we oppose that part of the agenda of our friends on the left that is politically unacceptable.
They’re right about a lot of things but you have to have some discretion. ” “You should not take the most unpopular parts of your agenda and make them litmus tests,” he added.
“And that’s what my friends on the left have been doing. ”Born in 1940 in Bayonne, New Jersey, Frank wrote in his 2015 memoir that he was drawn to public life after Emmett Till, a Black 14-year-old from Chicago, was lynched by white men in Mississippi. Frank would volunteer in Mississippi during the Freedom Summer of 1964, though he acknowledged the fast-talking style was a challenge in the Deep South.
“My direct organizing of Mississippi voters was limited by the fact that my accent , my poor diction, and my rapid speech, especially when I got excited, rendered me largely incomprehensible to rural Mississippians of both races,” he wrote. He entered politics in 1968 as an aide to Boston Mayor Kevin White before winning a seat in the Massachusetts House in 1972.
Frank was elected to Congress in 1980, an otherwise dismal year for Democrats. Frank joined the liberal Democratic Study Group to help push then-Speaker Tip O’Neill, D-Mass. , to respond more aggressively to President Ronald Reagan’s Republican administration. But Frank said he found himself more often agreeing with O’Neill’s less confrontational approach.
Years later, as Congress prepared to pass a massive tax overhaul package, Frank intended to vote “no,” opposed to the bill’s lowering of top tax rates. He changed his mind, however, when he worked out a deal boosting affordable housing tax credits.
“I was happy to sacrifice my ideological purity to improve legislation that was going to become law with or without me,” he wrote. Through his early years in Washington, Frank led something of a double life. Privately, he socialized in the city’s gay circles and had relationships but did not publicly acknowledge his sexuality. The media at the time rarely reported that someone was gay unless that person was involved in a scandal.
When Frank in 1987 invited a reporter to his office to formally ask whether the congressman was gay, Frank responded, “yeah, so what? ” Other elected leaders, perhaps most notably San Francisco’s Harvey Milk, had come out years before. Members of Congress, including Rep. Gerry Studds, D-Mass.
, were previously outed through scandal. Frank’s approach made him the most prominent gay leader in national politics for much of the 1980s and 1990s. He helped secure AIDS funding and pressed the Democratic Clinton administration, unsuccessfully, to lift a ban on gays serving in the military. But there were low points, too, most notably an overwhelming 1987 House vote to reprimand him for poor judgment involving a male prostitute he hired in 1985.
Frank became something of a punch line among conservative Republicans, with House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, calling him “Barney Fag” in 1995. Armey said he misspoke and later apologized from the House floor. By 2007, Frank was the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, where he would leave his lasting policy mark as the U.S. economy careened toward collapse. He worked with the Republican Bush administration to pass a rescue package.
Once the initial crisis eased, Frank helped develop the most significant reform legislation since the New Deal. The Dodd-Frank Act would enhance consumer protections, impose new capital requirements for banks and boost the ability of regulators to monitor risk. During President Donald Trump’s second term, his Republican administration has worked to roll back many of the legislation’s provisions, arguing they were too onerous.
Frank faced his toughest reelection campaign in years in 2010 as the tea party wave swept over American politics. He opted against running again in 2012, though remained engaged in politics long after leaving Congress, including spending time as a contributor to the conservative Newsmax network. He remained a fierce critic of Trump. Asked for his prediction on who might succeed the president, Frank said “unfortunately I won’t get to vote for it.
”WASHINGTON — Barney Frank, the longtime Democratic congressman and leading liberal who brought new visibility to gay rights and crafted the most significant reforms to the financial system in a generation, has died. He was 86. Frank died late Tuesday, according to Jim Segel, Frank’s former campaign manager and close friend. After representing broad NEW LONDON, Conn.
— President Donald Trump told the U.S. Coast Guard Academy’s graduates on Wednesday that they show “unbelievable heroism and exceptional selflessness” but that the cadets will “be tested further” as they embark on their military careers. Trump’s remarks to the class of 2026 were the first time he has given a PHILADELPHIA — The eastern U.S. sweated through a second day of early-season heat Wednesday, with some schoolchildren being sent home while others stayed in sweltering classrooms.
The Philadelphia school district shifted to remote learning for students at 57 schools, saying that while it has made progress, a number of schools continue to have inadequate MIAMI — The Justice Department was expected to announce a criminal case Wednesday against former Cuban President Raúl Castro as the Trump administration escalates pressure on the socialist government, according to two people familiar with the matter. Federal prosecutors in Miami were preparing an indictment related to Castro’s alleged role in the 1996 downing WASHINGTON — Two police officers who helped defend the U.S. Capitol from an attack by a mob of Trump supporters $1.776 billion settlement fund for people who claim to be victims of politically motivated prosecutions.
The officers’ attorneys filed the federal lawsuit a day after Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche defended the fund’s creation The effort comes amid an alarming rise in gray whale deaths in the bay. Last year, 21 dead gray whales were found in the wider Bay Area — the highest number in 25 years.
Colon cancer is one of the most common and deadliest types of cancer, and routine screenings are the best way to reduce your chances of becoming a statistic. Redmond HVAC contractor earns triple recognition in 60 days, reflecting a shift in how homeowners vet contractors Three independent organizations that evaluate home service contractors each reached the same conclusion: Home Comfort Alliance is among the most reliable in its market.
WSECU Community Champion: Chrystal Ortega’s mission to feed Spokane Chrystal Ortega's tireless dedication recently earned her the WSECU Community Champions Award and a $1,000 grant to further the mission. When Shawn Tibbitts opened Tibbitts FernHill, he was just trying to survive. The small Tacoma restaurant has since earned culinary awards and praise. Wilcox Family Farms is continuing its cherished holiday tradition of giving back by donating nearly one million eggs to food banks across the South Sound region this season.
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