Often voted the “brainiest,” “funniest” and “most eloquent” member of the House, he was also the first to come out voluntarily and helped normalize being openly gay in public office.
Note: he retired in January 2013
I remember Frank back when he was a pugnacious foil to the Bush Administration. He was a liberal lion, both in the good and bad sense.
I just can’t get over the anti-trans stuff. How can one of the first married gay man say out loud that some civil rights are too much? Ladder-puller.
“Gay pioneer” sounds like an amazing Halloween costume.
Can’t say I entirely liked Frank; anti-trans, pro-Israel, pro-online gambling. I respect that he advanced gay rights, medical cannabis legalization, demilitarization, and some (relatively milquetoast) environmentalism.
Edit: I forgot to mention pro-choice. All-in-all not bad, but just leaves a sour taste.
Edit 2: Going to his Wikipedia article now to refresh my memory, it seems:
However in May 2026, shortly before his death, Frank reversed his position and criticized the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He believed that the U.S. should end their weapons sales to Israel as long as Netanyahu does not “relieve Palestinian suffering” and expressed support to Netanyahu’s opposition.
He was clearly one of the better ones, to whatever extent that means anything when speaking about the US Congress. I think his anti-trans actions and statements have sort of just polluted my view of him.
To be fair, “one of the better ones” in Congress is… shall we say, rather faint praise, and not at all a high bar.
Fuck you, Barney Frank. I still remember you screwing over the trans community in order to not get ENDA passed.
+1
