I love him for his ire & for his wit. I think he is a true American Hero. For the 1st time in 40 years, Barney Frank yields real power now & he is wielding it in a characteristically idiosyncratic manner. He remains a national symbol of outré sexuality as well as a rare wit in humor deficient Washington.
Barney Frank on being harassed by Tea Party members: ''More than one. My partner, Jim, & I were walking from… it was a nice day! We walked from one House office building to another. There was a great deal of shouting, you know, waving of fists & signs, & sort of people getting very close & yelling. & a number of the comments were homophobic... really, sadness. As Jim said, we're adults… I haven't really got a lot of respect for these people, to be honest. So, who cares what they say to me? But you do have to think about it. I'm serious about this, this bullying in junior & high school. It's a big problem. What occurs to me is, there are kids all over the country watching this, not as a game but as real life. Watching so-called respectable politicians cheering them on, & that was just discouraging, that at this point in our history, we couldn't have a rational debate with these kind of thug tactics that were being used.''
On coming out to himself, Frank says he realized he was gay when he was 13 years old: "I was aware when I was 11 and 12 that my sexual feelings were different than the other guys'. But I thought I was just a little slow to get those feelings. & then it just hit me like a thunderbolt one day. It was terrifying and emotionally very devastating."
Frank attended Harvard, & graduated in 1962. he then taught undergraduates while pursuing a Ph.D. He left in 1968 before completing the degree in order to work as Boston Mayor Kevin White's chief assistant. In 1972, Frank won a seat in the State Legislature. The following year, he introduced the state's first two gay rights bills.
In 1980, Pope John Paul II ordered all Roman Catholic priests to withdraw from electoral politics. Father Robert Drinan, who represented the Fourth Congressional District in Massachusetts, complied. More than a dozen local politicians eyed the seat. Frank narrowly won the election. His slogan was "Neatness Isn't Everything," a reference to his rumpled wardrobe.
In 1987, Frank became the first congressman to voluntarily announce his homosexuality publicly.
In 1989, Frank found himself in a major scandal. Four years earlier, Frank had engaged the services of a male escort named Stephen Gobie. Frank later hired Gobie as a driver despite knowing that he was on probation. Frank also used his House privileges to waive Gobie's parking tickets. When Frank discovered that Gobie was running a prostitution service out of his Capitol Hill apartment, he fired him. Gobie responded by telling his story to the news media. Attempts to expel or censure Frank, led by members of the House Ethics Committee who included Rep. Larry Craig, failed. Frank initially decided not to seek reelection in 1990; however, he changed his mind & would win with 66 percent of the vote. He won reelection in 2008 with 70% f the vote.
Frank resides in a studio apartment in Newton, Massachusetts. His partner, Jim Ready, is a surfing enthusiast whom Frank met during a gay political fundraiser in Maine, where Ready still lives.
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