Trailblazing gay politician Barney Frank has died at 86.
Frank died May 19 after recently entering hospice care at his home in Ogunquit, Maine, where he had been battling congestive heart failure, according to multiple media reports.
Born Barnett Frank in Bayonne, New Jersey, in 1940, he earned degrees from Harvard College and, later, Harvard Law School. He entered Massachusetts politics in the 1970s, serving in the state House before winning election to Congress in 1980. Among other accomplishments, Frank chaired the Financial Services Committee during the 2008 meltdown and co-authored the milestone Dodd-Frank Act, which aimed to put Wall Street firms under tougher scrutiny. In all, he represented Massachusetts in the U.S. House from 1981 to 2013.
According to NBC News, Frank was a leader for other openly gay U.S. elected officials—including becoming the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out as gay, in 1987. (However, Frank’s political career was endangered two years later after a news report detailed his relationship with a male sex worker who worked for him as a personal aide; Frank later fired the man.) In 2012, Frank became the first member of Congress to enter into a same-sex marriage when he wed his longtime partner, Jim Ready.
However, Frank’s legacy is controversial, especially regarding transgender issues. In 2007, he triggered a schism within the LGBTQ+-rights movement when he removed trans protections from the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Moreover, in talking with CNN’s Jake Tapper recently, he urged Democrats to rethink how they approach some transgender-rights issues, such as sports participation and political messaging.
Frank’s mixed legacy was noted on social media as well. For example, Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic instructor Alejandra Caraballo stated on Bluesky, “Barney Frank torched his legacy when he called into CNN from his deathbed to throw trans people under the bus in his last public appearance.”
A statement that PFLAG National President Brian K. Bond sent to The Advocate encapsulated that colorful legacy: “Former Member of Congress Barney Frank’s legacy stretches beyond the landmark Dodd-Frank Act to include many laws to advance prevention, detection, and treatment of HIV/AIDS. We remember Barney as a trailblazer who was the first Member of Congress to come out as gay, and who moved many pieces of civil rights legislation forward. Sadly, his legacy is also marred by his own actions and failures on behalf of transgender people.”
Others also weighed in on Frank’s passing. In a statement that Windy City Times received, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin—another member of the LGBTQ+ community—stated, “Barney was a masterful legislator, savvy and strategic, and always thinking of the long game. Earning Barney’s praise when we passed the Respect for Marriage Act is something that I will forever cherish.” However, she also noted, “Barney could have a prickly exterior, but I also recall him revealing a much more vulnerable side of himself as he recounted what it was like to live in the closet, before he came out in 1987.” Locally, Chicago City Clerk Anna Valencia posted a Facebook tribute that stated, “Frank helped advance equality, dignity and representation for millions of people across the country.”
In addition, Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson issued a laudatory statement saying, in part, “At a time when our community was being devastated by AIDS and too many leaders looked away, he demanded action. He helped pave the way for the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ stronger federal protections, marriage equality, and a future where LGBTQ+ people could see themselves not just represented but leading at the highest levels of government.”