Barney Frank

Born March 31, 1940 in Bayonne, New Jersey he rose to become the Representatives for Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District. In 1987 he became the second openly gay member of the House of Representatives, and has become one of the most prominent openly gay politicians in the United States.

Frank is widely considered to be one of the most powerful members of Congress. He is "one of the brightest and most energetic defenders of civil rights issues", and "a key deal-maker, and an unlikely bridge between his party’s left-wing base and the free market conservatives.

Frank has been outspoken on many civil rights issues, including LGBT rights. He said in a 1996 interview: "I'm used to being in the minority. I'm a left-handed gay Jew. I've never felt, automatically, a member of any majority." In 1995, then-Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey famously referred to Frank as "Barney Fag" in a press interview. Armey apologized and said it was "a slip of the tongue". Frank did not accept Armey's explanation, saying "I turned to my own expert, my mother, who reports that in 59 years of marriage, no one ever introduced her as Elsie Fag."

Through the 1990 Immigration Act, Frank was a major force in removing restrictions based on "sexual preference exclusion" which had been explicitly prohibited by early immigration law. In 1998, Frank founded the National Stonewall Democrats, the national LGBT Democratic organization.

In February 2009, Frank was one of three openly gay members of Congress. Frank was accused by Rep. John Hostettler (R-IN) of having a "radical homosexual agenda" and responded "I do have things I would like to see adopted on behalf of LGBT people: they include the right to marry the individual of our choice; the right to serve in the military to defend our country; and the right to a job based solely on our qualifications. I acknowledge that this is an agenda, but I do not think that any self-respecting radical in history would have considered advocating people's rights to get married, join the army, and earn a living as a terribly inspiring revolutionary platform."