Equality Hero: Congressman Barney Frank

Rep. Barney Frank (D) has over 30 years of experience fighting for the rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans and working passionately to protect us from discrimination and other anti-gay legislation at the state and federal levels.

 

His success both fighting for gay rights, and serving as a role model for what gay people can achieve, is so strong it threatens to become iconic.  
 
As a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, Rep. Frank introduced the state’s first LGBT bill in 1972. He has been a fierce and outspoken proponent for national legislation to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, and since coming to Congress 27 years ago, he has continued the effort to re-introduce and ultimately pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).  
 
Now serving his fourteenth term in Congress, Rep. Frank continues to lead the way on a number of issues important to gay Americans, including opposing Republican-led attempts for a Constitutional amendment to ban same sex marriage, pushing for the passage of important hate crimes legislation, promoting our rights under the asylum, immigration and tax laws, and constantly fending off attempts to deride and harass us at the federal and state level.  
 
In 1987, Rep. Frank became the first member of Congress to voluntarily announce that he is gay, and he is currently one of two openly gay members serving in Congress. More than a decade later, Rep. Frank founded the National Stonewall Democrats, a LGBT-rights group that brought together previously unaffiliated LGBT Democratic clubs throughout the country to serve as "a grassroots force for social change” within the Democratic Party.  
 
Widely considered to be one of the smartest members of Congress, Rep. Frank is a master of policy and parliamentary procedure, and has a great sense of humor. He is the Chairman of the Financial Services Committee.  
 

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