{"id":2073,"date":"2026-05-20T15:41:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/20\/barney-frank-former-congressman-and-gay-rights-pioneer-dies-at-86\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T15:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T15:41:07","slug":"barney-frank-former-congressman-and-gay-rights-pioneer-dies-at-86","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=2073","title":{"rendered":"Barney Frank, former congressman and gay-rights pioneer, dies at 86"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Barney Frank, former congressman and gay-rights pioneer, dies at 86<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n

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US Rep. Barney Frank,D-MA, chairman of the US House Financial Services Committee conducts hearings on \"Financial Market Regulatory Restructuring.\" July 10, 2008 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n US Rep. Barney Frank,D-MA, chairman of the US House Financial Services Committee conducts hearings on “Financial Market Regulatory Restructuring.” July 10, 2008 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC.
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Barney Frank, the liberal icon and gay-rights pioneer who represented Massachusetts in Congress for more than three decades, died Tuesday night at his home, according to a close friend who confirmed his death to member station GBH<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He was 86 years old and had been receiving hospice care for congestive heart failure.<\/p>\n

Frank was the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out, and also the first to marry a same-sex partner. He says many of the conventional tactics they took to fight for gay-rights helped make “enormous progress”<\/a> in a relatively short period of time.<\/p>\n

Recently asked by GBH if he wished he could do over any part of his career, Frank replied: “I would have come out earlier.”<\/a><\/p>\n

Read GBH’s full remembrance here<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n

Frank’s last message for Democrats<\/h2>\n
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\"Barney<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\n Barney Frank speaks during PFLAG National’s Love Takes Justice event at AFT Headquarters on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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WBUR’s Anthony Brooks spoke with Frank while in hospice<\/a> at his home in Ogunquit, Maine, where he lives with his husband, Jim Ready. <\/p>\n

In their conversation, Frank shared an urgent message for Democrats hoping to bounce back from Trump. <\/p>\n

He says Democrats have a chance to defeat President Donald Trump’s brand of right-wing populism, but only if the party embraces core economic issues instead of polarizing culture fights. <\/p>\n

Read more from their conversation here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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This is a developing story.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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