{"id":2689,"date":"2026-05-23T12:39:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T12:39:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usglobalnews.com\/2026\/05\/23\/opinion-remembering-barney-frank-trailblazing-public-servant\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T12:39:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T12:39:51","slug":"opinion-remembering-barney-frank-trailblazing-public-servant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.usglobalnews.com\/?p=2689","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Remembering Barney Frank, trailblazing public servant"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"slug-wrap\">\n<h4 class=\"slug-tag\">\n            <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/sections\/opinion\/\"><br \/>\n            Opinion<br \/>\n            <\/a><br \/>\n        <\/h4>\n<h3 class=\"slug\">\n    <\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"storytitle\">\n<h1>Opinion: Remembering Barney Frank, trailblazing public servant<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"STORYTITLE\" --><\/p>\n<div id=\"story-meta\" class=\"story-meta has-byline\">\n<div class=\"story-meta__one\">\n<div class=\"story-meta__one-inner\">\n<div class=\"dateblock\">\n    <time datetime=\"2026-05-23T08:00:00-04:00\"><br \/>\n            <span class=\"date\">May 23, 2026<\/span><span class=\"time\">8:00 AM ET<\/span><br \/>\n    <\/time>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"program-block\">\n                        Heard on             <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/programs\/weekend-edition-saturday\/2026\/05\/23\/weekend-edition-saturday-for-may-23-2026\">Weekend Edition Saturday<\/a>\n         <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"PROGRAM-BLOCK\" -->\n      <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"STORY-META__ONE-INNER\" -->\n   <\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"STORY-META__ONE\" --><\/p>\n<div class=\"story-meta__two\">\n<div id=\"storybyline\" class=\"storybyline-wrap linkLocation\">\n<div class=\"bucketwrap byline\">\n<div class=\"byline-container--block\">\n<div class=\"byline byline--block byline--has-link\" aria-label=\"Byline\">\n<div class=\"byline__photo\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/people\/3874941\/scott-simon\" rel=\"author\"><br \/>\n        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/540x540+0+0\/resize\/100\/quality\/85\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F90%2Fe3%2Fff57afab43a78d30d922ebc69c0c%2Fscott-simon.jpg\" class=\"img\" alt=\"Headshot of Scott Simon\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/540x540+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F90%2Fe3%2Fff57afab43a78d30d922ebc69c0c%2Fscott-simon.jpg\" data-format=\"jpeg\"><br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<p class=\"byline__name byline__name--block\">\n      <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/people\/3874941\/scott-simon\" rel=\"author\"><br \/>\n      Scott Simon<br \/>\n    <\/a>\n  <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"BUCKETWRAP BYLINE\" -->\n      <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"STORY-META__TWO\" -->\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END ID=\"STORY-META\" CLASS=\"STORY-META HAS-BYLINE\" --><\/p>\n<div id=\"headlineaudio\" class=\"storylocation linkLocation\">\n<article id=\"resnx-s1-9782784\" class=\"bucketwrap resaudio\" aria-label=\"audio-module\">\n<div class=\"audio-module\">\n<h4 class=\"audio-module-title\">ESSAY 05-23-26<\/h4>\n<div class=\"audio-module-controls-wrap\" data-audio='{\"uid\":\"nx-s1-5823640:nx-s1-9782784\",\"available\":true,\"duration\":142,\"title\":\"ESSAY 05-23-26\",\"audioUrl\":\"https:\/\/ondemand.npr.org\/anon.npr-mp3\/npr\/wesat\/2026\/05\/20260523_wesat_opinion_remembering_barney_frank_trailblazing_public_servant.mp3?t=progseg&amp;e=nx-s1-5767721&amp;p=7&amp;seg=2&amp;d=142&amp;size=2283774&amp;sc=siteplayer\",\"storyUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2026\/05\/23\/nx-s1-5823640\/opinion-remembering-barney-frank-trailblazing-public-servant\",\"slug\":\"Opinion\",\"program\":\"Weekend Edition Saturday\",\"affiliation\":\"\",\"song\":\"\",\"artist\":\"\",\"album\":\"\",\"track\":0,\"type\":\"segment\",\"subtype\":\"other\",\"skipSponsorship\":false,\"hasAdsWizz\":false,\"isStreamAudioType\":false,\"podcastEpisodeRawType\":\"\",\"podcastEpisodeDerivedPlusType\":\"\"}' data-audio-metrics=\"[]\">\n<div class=\"audio-module-controls audio-module-controls--no-js\">\n            <a class=\"audio-module-listen\" href=\"https:\/\/ondemand.npr.org\/anon.npr-mp3\/npr\/wesat\/2026\/05\/20260523_wesat_opinion_remembering_barney_frank_trailblazing_public_servant.mp3?t=progseg&amp;e=nx-s1-5767721&amp;p=7&amp;seg=2&amp;d=142&amp;size=2283774&amp;sc=siteplayer&amp;aw_0_1st.playerid=siteplayer\"><br \/>\n                <b class=\"audio-module-listen-inner\"><br \/>\n                    <b class=\"audio-module-listen-text\"><br \/>\n                        <b class=\"audio-module-cta\"><br \/>\n                            Listen<br \/>\n                        <\/b><br \/>\n                        <b class=\"audio-module-listen-duration\"><br \/>\n                            <span>\u00b7 <\/span><br \/>\n                            <span>2:22<\/span><br \/>\n                        <\/b><br \/>\n                    <\/b><br \/>\n                <\/b><br \/>\n            <\/a><br \/>\n                <time class=\"audio-module-duration\" datetime=\"P2M,22S\"><br \/>\n                  <span class=\"audio-module-duration__initial-value\">2:22<\/span><br \/>\n                <\/time>\n        <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"audio-module-tools\">\n        <button class=\"audio-module-tools-toggle\" data-metrics-ga4='{\"category\":\"audio\",\"action\":\"audio_open_more_options\",\"storyId\":\"nx-s1-5823640\",\"mediaId\":\"nx-s1-9782784\",\"title\":\"Opinion: Remembering Barney Frank, trailblazing public servant\",\"type\":\"ondemand\"}'><br \/>\n            <b class=\"label\">Toggle more options<\/b><br \/>\n        <\/button><\/p>\n<ul class=\"audio-module-more-tools\">\n<li class=\"audio-tool audio-tool-download\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ondemand.npr.org\/anon.npr-mp3\/npr\/wesat\/2026\/05\/20260523_wesat_opinion_remembering_barney_frank_trailblazing_public_servant.mp3?t=progseg&amp;e=nx-s1-5767721&amp;p=7&amp;seg=2&amp;d=142&amp;size=2283774&amp;sc=siteplayer&amp;aw_0_1st.playerid=siteplayer\" data-metrics-ga4='{\"category\":\"audio\",\"action\":\"audio_download\",\"storyId\":\"nx-s1-5823640\",\"mediaId\":\"nx-s1-9782784\",\"title\":\"Opinion: Remembering Barney Frank, trailblazing public servant\",\"type\":\"ondemand\"}'><b class=\"audio-tool-label\">Download<\/b><\/a>\n                <\/li>\n<li class=\"audio-tool audio-tool-embed\">\n                    <button data-embed-url=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/player\/embed\/nx-s1-5823640\/nx-s1-9782784\" data-metrics-ga4='{\"category\":\"audio\",\"action\":\"audio_embed\",\"storyId\":\"nx-s1-5823640\",\"mediaId\":\"nx-s1-9782784\",\"title\":\"Opinion: Remembering Barney Frank, trailblazing public servant\",\"type\":\"ondemand\"}'><b class=\"button-inner\"><b class=\"audio-tool-label\">Embed<\/b><\/b><\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"audio-embed-overlay\">\n                        <label class=\"embed-label\"><br \/>\n                            <b class=\"label\">Embed<\/b><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/label><br \/>\n                        <b class=\"embed-url embed-url-touch\"><br \/>\n                            <code><b class=\"punctuation\">&lt;<\/b>iframe src=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/player\/embed\/nx-s1-5823640\/nx-s1-9782784\" width=\"100%\" height=\"290\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" title=\"NPR embedded audio player\"&gt;<\/code><br \/>\n                        <\/b>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"storytext\" class=\"storytext storylocation linkLocation\">\n<div id=\"resg-s1-124021\" class=\"bucketwrap image large\">\n<div class=\"imagewrap has-source-dimensions\" data-crop-type=\"\" style=\"--source-width: 3000;--source-height: 2000\">\n<p>            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3000x2000+0+0\/resize\/1100\/quality\/50\/format\/jpeg\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc6%2F2e%2Ffbcc5263468dafd37196b28c1a76%2Fgettyimages-83026573.jpg\" data-template=\"https:\/\/npr.brightspotcdn.com\/dims3\/default\/strip\/false\/crop\/3000x2000+0+0\/resize\/{width}\/quality\/{quality}\/format\/{format}\/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fc6%2F2e%2Ffbcc5263468dafd37196b28c1a76%2Fgettyimages-83026573.jpg\" class=\"img\" alt=\"Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) speaking during a news conference on Capitol Hill September 26, 2008 in Washington, DC.\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"credit-caption\">\n<div class=\"caption-wrap\">\n<div class=\"caption\" aria-label=\"Image caption\">\n<p>\n                Former Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) speaking during a news conference on Capitol Hill September 26, 2008 in Washington, DC.<br \/>\n                <b class=\"credit\" aria-label=\"Image credit\"><br \/>\n                    Brendan Smialowski\/Getty Images<br \/>\n                <\/b><br \/>\n                <b class=\"hide-caption\"><b>hide caption<\/b><\/b>\n            <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <b class=\"toggle-caption\"><b>toggle caption<\/b><\/b>\n    <\/div>\n<p>    <span class=\"credit\" aria-label=\"Image credit\"><br \/>\n        Brendan Smialowski\/Getty Images<br \/>\n    <\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m a left-handed gay Jew,&#8221; Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank told <em>The New York Times<\/em> <em>Magazine<\/em> in 1996. &#8220;I&#8217;ve never felt, automatically, a member of any majority.&#8221; But he did win majorities \u2014 Frank served more than three decades in Congress and made history as a deal-maker and a ground-breaker. He died this week at the age of 86.<\/p>\n<p>During the subprime mortgage crisis that led to the Great Recession, Frank chaired the House Financial Services Committee as it passed sweeping reforms to the U.S. financial system. He helped write laws that protected homeowners from foreclosure and credit card users from unfair lending practices; banned commercial banks from certain risky trades and returned more than 21 billion dollars to defrauded American consumers.<\/p>\n<p>Frank was also the first member of Congress to voluntarily come out as gay, following the death of a colleague who had concealed his own sexuality. In 1987, he invited a <em>Boston Globe<\/em> reporter to his office to outright ask him, &#8220;Are you gay?&#8221; Frank answered, &#8220;Yeah. So what?&#8221; 25 years later, he became the first U.S. Representative to marry someone of the same gender.<\/p>\n<p>And Frank spoke out so sharply, President George W. Bush called him &#8220;saber tooth.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He said he found it hard to read the 1998 Starr Report about President Clinton&#8217;s relationship with Monica Lewinsky because it was &#8220;too much reading about heterosexual sex.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>He told a constituent who heckled him at a meeting in 2009 that &#8220;It is a tribute to the First Amendment that this kind of vile, contemptible nonsense is so freely propagated.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>In a 2006 campaign ad, Rep. John Hostettler of Indiana accused Frank of having a &#8220;radical homosexual agenda.&#8221; Hostettler lost that election, by the way. In a speech not long afterward, Frank made his position clear:<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I do think we should allow gay and lesbian people to serve in the military and get married and have a job,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;But, by tradition of radical standards, being in the military, working for a living and getting married are not the stuff of radicalism.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Frank&#8217;s frankness helped open the American Dream.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<ul>\n<li><a class=\"tag tag--story\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/125940965\/barney-frank\">Barney Frank<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"tag tag--story\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/126923237\/congress\">Congress<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"tag tag--story\" href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/tags\/127295298\/remembrance\">remembrance<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"TAGS\" --><\/p>\n<div class=\"share-tools share-tools--secondary\" aria-label=\"Share tools\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"share-tools__service share-tools__service--facebook\"><button class=\"fbStorynx-s1-5823640\" data-share-facebook='{\"storyId\": \"nx-s1-5823640\" }' data-metrics-ga4='{\"category\":\"share\",\"action\":\"share\",\"clickName\":\"facebook\"}'><b class=\"share-tools__service-name\">Facebook<\/b><\/button><\/li>\n<li class=\"share-tools__service share-tools__service--flipboard\"><button class=\"storynx-s1-5823640\" data-share-flipboard='{\"storyId\": \"nx-s1-5823640\" }' data-metrics-ga4='{\"category\":\"share\",\"action\":\"share\",\"clickName\":\"flipboard\"}'><b class=\"share-tools__service-name\">Flipboard<\/b><\/button><\/li>\n<li class=\"share-tools__service share-tools__service--email\"><button class=\"share-tools__email-link\" data-story-id=\"nx-s1-5823640\" data-metrics-ga4='{\"category\":\"share\",\"action\":\"share\",\"clickName\":\"email\"}'><b class=\"share-tools__service-name\">Email<\/b><\/button><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- END CLASS=\"SHARE-TOOLS SHARE-TOOLS-SECONDARY\" ARIA-LABEL=\"SHARE TOOLS\" --><br \/>\n<!-- END ID=\"NEWSLETTER-ACQUISITION-CALLOUT-DATA\" DATA-NEWSLETTER=\"{&amp;QUOT;NEWSLETTERID&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;NEWS&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;TITLE&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;UP FIRST&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;MARKETINGHEADER&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;SIGN UP FOR NPR&#039;S UP FIRST NEWSLETTER&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;FREQUENCY&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;EVERY DAY&amp;QUOT;,&amp;QUOT;SHORTDESCRIPTION&amp;QUOT;:&amp;QUOT;THE STORIES YOU NEED TO START YOUR DAY, HAND-PICKED FOR YOU EVERY WEEKDAY. 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