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Craig Nixon's avatar

OT

𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤, 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐲 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝟖𝟔

Barney Frank, the longtime Democratic congressman and leading liberal who brought new visibility to gay rights and crafted the most significant reforms to the financial system in a generation, has died. He was 86.

Frank died late Tuesday, according to Jim Segel, Frank’s former campaign manager and close friend.

After representing broad swaths of Boston’s suburbs in Congress for 32 years, Frank and his husband moved to Ogunquit, Maine. He entered hospice there in April with congestive heart failure and is survived by his husband, Jim Ready, and sisters, the longtime Democratic strategist Ann Lewis and Doris Breay, along with brother David Frank.

A self-described “left-handed gay Jew,” Frank was known for his acerbic wit, combative style and focus on marginalized communities. He represented the party’s left wing while keeping close with Democratic leaders who sometimes frustrated progressives.

He is best known as a pioneer for LGBT rights. After decades of grappling with his sexuality, he publicly came out as gay in 1987, the first member of Congress to do so voluntarily. With his 2012 marriage to Ready, he became the first incumbent lawmaker on Capitol Hill to marry someone of the same sex.

https://apnews.com/article/barney-frank-congressman-democrat-gay-rights-massachusetts-2bcabf60456bc189fef2cadd393a8b76

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