"For decades, Congressman Barney Frank has been the iconic image of gay civil rights advocacy on Capitol Hill. He was one of the few openly gay elected officials in Washington for years. I was once proud to say, 'Barney Frank has got my back.'"
Posted on 10/15/2009 3:10:25 PM PDT by nickcarraway
For decades, Congressman Barney Frank has been the iconic image of gay civil rights advocacy on Capitol Hill. He was one of the few openly gay elected officials in Washington for years. I was once proud to say, "Barney Frank has got my back."
But as one of the most vocal critics of the National Equality March, Frank has many LGBTQ Americans wondering if he has become a bureaucratic gatekeeper. And worse, many under the age of 40 are asking if Barney Frank is now the iconic image of the generational schism of our gay rights movement. Several march-goers reported that "boos" rose from the crowd when Frank’s name was mentioned from the stage.
How did a hero for one generation become a pariah for the next? Perhaps it was the way Frank expressed his dissatisfaction with the march -- by mocking their efforts. Frank told the Associated Press that the demonstration was "a waste of time at best" and that activists needed to concentrate on lobbying lawmakers. "The only thing they’re going to be putting pressure on is the grass, " Frank said.
For many in the LGBTQ community -- young and old -- Frank has become too much of a D.C. bureaucrat.
Of late, his record on LGBTQ issues has accommodated the status quo.
For example, in April, Barney Frank agreed with his Democratic cronies in not push to repeal "Don’t ask, don’t tell" until 2010. However, in June the Supreme Court agreed with the Obama administration in refusing to review the Pentagon policy that prohibits gay and lesbian servicemembers to serve openly in the military. And Frank never spoke up.
But when he does choose to speak up, it’s against our efforts. Frank told the Associated Press, "I literally don’t understand how this will do anything. People are kidding themselves. I don’t want people patting themselves on the back for doing something that is useless. Barack Obama does not need pressure."
But the President has been an Obama-nation on LGBTQ issues since he’s taken office. The political carrots Obama dangled before us as campaign promises are now looking like merely empty rhetoric that was used to court our votes and to collect our campaign dollars.
On June 4, Jonathan Capehart, an African American gay journalist at the Washington Post, wrote the op-ed "Okay, Obama. Now Let’s Have a Speech on Gay Rights," stating "After last night’s airing of NBC’s ’Inside the Obama White House’ interview, in which Obama provided a tepid answer to a question about whether "gay and lesbian couples who wish to marry in this country have a friend in the White House," the blogosphere is filling with cries of "shameful" and "no passion, no heart, no real connection to our cause."
On June 12, the LGBTQ community got another blow: Obama defended (DOMA), a law that prevent couples in the states that recognize same-sex marriage from securing Social Security spousal benefits, filing joint taxes, and other federal rights of marriage. His reasons: DOMA is not a valid exercise of Congress’s power, and it is not consistent with Equal Protection or Due Process principles, and it would infringe on the rights of taxpayers in states that fundamentally oppose same-sex marriage.
The purpose of the march was to motivate LGBTQ citizen and our allies to be active locally. The strategy sessions, grassroots-organizing workshops that took place over the weekend was to help prepare activist to do the work at home to achieve full equality for LGBTQ citizens.
One of the organizers of the March, Kip Williams said, "We hear Congressman Frank when he says this is about getting back into your district and doing the work there. [This march] is about building community and building a network who will go back and do that work."
I wonder if it is "old school" organizing versus "new school" organizing that Frank missed in understanding the motivation for the March. As Michael Jones of www.change.org pointed out, "The bulk of the organizing for this event seemed to take place online, from Facebook to Twitter, and it has engaged a new generation of activists who aren’t tuned in to the organizational politics or activism of groups like the Human Rights Campaign or the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "
The March was a success. Time Magazine reported that 200,000 attended.
But frankly speaking, how would Barney know? He didn’t attend.
Ruh roh. It seems as if Bwaney’s loyalty to BO trumps his loyalty to his gay brethren.
Why do you post anything about this fagot. Who gives a Shiite?
“I was once proud to say, “Barney Frank has got my back.”
“The political carrots Obama dangled before us”
“On June 12, the LGBTQ community got another blow:...”
A Freudian delight...
Whether you like him or not, he’s very powerful in our government, and his whims have an impact on all of us.
The homosexuals are tired of being jerked around by Barney?
In August 1989, Gobie reportedly told The Washington Times that he ran a prostitution ring out of Frank's Washington, D.C., apartment and that Frank was aware of his operation.This haggard old lesbian is so covered in KY that he can slip out of any wrong doing.While Frank admitted to having paid Gobie for sex several years earlier and to later hiring Gobie as an assistant, Frank denied any knowledge that Gobie allegedly ran a prostitution ring out of Frank's apartment.
...a 10-month investigation, ultimately finding, as The Boston Globe reported on July 27, 1990, "that Frank had violated House rules by writing a misleading memo that was used in an effort to end prostitute Stephen Gobie's probation on felony charges and by allowing his House privileges to be used to waive 33 parking tickets that Gobie might have received while driving Frank's car." The committee's report on the investigation recommended Frank be reprimanded for the infractions, and the House voted for such punishment on July 26, 1990. However, the committee further concluded that "the weight of the evidence does not indicate that Representative Frank had either prior or concomitant knowledge of prostitution activities alleged to have taken place in his apartment."
But it seems like the youngsters don't appreciate him now that he has lost his youth and looks and won't support their causes.
I was once proud to say, “Barney Frank has got my back.”
I think I would have used another phrase.
There’s no queen like an old queen.
??
" Q " ??
I was about to post the same question!
Poor Barney... doesn’t he know gay men are shallow?
They don’t want a 50-something troll..
They want someone young and “pretty”.... *barf*
I think that they are complaining that he has stopped even giving them a reach around...
The “Q” is for questioning one’s sex orientation/identity.
In recent years, the gay movement has pushed the idea that many young people are “questioning” what their real orientation/identity is, and that they should feel free to pursue their questioning. They are not to just assume they are a “straight” male or female, but that they should question and pursue answers to these sex questions. God only knows what exactly they are supposed to do to find answers to the questions. But that’s where the “Q” in LGBTQ comes from.
***The “Q” is for questioning one’s sex orientation/identity.
In recent years, the gay movement has pushed the idea that many young people are “questioning” what their real orientation/identity is, and that they should feel free to pursue their questioning.***
Where? Down at the bathhouses?
"For decades, Congressman Barney Frank has been the iconic image of gay civil rights advocacy on Capitol Hill. He was one of the few openly gay elected officials in Washington for years. I was once proud to say, 'Barney Frank has got my back.'"
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