In an interview with Salon.com, former
congressman Barney Frank said Republicans are “getting worse” at
LGBT rights.
The 74-year-old openly gay Frank is
currently pitching his new memoir, Frank:
A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage.
Earlier this month, Ben Carson, a
possible GOP presidential candidate, made headlines when he said that
prison can make people gay.
“Absolutely,” Carson answered when
asked if being gay is a choice. “Because a lot of people go into
prison straight and when they come out they're gay.”
(Related: Ben
Carson opposed to marriage equality because some inmates turn gay in
prison.)
Later in the day, Carson apologized for
the remark and vowed he would no longer talk about gay rights.
“I did tell MSNBC that I did want to
know when he decided to be straight,” Frank
told Salon.
“When do you think we'll finally
reach a point where even Republican primary voters won't accept that
kind of talk about LGBT people?”
“The most disturbing thing about that
was that it did not seem to trouble Republican primary voters,”
Frank answered. “[T]he answer is yeah, but it may be another 20
years.”
“When I started in politics, there
was no difference between the parties; both parties were totally
homophobic, including John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson. Things began
to change after Stonewall, so in ’76 there was very little
difference between Gerry Ford and Jimmy Carter on this. They moved
both parties with the country, and then Reagan comes in and the right
wing takes over. So you’ve had three trend lines since the 1970s:
the country is getting better at an even faster pace than I thought,
the Democrats are getting better at an even faster pace than the
country, and the Republicans are getting worse.”
“I think it’s going to be
generational. I think you’re not going to see Republican
presidential candidates doing that as much as they have in the past,
and I include Romney in this. When we got marriage equality in
Massachusetts, Romney – who was then the governor – decided he
was going to make a name for himself as a Republican by leading the
attack on us. I’m afraid it’s going to take another 20 years
because primary voters tend to be older because it’s
self-selecting. The Republican primary has now become extremely
significant, and one of the things I hope will happen is that
mainstream conservative voters will reassert themselves,” he added.