Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank,
Congress' first openly gay member, on Thursday said he believes
discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people
is fading.
In discussing his recent decision to
retire after serving 16 terms, Frank said he was proud of the role
his coming out in 1987 played in advancing gay rights.
“It will be my 25th
anniversary,” Frank said during an NPR
interview. “I was very frightened when I did it, it turned out
unnecessarily. Yeah, I think one of the great success stories in
America is the extent to which we have overcome prejudice based on
being lesbian or gay, bisexual, transgender.”
“It's not completely gone but the end
is in sight. And I am proud of my role in that. I think coming out
was a big part of it because reality beats prejudice and presenting
people, those of us who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender with
the reality of who we are, we give an alternative to the prejudice,
and the prejudice loses.”
(Related: Barney
Frank promoted a “deathstyle”; responsible for AIDS deaths, Bryan
Fischer says.)