Massachusetts Representative Barney
Frank has described gay Republicans as “Uncle Toms.”
The openly gay 72-year-old Frank first
made the assertion during an appearance on SiriusXM's The
Michelangelo Signorile Show and he repeated the claim Thursday as
he participated in a panel program of the LGBT Caucus at the
Democratic National Convention (DNC).
“When they tell us that they're happy
to be Republicans because they're getting acceptance and civility, I
gotta say that I am again inclined to think that they're called Log
Cabin club because their role model is Uncle Tom,” Frank said.
R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of
the Log Cabin Republicans, responded by describing Frank as the
party's “attack dog” on gay rights.
“We understand that Barney has earned
his protected place within the Democrat Party by being their attack
dog on gay rights issues, demonizing Republicans and undermining
efforts at bipartisanship that would actually improve LGBT Americans
lives. We expect this kind of bile from Barney, especially when it
plays into the Obama campaign's efforts to divide, distract and
deceive the American people,” Cooper said in a statement.
BuzzFeed's
Chris Geidner reported that leading gay rights groups distanced
themselves from the Frank's remarks.
“That's certainly not my
perspective,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights
Campaign (HRC). “The Log Cabin Republicans are good people doing
good work.”
It should be noted that in his former
capacity as head of the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER),
the group formed to challenge the constitutionality of California's
gay marriage ban, Proposition 8, Griffin worked closely with
Republicans who supported the group's work.
“That is definitely not the position
of Stonewall Democrats,” said Jerame Davis, executive director of
gay Democratic group Stonewall Democrats.
He added: “The truth is that they do
play a certain role of kowtowing to the Republican Party in a way
that borders on inappropriate itself.”