Retiring Massachusetts Rep. Barney
Frank has criticized the Log Cabin Republicans' endorsement of Mitt
Romney for president.
The gay GOP group announced a
“qualified” endorsement of Romney on Tuesday.
“The qualified nature of this
endorsement means that Log Cabin Republicans will be most active in
our support for House and Senate candidates,” the group said in a
statement. “While many of our members will also be working hard on
behalf of Governor Romney, growing the pro-equality Republican
presence in the House and Senate is our highest electoral priority
this year.”
Frank chided the gay Republicans in a
3-minute video for the Mitt Gets Worse campaign, the anti-Romney PAC
which targets the former governor specifically on his gay rights
record.
“I very much want them to try to get
Republicans to stop being so homophobic,” Franks says. “My
objection is that they pretend to succeed when they haven't. It's
one thing to try. It's another to claim that you have succeeded and
mislead people.”
“And by the way, if you're trying to
change people you don't change them by rewarding them for continuing
to act the way they've been acting.” (The video is embedded on
this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
The 72-year-old Frank has the
distinction of being the first congressman to voluntarily come out
gay and the first sitting member of Congress to enter into a marriage
with a member of the same sex. He retired from Congress this year
and won't return next year.