Former Massachusetts Congressman Barney
Frank believes the gay rights movement was fueled by people coming
out.
Frank, who has the distinction of being
the first openly gay member of Congress and the first to enter a
marriage with a member of the same sex, on Sunday appeared on Meet
the Press to promote his new memoir, Frank:
A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage.
“Well, I tell you, our reality as
gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender people beat the prejudice,”
Frank told host
Chuck Todd. “I mean, the central mechanism is that we stopped
hiding. And it turns out we weren't what the stereotype was. But
clearly, there was a point when the notion that I could get married
to Jim while I was still in Congress would've been the most bizarre
possibility.”
“I remember the time I got married,
someone said, 'Well, would it be controversial if you got married
while you were still in Congress?' And the answer was, yes it was.
A lot of my colleagues were mad that they didn't get invited. So our
reality is that.”
Frank married Jim Ready in 2012.