wcvb.com: https://www.wcvb.com/article/former-massachusetts-congressman-barney-frank-dies/71322284

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Subject: W000817
Source: GDELT news · original
Published: Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Former Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank dies at 86 Skip to content NOWCAST NewsCenter 5 at 12:30 Live Now Menu Search News Policies News Local News Politics 5 Investigates National News Entertainment On the Record CityLine 5 for Good Project Community Get the Facts News We Love Upload Sail Boston Weather Interactive Radar Closings Alerts Map Room Futurecast Hurricane Season Maps Forecasting Our Future FAQ: Closinigs and Delays Chronicle Consumer Ben Has Your Back Consumer News Your Health Your Money Traffic Sports Boston Marathon Bruins Celtics Red Sox Patriots World Cup Better Money Boston (Ad) Stay and Play Memorials Advertise with WCVB About News Team Titan TV Guide Community Editorials Very Local MeTV Contests Internships Contact Privacy Notice Terms of Use SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL Wea

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Former Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank dies at 86 Skip to content NOWCAST NewsCenter 5 at 12:30 Live Now Menu Search News Policies News Local News Politics 5 Investigates National News Entertainment On the Record CityLine 5 for Good Project Community Get the Facts News We Love Upload Sail Boston Weather Interactive Radar Closings Alerts Map Room Futurecast Hurricane Season Maps Forecasting Our Future FAQ: Closinigs and Delays Chronicle Consumer Ben Has Your Back Consumer News Your Health Your Money Traffic Sports Boston Marathon Bruins Celtics Red Sox Patriots World Cup Better Money Boston (Ad) Stay and Play Memorials Advertise with WCVB About News Team Titan TV Guide Community Editorials Very Local MeTV Contests Internships Contact Privacy Notice Terms of Use SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL Weather Search Press enter to search Type to Search Search location by ZIP code ZIP Advertisement Former Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank dies at 86 Former Massachusetts congressman Barney Frank dies at 86 GOOD MORNING. I’M ANTOINETTE ANTONIO. WE ARE COMING ON THE AIR WITH BREAKING NEWS RIGHT NOW. NEWSCENTER FIVE HAS JUST LEARNED. FORMER MASSACHUSETTS CONGRESSMAN BARNEY FRANK HAS DIED AT THE AGE OF 86. HE SERVED ON CAPITOL HILL FOR MORE THAN THREE DECADES, AND HIS CAREER WAS MARKED BY HISTORIC FIRSTS AS WELL AS CONTROVERSY. NEWSCENTER 5 SHARMAN SACCHETTI LOOKS BACK AT HIS LIFE AND HIS LEGACY. BARNEY FRANK WAS BORN IN BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY, ON MARCH 31ST, 1940. HE GRADUATED FROM HARVARD UNIVERSITY AND HARVARD LAW. A LIBERAL DEMOCRAT, FRANK WAS KNOWN FOR HIS COMBATIVE STYLE AND SARCASTIC WIT. IT WAS ON FULL DISPLAY IN 2011 WHEN HE ANNOUNCED HE WAS RETIRING. ONE OF THE ADVANTAGES TO ME OF NOT RUNNING FOR OFFICE IS I DON’T EVEN HAVE TO PRETEND TO TRY TO BE NICE TO PEOPLE I DON’T LIKE. FRANK WAS ELECTED AS A STATE REPRESENTATIVE IN 1972. HE FILED A BILL TO LEGALIZE PROSTITUTION IN WHAT WAS THEN KNOWN AS BOSTON’S COMBAT ZONE. IT SPARKED PUSHBACK. HE INTRODUCED A BILL TO PERMIT LEGALIZED PROSTITUTION FOUR TIMES IN FOUR YEARS. IN 1980, FRANK RAN FOR CONGRESS AND WON. NEWSCENTER 5 WAS THERE AS HE LEARNED THE ROPES IN WASHINGTON. HOW DO YOU PUT A PIECE OF MAIL OUT AND WHERE DO YOU GO TO EAT? AND THOSE THINGS HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN VERY HELPFUL, PARTICULARLY THE PART ABOUT GETTING PAID. IN 1987, FRANK WAS THE FIRST CONGRESSMAN TO VOLUNTARILY COME OUT AS GAY. IT HAPPENED AFTER A SEX SCANDAL INVOLVING PROSTITUTE STEPHEN GOBIE. FRANK HAD HIRED HIM AS A PERSONAL AIDE. FRANK ADMITTED PAYING GOBIE ONCE FOR SEX, BUT SAID HE HAD NO IDEA GOBIE WAS USING HIS CAPITOL HILL APARTMENT FOR PROSTITUTION. HIS SUGGESTION THAT I KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING IS JUST A LIE. THE HOUSE REPRIMANDED FRANK FOR ETHICS VIOLATIONS, FINDING HE HAD FIXED DOZENS OF PARKING TICKETS FOR GOBIE AND HAD WRITTEN A MISLEADING MEMO TO SHORTEN GOBI’S PROBATION FOR SEX AND DRUG CONVICTIONS. I WILL SAY THIS I MADE A DUMB MISTAKE. CONGRESSMAN FRANK CHAMPIONED GAY RIGHTS. HE BELIEVED HIS COMING OUT HELPED OTHERS. WHEN I VOLUN

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