wlky.com: https://www.wlky.com/article/barney-frank-longtime-congressman-dies/71361317

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

Former congressman Barney Frank dies at 86 Skip to content NOWCAST WLKY News at Noon Coming up Soon Menu Search News Policies News Local News National News Get the Facts Investigate Consumer News Entertainment Seen on WLKY Upload Weather Radar Map Room Forecasting Our Future Politics Sports High School Playbook Community Project CommUNITY Bell Awards Wednesdays Child Memorials Advertise with WLKY About News Team Contact Titan TV Guide MeTV Very Local Privacy Notice Terms of Use SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL Weather Search Press enter to search Type to Search Search location by ZIP code ZIP Advertisement Barney Frank, longtime Democratic congressman and pioneering gay rights advocate, dies at 86 Barney Frank, longtime Democratic congressman and pioneering gay rights advocate, dies at 86 GOOD MORNING.

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Former congressman Barney Frank dies at 86 Skip to content NOWCAST WLKY News at Noon Coming up Soon Menu Search News Policies News Local News National News Get the Facts Investigate Consumer News Entertainment Seen on WLKY Upload Weather Radar Map Room Forecasting Our Future Politics Sports High School Playbook Community Project CommUNITY Bell Awards Wednesdays Child Memorials Advertise with WLKY About News Team Contact Titan TV Guide MeTV Very Local Privacy Notice Terms of Use SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL Weather Search Press enter to search Type to Search Search location by ZIP code ZIP Advertisement Barney Frank, longtime Democratic congressman and pioneering gay rights advocate, dies at 86 Barney Frank, longtime Democratic congressman and pioneering gay rights advocate, 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 VOLUNTEERED TO COME OUT IN 1987, I DO THINK IT WAS HELPFUL IN THAT REGARD. AND YES, I AM PROUD OF THAT. FRANK CHAIRED THE HOUSE FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEE DURING THE 2008 FINANCIAL CRISIS. HE CO-SPONSORED A WALL STREET REFORM

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