BOSTON, Mass. — Retiring U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-Mass.) says will not support the election of another openly gay man running for his seat because the congressional hopeful, Richard Tisei, is a Republican.
“The fact that Richard Tisei is openly gay is a good thing. The problem is that it is of no use to us,” said Frank, in a telephone conference call with reporters on Thursday.
Richard Tisei
Frank said that if Tisei were elected, his first vote would be to keep fellow Republican John Boehner as House Speaker — Boehner has opposed efforts to repeal the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act that denies tax, health and other benefits to married gay couples.
The fact that Tisei supports efforts to repeal the law is beside the point, Frank said.
“If he is helping them keep the majority that is irrelevant because the bill will not come up,” he said.
Frank, who is backing fellow Democrat and incumbent Representative John Tierney in the state’s closely watched 6th Congressional District race.
Tisei told the Boston Globe earlier this week that the fact that he’s Republican is a good reason to back him.
Tisei said that most political analysts think that the GOP will retain control of the U.S. House, and that he’d be in a better position to advocate for the state with House leaders, and that if Tierney was elected, he would be in the minority party.
He also said his election would be another step forward for the country.
“As a gay person we will never have true equality until we have people on both sides of the aisle who are willing to stand up for the concept that everybody should be treated fairly under the law,” said Tisei.
The Victory Fund issued a statement Friday praising Frank for his service in Congress while taking issue with his comments about Tisei.
“As a nonpartisan organization working to bring LGBT voices to the table on both sides of the aisle, we disagree with Congressman Frank’s assessment of Richard Tisei, an openly gay, socially progressive Republican,” said Victory Fund CEO Chuck Wolfe.
“Just as Congressman Frank was able to help persuade Democrats to turn away from an anti-LGBT record over the more than 25 years he served as an openly gay member of the House, we believe Richard Tisei’s personal influence in the Republican caucus has the potential to change the hearts and minds of colleagues,” said Wolfe. “That is how real change begins.”
Filed under: Massachusetts
Florida teen fighting criminal charges related to same-sex relationship
Harvey: Gays deserve to be fired for displaying their lifestyles to everyone
Anti-gay marriage activist commits suicide on alter at Notre Dame cathedral
Texas judge enforces ‘morality clause’ to split up lesbian couple
Candidate for Va. Lt. Governor warns same-sex marriage leads to bestiality
ACLU, attorney condemn prosecution of teen who had sex with minor girlfriend
Sex and the teenage girl: The Kaitlyn Hunt tragedy
UPDATED: Police call fatal New York City shooting an anti-gay hate crime
Transgender student skips graduation rather than wear female gown
Attorney implies suspect’s child sexual abuse was a factor NYC killing
Iowa anti-gay activist explains his opposition to gay marriage: ‘It’s awful’
Details emerge in case against teen accused of lewd behavior with girlfriend
BREAKING: French president signs marriage equality bill into law
Everything is bigger in Texas – even the homophobia
BREAKING: Boy Scouts of America votes to rescind policy banning openly gay scouts
Hypocrite!
He is a traitor to his own people.
gay or straight, a repo is BAD news.
I openly oppose Barney Frank because he’s a scumbag.
This is a GOOD thing, folks. Gay politicians should have to earn The Gay Vote like any other bloc. As between a gay Republican and non-gay Democrat, I’d likely vote (D). Does anyone believe a gay Republican is going to convince the Republican teabaggers to support gay civil rights?
I agree with Barney. Just because he’s gay, does not mean his politics coincide with the gay community. Just like women, hispanics, poor people, etc. who vote Republican, are essentially voting against their own interests, not all gays are enlightened in their political stances.
I would do the same thing, I would not vote for any Republican gay or straight. The last thing the Republican majority needs is another vote, I agree with my sister Barney.
cool but to me its like a black person wanting to join the klan. good luck to him!
A gay Republican is worse than a non-gay Republican because they are working for a party that openly tries to deny gay people our rights. It’s like a Jewish person being a member of the Nazi Party or KKK and working to achieve their goals.
Just because a person is gay doesn’t mean you have to support every gay person that comes down the pike. Eugene McCarthy, the fascist Senator that gave the world “McCarthyism,” was gay. So was the Nazi Goebbels. Should we have supported them?
Wait a minute! I know how this looks, but fully read the article. Why are so many opposed of an openly gay politician who is running Republican? What happened to equality? Can’t a Republican be liberal and gay without falling into the narrow minded fish tank that many GOP candidates do.
Are we forgetting that it was Clinton (a Dem) that signed DOMA and DADT into law? DOMA won’t be decided in the Congress, it’s in the hands of the Courts. 5 of the Federal Appeals Courts have already ruled it unconstitutional. The Supremes have agreed to take it up this session.
gay republican = oxymoron and the emphasis is on Moron
Next headline…. from a bathroom stahl next to you…bwahahaha
if he were liberal he wouldn’t be Republican
Democrat doesn’t support republican is a story how?
I agree with Barney Frank. There is no way that Boehner should be left in office and it elected Tisei will do that. Yes I also agree with Michael Gallo he is a traitor to his own people.
So what? Just because this guy is Gay, doesn’t mean that he automatically gets the support of everyone in the Gay community. That’s just stupid
You mean you have to buy into the democratic parties collectivism to be officially gay? What kind of horse shit is that? It’s just like McCarthy’s loyalty tests.
Are we fogetting that it was Obama (also a dem) who worked for the repeal of DADT. I don’t know how old you folks are, or if you know anything about the history of DADT, but Clinton signed the bill and it was a step up from the old policy in the military at that time where anyone could be accused of being gay and get dismissed for it. The policy prohibited military personnel from discriminating against or harassing closeted homosexual or bisexual service members or applicants, while barring openly gay, lesbian, or bisexual persons from military service, so it was a double edged sword that sort of protected gay and lesbian service personel.
As far as DOMA goes, Google “history of DOMA and read the explanation on Wikipedia. I resent Bill Clinton for signing both bills, but he has since changed his viewpoint, not that it helps now. But Pres. Obama was instrumental in repealing DADT and doesn’t enforce DOMA which mainly has to do with extending rights to GLBT in the Federal Government and state recognition of marriage equality by one state of another.
The point with this gay repug is that his party doesn’t include marriage equality in their party platform. Personally, I think there is something seriously wrong with people who want to belong to a politial party that doesn’t respect there rights or as human beings. It is truly sad. I would rather vote for a heterosexual who supports my civil rights than a homosexual who doesn’t.
I think that is what Barney is saying also. You have to remember the abuse he suffered as an out gay legislator at the hands of bigots like Dick Armey who called him Barney “Fag” and then said it was a “slip of the tongue”
I’m going to miss him in congress.
How Ernst Rohm . . . very chic . . .
Here is a kicker, between January 07 and December 10, DOMA was brought up for repeal, 2x by Bush and 1x by McConnell (both Repubs). Both Pelousi and Reed REFUSED to allow it to be voted on. Dems really have the backs of those in the gay community….BS!!!!
Blacks don’t vote or side with all black politicians just because they’re black!
I don’t really know why any Gay Man wants to be a Republican but what ever blows your skirt Mary!
No, because he’s a PHOBE!
No vote for a Republican!
Agree with Frank. Vote for the candidate who will do the most for rights.
as it should be…you vote for a candidate on what agenda candidate supports, not whether candidate is straight, gay, black, white, male, female
Gay AND Republican?. Isn’t that an oxymoron? LOL
Black republicans bother me too especially now with all that racial hate of our President from the Republican Party
Barney’s right. We don’t need any quislings selling us up the river.
Will never understand gay and republican.
I agree with Barney Frank. What’s the point of voting for a candidate simply because he’s gay if his party is wrong on every issue? that’s no better than voting AGAINST someone just because they’re gay. That isn’t putting the interests of the nation first, it’s just blindly voting for someone based on a personal characteristic. This man being gay does nothing to diminish the fact that his party are violently against LGBT rights of every kind, not to mention the environment, social programs, and a host of other issues.
I always wondered about this guy. Now the truth prevails. He did nothing to really support the LGBTQ Community…..NOT EVER that I know of…..
Lol my god you people are slaves to the democratic party .. If you are you have to be democrat? If you are black and republican you are wrong? What the fuck happened to this country where your “label” decided your political party … You are fools .. This man is courageous and i support his completely
How do you expect things to ever change in the republican party if we can’t even support someone like this man?m
- Doesn’t it rather show that gay liberation has “grown up,” if sexual orientation is taken as just part of the whole personal/political package? We have no obligation to /vote/ for people who share our sexual minority status on that basis alone – but it is a good thing to have more openly LGBT politicians in the field, because that’s representative of reality.
personally, I don’t understand how any gay person can be a member of the RNC. They hate everything about us and have zero tolerance for anything a gay person stands for. The RNC platform wants to ban gay marriage, ban gay’s in the military, create a constiitutional amendment making gay marriage illegal just for starters. It’s like a black man joining the KKK or a Jew becoming a Nazi.
unless the whole party platform changes permanently republican & gay is a oxymoron.
A Massachusetts Republican is usually more “liberal” than a Virginia Democrat, but Richard would support less savory politicians from more typical states — who have dominated the GOP since the Reagan era. So, Barney is correct in not supporting this opportunist.
Gay Republicans don’t even make sense. They vote against themselves and the LGBT community. I truly believe that Gay Republicans are probably those that can’t accept themselves for who they are and their self hatred and self loathing gets taken out on the rest of our community by them. I wouldn’t support a Gay Republican candidate either. I know for example that Gay Republicans in my home state voted to ban same-sex marriage in our state and that ban passed because of them in my opinion.
Voting for or against someone because they are straight or gay is stupid. Vote for someone because of where they stand. I agree with Rep. Frank.
Good luck changing the GOP!