Barney Frank Urges Gay Activists To Lobby Congress

Openly gay Congressman Barney Frank told the Associated Press that gay rights activists should lobby Congress rather than march in Washington, calling Sunday's National Equality March a "waste of time."

"The only thing they're going to be putting pressure on is the grass," he told the AP Friday.

Frank said the march, which attracted thousands of protesters, would probably have little impact on lawmakers because many of them were in their states or districts for the long Columbus Day weekend.

He instead urged gay activists to follow examples set by other [powerful lobbying groups such as the AARP or the NRA.

"Call or write your representative or senator, and then have your friends call and write their representatives or senator," Frank said. March organizers said they were lobbying too.

Organizers say the march is only part of a broader effort that includes the kind of lobbying Frank is urging.

"We hear Congressman Frank when he says this is about getting back into your district and doing the work there," said Kip Williams, co-director of the march. But he said the march in Washington "is about building community and building a network who will go back and do the work."

Franks comments demonstrate a striking divide in the LGBT community on how to best influence lawmakers. On Saturday, the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest LGBT advocacy group, hosted a black tie gala at which President Obama promised to end the controversial Don't Ask Don't Tell policy.

The New York Times reported that HRC president Joe Solmonese wrote a letter asking supporters to take the president at his word.

"It's not January 19, 2017," he wrote, referring to what would be the last day of Mr. Obama's presidency if he were to win a second term.

Comments

[OldHick]

What Frank means is, As lobbyists they could help themselves, and Frank could introduce them to his lobbyist friends.

[kdhamm]

Barney, let us march, but do what you were HIRED to do, which is to make sure we stop getting raped by wall street. You should be screaming and yelling at the top of your lungs about the rip off from wall street, but no...you are too worried about dissing gay people for exercising their right to protest.

[sviolette]

Congress expects to get money from lobbyists. They get nothing from protesters. That's why Mr Frank wants them to lobby.

[Manx]

Marching doesn't preclude lobbying. Why can't they do both? C'mon, Barney!

[ramblingjohnny]

In fact marching is a form of lobbying you can't get result just by using the carrot sometime it good to show that on the other hand you carry a big stick!

[jmundstuk]

I agree that one purpose of a march is to create community and networks for work back home. They are necessary from time to time for this reason. What is unnecessary is the abusive and disrespectful language that is used to refer to friends who disagree with us. It is immature and not productive.

[dteg]

Yes I think there needs to be both marches and lobbying. Anything on LGBT helps coming from the LGBT community. I have moved a long way in the last few years and I believe the nation will move forward too. I probably would not have been thinking about it if I had not seen news of the march this week. I had never heard the term LGBT until Obama mentioned in campaign a few times.

[nexxtep54]

Awe c'mon Barney! We don't march, we sashay around....

[AxelDC]

Gays have a word for people like Frank:

Bitter control queen!

I went to the March yesterday and it was amazing. Whether it makes any long term impact remains to be seen, but I serious doubt that it hurt.

[jmundstuk]

A shameful characterization of a terrific man.

[MicheleCA]

I watched you on CSPAN. You were amazing!

[newyorkjoe]

GAYS TO BARNEY FRANK: F_ _ _ YOU!

[fee fo five]

NO, GAYS TO BARNEY FRANK F___ ME.

[Beelzebufo]

LOL!

[joekerr]

I’m not a gay man, but I do live in an area that has a very big homosexual population, my mom is gay and many of my coworkers and friends are too. One of the biggest problems I see facing that community is a lack of cohesion. Unlike the civil rights movements, where if you were black, then you were black and there was no hiding it, many in the gay community choose to hide in plain sight. I’m sure there are many people who are powerful or wealthy who would never “come out”. This is because many of them have chosen to put their careers over the need for equality. I can only imagine how horrible a choice that must be, and yet it happens all the time. And I understand that because a stigma resides over the gay community that this may be the only way some can succeed. And yet that means not all the weapons are being brought to the fight. And I have always thought the gay marriage issue shouldn’t be the issue. Marriage is a religious ceremony and thusly government should not recognize it. I think it could be more effectively argued that marriage is the state favoring religion and sponsoring it and thus expressly against the Constitution. The only thing the government should recognize is domestic partnerships. Just my two cents. Don’t hurt me too bad!!

[dteg]

There was lack of cohesion amongst blacks also but they found a way to make it work. Most where not out there marching but enough were to move forward. I say do both march and lobby. I have some respect for Barney but I don't know what he was talking about in this statement.

[AxelDC]

Minority groups are not monoliths. Just because certain people have similar interests that are discriminated against doesn't mean they are all clones.

Gay people are as diverse as any other group, with multiple ethnicities, socio-economic backgrounds, and educational and career paths. The idea that all gays are going to agree on something is as silly as saying that all Latinos or all women agree on something.

[joekerr]

You are right. Some blacks thought it was a bad idea to go against the establishment. But like it or not, they were intimately involved just based on appearance. There was no hiding. For the LGBT community it is all too easy too not be involved. In most cases civil rights has been based on appearance. But the LGBT community comes in all shapes, colors and sizes. What exactly is their identity? Does it start and end in the bedroom? I highly doubt it but from the nose bleed seats where I sit it certainly appears that way. I think that was really Frank's point. Have an agenda, an image, a cohesive strategy for what you want to accomplish. Yelling, " I want equal rights!" in a country crammed full of others screaming the same thing will get you nowhere. What is it that the gay community wants? And it can't just be marriage. And yes it has to start somewhere. And it has to start with the gay community. You are going to need more fearlessness, more people willing to risk it all or risk having nothing at all.

[BlackGirl in NOLA]

Lack of cohesion where? Between the nationalists and the pacifists? If that's what you are talking about, then you are still off base because the two were separated geographically and that made the difference. Blacks in the south faced a tougher and more insidious threat than the folks in the northern part of the country. Aided and abetted by local law enforcement, whites could kill and maim blacks protesters with impunity. That is why southern blacks en masse adopted a more pacifist approach to protest. And in that regard there was much more cohesion than you think. Don't try to rewrite our history because your movement, or lack thereof, is in shambles.

[dteg]

Time is on your side as long as you continue to fight. You may not think you are changing minds but you are spreading the seeds for the next generation to blossom.

[Skyhawk]

When it comes to civil rights you do both!

[bassnman]

Yes create another lobby. It is one more group that they can extract money from to make themselves richer.

[AxelDC]

It's called HRC, or as I call it, the nation's largest gay country club.

[Beelzebufo]

Hillary Rodham Clinton?! I heard vague rumors...

[avshanbh]

All this marching is useless and counterproductive.

[liberaldemdave]

note to barney: we're doing BOTH. get used to it. no more mister/miss nice gay.

[jmundstuk]

Excuse me, but before you characterize old folks as complacent etc, look into ACT-UP and the AIDS activism in the 1980s, the No on 6 campaign in 1978, etc.

[liberaldemdave]

whoa! i said nothing of the kind! in fact, i meant quite the opposite. i came out in 1985, when "we" were still routinely being arrested for public lewdness and harassed for things as harmless as holding hands on the sidewalk...IN THE GAYBORHOOD.

i lost my first partner to suicide (because he couldn't deal with his hiv diagnosis) in 1990. SO, i would suggest before jumping to conclusions that perhaps re-reading a comment before making assumptions about people you don't know. no harm, i've done it, too.

the comment directed at barney frank has more to do with glbt lapdog organizations like HRC. in the last 5-10 years, we HAVE been expected to sit down and remain quiet at the back of the bus and i'm proposing that we go back to the "old days" that you bring to mind.

[liberaldemdave]

no, excuse me. i was making no such characterization whatsoever. i'm 47 years old and have been an outspoken activist since my early twenties. sadly, the younger generation has no idea what we went through during the act-up/queer nation era of activism...what i WAS saying is that we are no longer going to sit at the back of the bus and WAIT for anyone to just give us anything.

if the youngsters won't "act up", it's time for us "older folks" to get back in the streets (and some of us have never LEFT the streets).

[hrc04]

To draw parallels from the Civil Rights movement for a minute... Malcolm X didn't see the point in Dr. King's nonviolence approach. Thurgood Marshall thought the correct approach was through the courts. Some were too shortsighted to see the benefits of Joe Louis and Jackie Robinson. Yet, all those avenues lead to the ultimate success of the movement. Each road complements the other. Lobby, march, use the courts, any means to get success.

[BlackGirl in NOLA]

Dr. King on Malcolm X:
"You know, right before he was killed he came down to Selma and said some pretty passionate things against me, and that surprised me because after all it was my territory there. But afterwards he took my wife aside, and said he thought he could help me more by attacking me than praising me. He thought it would make it easier for me in the long run."

[cal5000]

Who actually is the voice of the gay community? Which group the dominant last word in LGBT politics?

Organize. Lobby. Move forward. Boycott, Protest local leaders. Use the money in the community to address policymakers.

Equating Gay Rights to Civil Rights without the effort isnt going to get it done any faster. The community has to work harder and fix the attitude. The Civil Rights movement wasnt very nasty and spiteful about it like so many in every gay themed thread.

[complice]

You raise some very valid points, but if I might, I'd like to make one minor observation re: the tone of the discussion in many of these threads devoted to discussing LGBT issues.

I think much of the nastiness and anger--and you're absolutely correct to point it out, because it's gotten downright ven0m0us--you refer to is retaliatory in nature and comes about as a result of being told by many self-avowed "liberals" on this website that the gay community is being childish and/or selfish by pushing for legislative action on ENDA and DADT in a time of two wars, economic instability, etc. It's really akin to telling somone that because the issues affecting them aren't the same issues affecting yourself, they're somehow trivial/less worthy of attention, and ultimately detracting from more important matters at hand, like Universal Healthcare.

I;m not excusing it, or suggesting it's productive, I just think it's important to see things from all sides.

[jmundstuk]

Cosign.

[liberaldemdave]

gay rights ARE civil rights.