Barney Gets Frank

Throughout his long tenure in Congress as the representative from the Fourth District in Massachusetts, both before and after he came out of the closet as an openly gay man, Barney Frank was rarely afraid to speak his mind about a variety of issues. Sure, he wanted to win his Congressional races, but he really wasn't that worried about winning a national popularity contest.

That's just one of the many things one can learn by reading Frank's recently released memoir, "Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage" (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), a revealing memoir of the boy from Bayonne's 60-year-journey through life -- which is now filled with domestic bliss (thanks to his marriage three years ago to longtime partner Jim Ready, an awning maker in Ogunquit, Maine), time to watch reruns of his favorite TV show ("The Big Bang Theory"), and even more opportunities to tell us what he thinks about just anything.

Moreover, the book is anything but an exercise in nostalgia or a chance to do some serious score-settling. "The main reason I wrote it was that I had another opportunity to make my main political point, which is that we are undervaluing our governmental resources because people have lost the belief that politicians can be helpful," Frank tells me, just before starting a month-long book tour throughout the country. "I wanted to see how we can turn that around."

Does that mean Frank is no longer concerned about his gay brothers and sisters? Far from it. "We have made a lot of progress for equality in the LGBT world, so it may not be major concern, but there are issues," he says. "I would say job discrimination against LGBT people is my number one agenda item. We are still suffering from all forms of job discrimination, and people should realize that we have this outstanding need for a Federal law in this area. It's not something the Supreme Court will take care of, unlike the issue of adoption of children gay parents, which will be solved when the Court decides on the Constitutional right to gay marriage."

When, not if? (The case is to be heard in later this month). "I am very confident the Court will find in favor of gay marriage" he says. "First, Justice Kennedy is the swing vote and he has been a very big supporter of LGBT causes in every case, including DOMA," says Frank. "And I think if there was serious doubt about the legality of these marriages, the Court would not have allowed them to go ahead."

Penning the nearly 400-page tome, which he did without the help of ghostwriters, was a rather arduous process that took Frank close to 16 months and required some crash courses in technology. "While I was in office, I dictated most everything to my staff. Let's say I have been in a longtime war with inanimate objects," he laughs. "So I started to dictate this work, and my editor almost died when he saw the pages. It was so random and disorganized. So I sat down at my keyboard and tried to type it, but I would keep hitting the wrong keys and the screen would freeze. Finally, Jim found this large plastic keyboard that made things a lot easier - except I kept hitting the alt key by mistake, and that caused problems. So Jim just pried the top of that key, and I was able to write for about three or four hours a day."

Ready also proved to be a great sounding board for his husband. "I discussed a lot of the book's content with him, especially the parts about him or my involvement with Steven Gobie (a paid gay hustler with whom Frank had a relationship in the 1980's, which almost derailed his career.)," he says. "But in general, I try to live my life like I wrote the book, which means to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Of course, that doesn't mean you have to volunteer the truth if you're not asked."

Unsurprisingly, though, if you ask Frank about a subject, he'll likely give you a straight answer (no pun intended). For example, would he "out" a Republican? "My general rule is that I don't believe we should ever 'out' anyone unless they're being hypocritical about their sexuality," he says. "And while I do feel freer to 'out' someone now that I am out of office, I cannot name one current Republican that I am sure is gay."

Is he truly a Hillary Clinton supporter for the 2016 Democratic Presidential nomination, or is that just lip service to the front-runner? "I definitely think she's the right person for the job. I've always been impressed with her. And people who say we need somebody more 'left,' should remember that when she campaigned against President Obama in 2008, she was more 'left' than he was," says Frank.

But wouldn't he really want to see fellow Bay Stater, Senator Elizabeth Warren, on top of the ticket? "I think Elizabeth is great; after all, she's always nice to me and she called my husband 'that handsome surfer-dude," he notes. "I do think she is a very smart, and I admire that she is so passionate about the issues she advocates for. But I think if she ran right now, that would discredit her advocacy."

Speaking of Presidents, does Frank think we'll ever see a gay President? Or a Jewish one? (He considers himself a non-observant Jew). "I don't think being Jewish is that much of an issue any more. We saw that when Joe Lieberman ran for Vice-President," he says. "But being gay is definitely the last barrier. I don't expect to see one in my time. Maybe in 30 years. Maybe more. I think the hardest thing for people in this country to accept is the idea of a 'First Man.'"

Nope, Barney Frank isn't running for President. Or anything else (other than the occasional plane, train or automobile). "I am 75 and I've seen too many people stay too long in politics. Plus, my energy level isn't the same as it was. I can't do 80 percent of what I did 20 years ago. I can't even imagine the idea of working for three works in a row without a day off," he says.

"In the next few years, my goals are to make a lot of money through giving speeches, being on television, and through this book. And then I really just want to be able to relax, which means reading a lot, going to the gym for an hour day, socializing with friends and family, and being with Jim. I didn't really know how to have a relationship until I came out of the closet around 15 years ago."