Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), one of only four openly-gay members of Congress, says he doesn’t see Congress doing anything about gay marriage — at least right now. Asked, “Is the legalization of gay marriage next?,” the thirty-year Congressional veteran replied, “I don’t see any change there. I don’t see Congress doing anything about it.”
That may be true, but it may also cause a stir among those in the LGBT community fighting for marriage equality, especially as it comes on the heels of a similar statement the seventy-one year old made recently before re-introducing ENDA.
Here’s more of Barney Frank’s interview with Playboy.
PLAYBOY: Let’s move on to some other issues. You were instrumental in the recent repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell.†Is the final nail in the coffin?
FRANK: Absolutely, and it’s something I’m proud of. The Speaker and Senate majority leader essentially put me in charge of the strategy to get it through. It was hard to do, and it’s an important bill.
PLAYBOY: After the repeal, a right-wing journalist asked about the problems the bill will cause because openly gay men will be taking showers with straight men. You said, “We don’t get ourselves dry-cleaned.â€
FRANK: I borrowed that from Alfred Hitchcock. A man complained to Hitchcock that after watching the famous shower scene in Psycho, his wife no longer took showers. Hitchcock said, “Have her dry-cleaned.†The fact is, after all the fuss about “don’t ask, don’t tell,†there’s been no great backlash against its repeal. As we go forward people will see that it has had absolutely no negative effect, and it will be an issue of the past. There are always predictions of horrible things that will happen, but repealing “don’t ask, don’t tell†will have no negative consequences. We haven’t weakened anything. Gay men and lesbians in the military will serve with distinction along with the other soldiers.
PLAYBOY: Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996. Although states may allow same-sex marriage, only recently did Obama say the federal government would no longer defend DOMA in court.
FRANK: There are lawsuits against it that I think will win anyway, because the federal government can’t discriminate. Beyond that I don’t see anything about gay marriage happening on a federal level. More and more states will go that way, though. When they do, people will see, as with health care and the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,†that there are no negative consequences. Places that have gay marriage have had none of the negative consequences that people warned us about. Zero. The divorce rate hasn’t gone up. There have been no calamities. Marriage hasn’t lost its meaning. Same-sex marriage as a divisive issue is losing its steam. Overall I think antigay prejudice is on its way out.
PLAYBOY: Even from the religious right? The virulent attacks continue.
FRANK: But they aren’t taken seriously. It’s changing. It’s just evolution.
PLAYBOY: What’s behind the evolution?
FRANK: People are out. More and more people know people who are gay. People have gay friends and relatives; it’s not kept in the closet anywhere near as much as it used to be.
PLAYBOY: Antigay sentiments are still expressed, often from the conservative right and especially from the Christian right. There are still hate crimes against gays.
FRANK: Yes, and we have to deal with them. We passed a bill to add crimes against gays and lesbians as hate crimes. Hate crimes, whether against gays or anyone else, can’t be tolerated. Overall, antigay prejudice is diminishing. It won’t be used by the far right the way it once was. It just doesn’t work anymore. But I worry about what will replace it. I think they will increasingly focus on abortion, escalating it as their issue to inflame people. They’ll work on whittling away the right to have an abortion, striking down any federal funding.