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Described by the New York Times as one of the “brainiest,” “funniest” and “most eloquent” member of Congress, Barney Frank, gay pioneer, financial savior and cannabis legalization advocate has died at the age of 86 of congestive heart failure. In 1987 he was the first Congressional representative to come out voluntarily and helped normalize being openly gay in public office. And 25 years later, in 2012, he was the first member of Congress to enter a same-sex marriage, wedding longtime partner Jim Ready.

Representing the 4th Massachusetts Congressional District, he served in Congress from 1981 to 2013, totaling 32 years. Being openly gay, especially during the height of the AIDS crisis did not keep him from climbing the Congressional ladder and In 2007 he became the Chair of the House Financial Services Committee making him arguably the 5^th most powerful person in the Country. As Chairman he co-sponsored the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act, the financial reform law passed in the aftermath of the 2008 housing collapse which was the worst economic crisis the U.S. endured since the Great Depression.

Dodd-Frank established the framework for banking regulation and consumer protection as we know them today. The law’s aim was to introduce greater oversight of financial institutions, especially those judged to be “too big to fail.” which Trump and Republicans are now trying to gut.

Frank was also a fierce advocate for cannabis law reform. He co-sponsored the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act, which sought to remove cannabis from the list of federally controlled substances, allowing states to regulate it as they see fit. He argued that then current cannabis policies disproportionately affected minority communities and that criminalization does not effectively discourage use.

Frank felt that instead of criminalizing cannabis, the government should focus on public health campaigns to inform citizens about its effects arguing that treating marijuana like alcohol would be a more effective approach.

In 2014, Barney Frank was the featured speaker at CaDEM’s 2014 State Convention Benefit Dinner and Ceremony. At that convention the Brownie Mary Democrats held both their first Exhibit Booth and thanks to the sponsorship of Sam Clauder, their first Hospitality Suite featuring Brownie Mary ice cream sundaes.

Sam had approached Frank before the dinner and invited him to attend our Hospitality Suite. Frank made his presentation at CaDEM’s dinner and afterward set up a table where he sold and signed copies of his latest book. He was then expected to attend CaDEM’s hospitality suite featuring a massive all-star Democratic karaoke party. As the story goes, at 10 p.m. when the hospitality suites were to begin, Frank looked at his watch, packed up his books and announced it was time to move on to what everyone thought would be to join the crème dela crème of CaDEM at their hospitality suite.

No longer running for public office, Barney Frank was now able to do whatever it was that Barney Frank wanted to do and what Barney Frank wanted to do was to not go to a stuffed shirt karaoke party but rather get a Browne Mary ice cream sundae and join BMD at THEIR hospitality suite.

So he came up to our hospitality suite and for the next hour, in addition to enjoying his BMD ice cream sundae, he made a bang-up thoughtful and fun presentation, posed for pictures, signed autographs and rubbed elbows with the hundreds of stoners and other delegates in attendance at what arguably was the best and most memorable hospitality suite at the 2014 CaDEM convention.

Barney Frank was always an icon to me and not just because I am a gay person and he came out as one of the most well-known and respected members of Congress and in so doing made all our lives more meaningful, but because his values and concerns dovetailed and validated what for many was the very essence of the Democratic Party.

In an interview conducted while Frank was in hospice care by WBU senior political reporter Anthony Brooks about his long political career, Frank said he hoped he would be remembered for advocating a brand of politics that embraced progressive ideals without forcing them on voters prematurely. Here is his response to a key and necessarily important question:  “What is it you want to say about this moment?”

“That it is essential for the values that have driven me into politics to defeat right-wing populism, and that the major obstacle to doing that is the insistence by part of the left wing of pushing everybody to adopt politically unacceptable views. I’m not telling people I don’t want them to advocate for those things — I filed a bill to legalize marijuana in 1972 and I didn’t think it was going to go anywhere. My problem is that instead of treating some of these reforms as issues which are currently unpopular — for which you have to build support — they instantly make them litmus tests for everybody and therefore make it harder for us to win.”

For the full interview CLICK HERE - at this time of polarization, the Democratic party’s response and Democracy’s survival,  it needs to be read and understood.

Brownie Mary Democrats
https://browniemaryclub.nationbuilder.com/