Former Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank Dies at 86

Barney Frank, who represented Massachusetts in the House from 1981 to 2013, died Tuesday night at age 86 after a battle with congestive heart failure. Frank's sister, Doris Breay, said he was a wonderful brother. Born in 1940 in Bayonne, New Jersey, Frank advocated for abortion rights, environmental protection, LGBTQ issues, and economic reforms during his congressional career.

The legislation created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Financial Stability Oversight Council. The act also included the Volcker Rule, which restricted banks from using depositor funds for speculative investments, and established the Orderly Liquidation Authority to handle failing banks without taxpayer bailouts. The measure was signed into law in 2010.

Frank became the first openly gay member of Congress after coming out in 1987. He supported the repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and the passage of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act. In 2012, Frank married his partner Jim Ready, becoming the first sitting member of Congress to enter a same-sex marriage.

A House Ethics Committee investigation in 1990 found he had used his influence to clear parking tickets for an aide and wrote a misleading memo about the aide's probation. Frank entered hospice care in 2026. In an interview with Politico, he said he had lived longer than expected and was accepting his condition.

His book, "The Hard Path to Unity: Why We Must Reform the Left to Rescue Democracy," is scheduled for release in September.