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Barney Frank: One of the first openly gay US congressmen dies aged 86

May 20, 2026 International Source: BBC World

Barney Frank: One of the first openly gay US congressmen dies aged 86
After a decades-long career in Congress, he spent his final weeks at his home in Maine living in hospice. Barney Frank: one of the first openly gay US congressmen dies Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Barney Frank: One of the first openly gay US congressmen dies aged 86 Former US congressman Barney Frank who famously took on Wall Street and made himself one of the first known openly gay representatives died on Tuesday night, US media reports. He was 86. Frank, who represented southern Massachusetts in the House of Representatives for over three decades, had been living in hospice care at his home in Maine since April. He will be remembered as a trailblaser for LGBT rights, as the first member of Congress to enter into a same-sex marriage, and for helping to overhaul financial regulations after the 2008 financial crisis. "He was, above all else, a wonderful brother. I was lucky to be his sister," Frank's sister Doris Breay told NBC Boston. "He notified everybody that he was in hospice, so it was just a matter of time. He was certainly at peace with himself," Jim Segel, Frank's former campaign manager, told Axios. "He certainly left a mark, and he was a leader on on civil rights, on gay rights, on leading other marginalized communities, and then he helped the country get through the 2008 financial crisis, which was the most significant recession, depression, almost since 1930," Segel said. He was a major architect of the Dodd-Frank Act, named partly after him, which created new regulatory bodies and tightened restrictions on banks in the wake of the 2008 Great Recession. The Dodd-Frank Act, named for Frank and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), was a historic overhaul of banking regulations in response to the subprime mortgage crisis that helped trigger the 2008 Great Recession. On Capitol Hill, he was a vocal supporter of ending the "don't ask, don't tell policy" that kept gay and lesbian US military servicemembers from serving openly. He also fought for legislation which ultimately failed that would have banned workplace discrimination against LGBT workers. This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version. You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on X to get the latest alerts. You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the Body cam footage shows the moment a baby was thrown from a window and caught by an officer during a house fire. Roblox said it had "clear policies" banning actual and simulated gambling, as well as rules governing paid random items. Victory over a Republican rebel in Kentucky shows the president's strength but his power comes with risks for the midterms. The Kentucky race has been viewed as a key test of President Trump's grip on the Republican Party. Trump's move dismayed Senate Republicans, many of whom have served with the Texan for decades. Thomas Massie, the Republican congressman from Kentucky who led the release of the Epstein files, is running against a Trump-backed primary challenger. Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie, who has crossed Trump on federal spending and the Epstein files, faces Republican voters. The Senate rule-keeper struck down the use of taxpayer funds to bolster security for the proposed $400m project.