Rep. Frank To Wed Longtime Partner In Mass.

Updated at 4:00 PM, January 26th, 2012

BOSTON — Rep. Barney Frank, one of the first members of Congress to announce that he is a homosexual, is tying the knot.

Rep. Barney Frank, last year, after announcing he will not seek re-election in 2012 (AP)

Frank spokesman Harry Gural confirmed to WBUR that Frank is planning to marry longtime partner Jim Ready. Gural says they’ll marry in Massachusetts.

No other details on the marriage were immediately available.

Ready, 42, lives in Ogunquit, Maine. He has a small business doing custom awnings, carpentry, painting, welding and other general handyman services, Gural said. Ready is also a photographer. The two men have been together since spring 2007.

In late November 2011, the 16-term Democratic congressman announced he will not seek re-election.

During an appearance on PBS’ “The Charlie Rose Show” earlier this month, Frank, who was first elected to the U.S. House in 1980, said he was looking forward to leaving Congress and spending time with Ready.

“Look, I have a partner now, Jim Ready; I have an emotional attachment. I’m in love for the first time in my life,” Frank said on the show.

With additional reporting by The Associated Press