Support WBUR

Remembering former congressman and gay-rights trailblazer Barney Frank

05:55

Here & Now Newsroom

May 20, 2026

House Judiciary Committee member Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., gestures during a Capitol Hill news conference on Sept. 24, 1998. (Ron Edmonds/AP)

Barney Frank, the liberal icon and gay-rights pioneer who represented Massachusetts in Congress for more than 30 years, died Tuesday night at his home. He was 86 years old and had been receiving hospice care for congestive heart failure.

WBUR political reporter Anthony Brooks visited Frank one last time, and joins host Deborah Becker.

This segment aired on May 20, 2026.

Here & Now: Editors' Picks