Tag: National Equality March (2009)

Barney Frank Criticizes the National Equality March


by Barney Frank
October 7, 2009
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Barney Frank discussed several current LGBT issues on Michelangelo Signorile’s radio show The Gist. He said “”Barack Obama doesn’t need any pressure on these things. Secondly, if you do want to pressure Congress, I don’t know what standing on the Mall on a weekend when no member of Congress is in town is going to do. All that’s going to pressure is the grass.” Signorile reported that:

Barney Frank believes the march this weekend and rally on the mall are “useless” and don’t put pressure on the White House. “I literally don’t understand how this will do anything,” he said. “People are kidding themselves. I don’t want people patting themselves on the back for doing something that is useless.” Besides, he says, “Barack Obama does not need pressure.” He says we should model ourselves as lobbyists on “the National Rifle Association.” He says people should not come to Washington and should stay home and lobby their members of Congress. “Nobody in Congress even knows they’re there, he says, and he is not attending the March: He is going to California to raise money for himself and other Democrats

Later, on October 14, 2009, Frank appeared on The Joy Behar Show to explain his criticism, stating “I am afraid that some people will come to Washington and they will march and think they’ve done it. That’s why I said what I did. Marching isn’t a negative thing but to the extent that people think that having marched they’ve done something effective they wouldn’t do something that is effective.” Full interview below:

Frank further elaborated his position on October 22 as part of an interview organized by Reddit.com: