Out former Congressman Barney Frank’s first question upon learning his former college Aaron Schock was resigning was, “He was outed or what?”
And 74-year-old Frank, who came out publicly as gay in 1987, knows a thing or two about keeping his sexual orientation a secret.
He spent much of his political career in the closet, but that didn’t stop him from fighting at the forefront of the gay rights movement. Those who did know he was gay respected his privacy. That’s a distinction Frank feels is paramount to how Schock is treated in the media.
He told Business Insider:
“I will say this, I don’t know if he’s gay or not. But if he is, he’s forfeited any right to privacy because he votes anti-gay. My view is that people who are gay who vote to support the right of other people to do it have a right to privacy, but the right to privacy does not include hypocrisy.
Schock consistently voted anti-gay, opposing hate-crime legislation and the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
Related: Six Careers Aaron Schock Should Consider Now That He’s Unemployed
Frank doesn’t think it’s too late for Schock to start telling the truth, though. Asked if he thinks Schock should come out now that he’ll be leaving Congress, he said:
“Of course he should. Yeah, if they’re true, and I don’t know that they are. I have to say, if they’re not true, he spent entirely too much time in the gym for a straight man.”
Giancarlo85
Schock is a goner.
Seeing an article on Barney Frank makes me think of one thing… I wonder how he feels about the republican criminals gutting the reform he and Dodd pushed. This country will pay for electing a moronic congress that only serves corporate interests. People like Schock wanted those rules gutted in order to serve his real bosses in corporate America.
Now I’m just waiting for one of the resident LCR trolls to come on here and attack Barney Frank in some way.
Uncv1
After reading Queerty this morning, I hear about Schock on CNN. Not one mention of anything gay. They did include a great deal more detail about all the inappropriate spending then was reported here. Was there not once ounce of common sense or did he come from such privilige that he thought everyone lives this way?
aliengod
I have a lot of respect for Barney Frank and couldn’t agree more with his logic. Were it not for the hypocrisy of Mr. Schock, I’d think we should respect his privacy. But if he’s gay and still tried to do the damage he’s done to the LGB community, I say sink him. Good riddance.
jwtraveler
Much ado about nothing.
Saint Law
@jwtraveler: All’s Well that Ends Well.
DannX68
“Spends too much time in the gym for a straight man”??
So, by that logic I should be extreeeeeemely straight!
lykeitiz
@Giancarlo85: said: “This country will pay for electing a moronic congress that only serves corporate interests.”
What a frightening truth! Every election I wonder how bad things have to get before people wake up, and with this last election, we just might find out.
BJ McFrisky
Shallow: shal-lo; adj;
Lacking depth, as in intellect and significance.
Fact: If Aaron Schock looked anything like Barney “Don’t pay any attention to the male prostitute living in my basement” Frank, Queerty might have posted one story about him, but not this perpetual cheering of his downfall.
As it is, they’ll keep celebrating his demise because they like looking at him. Hence the label, shallow.
BJ McFrisky
@aliengod: His sexuality should be as irrelevant as it is for a straight representative who votes for gay marriage. He was elected by his constituents in Illinois, not the gay community, so he was doing exactly the job he was elected to do. He was elected for WHAT he would do, not WHOM he would do.
Having said that, if he was in fact misusing public funds (which I’m relatively sure he was), he deserves to go—but his personal life should have nothing to do with it.
Giancarlo85
@BJ McFrisky: You are a liar on so many levels. People on here are taking issue with the apparent and obvious corruption in Schocks office. And good one on bringing up something that happened to Frank decades ago because of an ex-bf. Do you have anymore stupid shit to say? How about addressing my point of how the Dodd-Frank rules on financial reform were gutted by idiots like Schock? Ask yourself who you are really supporting. It appears you don’t care for the average American.
SCHOCK was NOT DOING HIS JOB. He was elected by a misinformed district who were misled by his lies and manipulation. And most people here weren’t even talking about his sexuality. These articles were attacking his thievery of public funds, which most Republicans do anyways.
geoespar
@BJ McFrisky: You’re so full of BS: Schock committed fraud against the government, just do your research, and like Jessie Jackson, Jr., Schock broke his oath of office by violating the ethics code each member of the Congress is committed to follow to the letter let alone the fact Schock falsified federal tax returns to the tune of $90,000.
BJ McFrisky
@geoespar: If he’s committed fraud and falsified tax returns to the tune of $90K, he absolutely should be charged and do jail time. Kind of like Al Sharpton, who currently has stiffed the government of $4.5 million in taxes (oh wait, that’s right, I forgot — in the World According to Liberals, the only people worthy of tax crime penalties are registered Republicans, while Obama’s BFF gets an open-ended invite to the White House as punishment . . . NOW I get it).
Gotta love that liberal logic.
Black Pegasus
Barney Frank is right, but the media in this case (as in others) have decided to ‘police themselves’ when it comes to ‘outing’ public figures. The know that public humiliation leads to suicide in some men, and no news editor or producer wants that kind of blood on their hands.
I personally believe the media has been contacted repeatedly by reliable sources who have information on Schocks hypocrisy and secret gay life. But no reputable news agency will carry the story because of the potential fallout and backlash. Outing entertainers, politicians, and public figures will forever remain a “no go zone” for the media.
Giancarlo85
@BJ McFrisky: Blah blah blah blah… Now he brings up Al Sharpton. Little man, your Republican party is stealing from this country. Not just Schock. Schock was stupid in the sense he got caught. And all you can bring up is Sharpton? For every Democrat you can name, I can name ten Republicans who got caught, indicted or convicted. You live in complete fantasy. I want all corrupt politicians held accountable and prosecuted. Yes, a majority of corrupt politicians in America are Republican. Just the reality.
Gotta love that delusional log cabin tea bagging logic.
Curty
Who is Barney Frank to talk he was closeted until he too was outed after dealing with male hookers! He’s no ellen who volunteered willingly. He was outed against his will. So that too is hypocrisy in his own right. Not saying I give a damn about this aaron scumbag but frank is one too talk. How quickly people memories are.
Giancarlo85
@Curty: He wasn’t the one dealing with the prostitute. And Frank has done more for this country than any of the Republican douchebags. Like the Frank-Dodd reform. So go stuff it kid.
Cam
@BJ McFrisky:
The BJ mantra He will ALWAYS defend anybody anti-gay if they are a republican. Schock spoke out against gay rights, voted against them, and illegally took hundreds of thousands of dollars while at the same time sponsoring ZERO bills during his three terms in Congress.
So of course BJ will defend him. He is a Thief, he votes against gays, and he is a Republican. I think BJ might be in love.
Alan down in Florida
Cong. Schock would rather be known as a corrupt politician than an openly gay man.
The resignation is to avoid a Congressional ethics investigation which no doubt would zero in on his personal Instagram photographer and just what he was getting paid for. Now the fraud and theft are issues for the courts and his little travel companion can crawl back into the shadows.
GayEGO
Barney Frank is right and I am Schocked! :>) Maybe Aaron Schock is related to Larry Craig, you know, the Idaho Repugnantan congressman that was caught peeking through the stall in the Mens Room at the Minneapolis Airport.
sportyguy1983
I guess by his own logic we should all be surprised he is gay because he obviously spends no time at the gym (at least no time actually working out but cruising the locker room).