Former Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank came out in 1987, and was the first openly gay member of Congress to do so — of his own choosing. Since then, he’s fought tirelessly for LGBTQ equality. He was instrumental in his state becoming one of the first in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage, which wouldn’t become a right around the country for another decade.

We caught up with Congressman Frank as he was soaking up the August sun in P-town during Carnival week, far ahead of the Brett Kavanaugh hearings, the pipe bombs, the synagogue shootings and the savage rhetoric that enveloped all those events. But Frank knew then, as we do now, that we can only expect more of the same out of this president and his administration.

He has one sure-fire remedy, and he shares it in our exclusive video (transcribed below):

CONGRESSMAN BARNEY FRANK: Well I’m grateful that Metrosource has given me a chance to address this question about whether people should feel pessimistic or give up. The fact is that, since the election of 2016, the anti-Trump political force has been very strong, stronger than in the aftermath of any other election.

And it is very clear: if people forget about being too pessimistic or remember it but act anyway, if people get out and vote, and they get their friends to vote. and they overcome this notion that we have to wait for the perfect candidate, or that somehow it doesn’t matter who’s in office, we can make a serious dent in Donald Trump’s ability to do damage. In an off-year Congressional election, you can’t turn everything around, but if the Democrats take a majority, Trump is restrained in the House. If they do it in the Senate, he can’t appoint a Supreme Court Justice again.

There isn’t any question, and I’m encouraged so far – that people who were for Clinton, people who were for Sanders, people from a variety of positions understand: the single most important thing to do now is to come together and vote and block the Republicans in the Congress from being doormats for Donald Trump. Once that’s happened, we can then begin to figure out what we do next for 2020. But the absolute essential first step in curtailing Donald Trump’s rampage is for people to vote and vote in November for Democrats who will restrain him.

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Last modified: November 9, 2018