When I was cop in Springfield, I was not rehired for being gay – in spite of numerous commendations. Shortly after, I got a letter from a congressman whom I had never met asking how he could help. He wanted to have coffee with me. That was the beginning of our 35-year friendship.

Barney Frank was a first. A Harvard grad, he served as a Massachusetts State Representative for 8 years and US Congressman for 32 years. He could have easily opted for an easier life. 

He was a fighter for the personal right to choose. 

He supported the rights of individuals to gamble if they wished. And the rIght to use medical marijuana. 

He co-sponsored the federal act to provide educational assistance to dependents of law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty. 

In 1987 he came out publicly as gay. He was the first US Congressman to marry a same sex partner while in office. 

From consumer protection to banking reform, to civil rights, to his unwavering support of law enforcement, Barney took on the injustices that, whether we knew it or not, affected us all.

I often wondered what made Barney such a politically astute rebel. If politics is the art of the possible, how did he manage to work so successfully with those who came from such different places – to achieve the seemingly impossible aspirational goals called out in our constitution?

When I was President of the Gay Officers Action League of New England, I asked Barney to march with us in Boston’s Gay Pride parade. He did. He loved and respected police officers. To the point where he was willing to alienate an influential group of “Defund-the-police” Democrats.

He was an outspoken supporter of civil rights as well as law enforcement – an almost impossible, politically risky place to be for a Democrat. But he felt he was speaking for those who couldn’t. I traveled with him where he spoke at the first-ever gay pride ceremonies at the FBI and the Department of Justice.

In 2007, Barney asked me to speak before Congress on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). I testified before the United States Senate in 2015.  Later, we were invited to the White House for the Conference on Hate Crimes and the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. The signing of the president’s executive order supporting LGBT employees was a life-changing moment for me.

This week, we lost Barney. He was a friend, a legend, a fierce fighter for personal freedom. But in his place, he gifted us with a rich legacy of legislative protections and ways of thinking that move us closer to the promises of our constitution and give fresh meaning to “liberty and justice for all.”

Rest in peace, old friend. You deserve it.