Frank Admits He Used Additional Prostitutes

U.S. Rep. Barney Frank '61 (D-Mass.), who is currently facing ethics charges in the House, said yesterday that Stephen Gobie "wasn't the first prostitute I had used," even though he believed it was wrong to patronize them.

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Frank also denied claims that he acknowledged he is gay because he was afraid Gobie would blackmail him.

"He wasn't the first prostitute I had used," Frank said. "I just couldn't live that way anymore. I was tired of looking over my shoulder. I met Herb [Moses] about that time." Frank shares a house in Washington with Moses.

"I knew it was wrong for me to be hiring prostitutes from time to time," Frank said. "Gobie wasn't the only one. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't sit home."

Asked if Gobie could provide names of other prominent politicians with whom he had relations, Frank said, "I don't know if you can trust him. And I don't know who he's going to say was in my kitchen...I'm vulnerable, and other people are vulnerable."

Frank's dealings with Gobie are being investigated by the House ethics panel. The representative has said that after ending his sexual relationship with Gobie, he hired him in 1985 as a personal aide--using his own money, not congressional staff funds--in an attempts to help Gobie start a new life.

But he said he fired him in 1987 after he learned that Gobie was running a prostitution ring out of Frank's apartment.

In June 1987, Frank acknowledged that he is gay. Despite the views of some observers that Frank's career would be hindered by the announcement, he was re-elected the following year with 70 percent of the vote from his predominantly Democratic southeastern Massachusetts district.

But the revelations about his connections with Gobie have prompted some to call for his resignation, including the Boston Sunday Globe, which said he should step down for "his own good, and for the good of his consitutents, his causes and Congress."

"The issue of Frank's conduct is not homosexuality but prostitution, which is illegal and which has always been a destructive element in heterosexual and homosexual life," the newspaper said.

In the Newsweek interview, Frank said he would never resign "because that would among other things, shortcircuit the ethics procedure. It's very important to have that go forward."

He has said however that he would consider not running for re-election if the incident begins to seriously hurt the liberal causes he believes in.