Barney Frank Speaks At Gay Rights Forum

Activists should use conventional political strategies to advance their cause, rather than employing alienating or violent tactics, said Rep. Barney Frank '61-'62 (D-Mass.) in an address to a gay rights conference at the Law School on Saturday.

The one-day conference, sponsored by the Harvard Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and Harvard Law School Lambda, focused on the legal ramifications of recent Supreme Court rulings, congressional bills, and executive orders relating to gay rights.

More than 50 people attended the conference, including undergraduates, Law School students and others. Participants convened in the Law School's Austin Hall from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. to listen, ask questions and enjoy complementary sandwiches and nachos.

In his keynote address, Frank discussed political strategies, citing the National Rifle Association (NRA) as an organization whose tactics could be copied by the gay rights movement.

"They don't have demonstrations. They don't have marches," Frank said. "The fact that you may have a radical set of aims does not mean that you have to use unconventional political means."

"Conventional politics can be used for very unconventional causes," he added.

Frank also said he was "pleasantly surprised" by the number of representatives who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, a bill to deny Federal recognition of same-sex marriages signed into law last month.

Moreover, he said, voters in the recent Congressional elections did not seem to penalize their representatives for opposing the bill.

"Not one of the 62 Congressmen and women who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act was defeated," Frank noted.

Following Frank's address, Law School graduates Evan Wolfson and Michelle Benecke discussed legislative obstacles to same-sex marriages and gays in the military.

"We are winning the freedom to marry. That is the historical moment we are living in," said Wolfson, marriage project director of the National Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, and lead counsel for Baehr v. Miike, the country's most prominent case concerning gay marriage.

Wolfson compared the fight for same-sex marriages to the struggle in the 1960s legalize inter-racial marriages.

"One-fifth of the American public still believes inter-racial marriages should be illegal," he said. "There is a long way to go in both arenas."

Benecke, a former officer in the Armed Forces and co-executive director of the Service Members Legal Defense Network, focused on the military's "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy, calling it "the only mandated federal discrimination.

Moreover, he said, voters in the recent Congressional elections did not seem to penalize their representatives for opposing the bill.

"Not one of the 62 Congressmen and women who voted against the Defense of Marriage Act was defeated," Frank noted.

Following Frank's address, Law School graduates Evan Wolfson and Michelle Benecke discussed legislative obstacles to same-sex marriages and gays in the military.

"We are winning the freedom to marry. That is the historical moment we are living in," said Wolfson, marriage project director of the National Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, and lead counsel for Baehr v. Miike, the country's most prominent case concerning gay marriage.

Wolfson compared the fight for same-sex marriages to the struggle in the 1960s legalize inter-racial marriages.

"One-fifth of the American public still believes inter-racial marriages should be illegal," he said. "There is a long way to go in both arenas."

Benecke, a former officer in the Armed Forces and co-executive director of the Service Members Legal Defense Network, focused on the military's "don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue" policy, calling it "the only mandated federal discrimination.