The congressman, who represents Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District, has announced that he will not run for re-election in 2012 because of redistricting changes that would force him to try to represent 325,000 new constituents for only a few years before he retires.
Frank, 71, said that his proposed new district in Massachusetts would be so new it would make it extremely hard for him to represent it properly.
The openly gay Democratic congressman and former chairman of the House Financial Services Committee has served the Bay State in the U.S. House for more than 30 years since his election in 1980.
He announced his homosexuality in 1987, the first congressman to voluntarily do so, following the scandal that surrounded his employment of male prostitute Steve Gobie. He now says he believes his decision to reveal that he was gay “had an impact,” and he came to serve as a role model for other gay politicians.
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