# Barney Frank criticism of Democratic Party **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 5, 2026, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811 "2026-05-05T18:36:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/421 "2026-05-22T14:00:14Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Boy if that isn’t splitting PC hairs, I don’t know what is. > > Anyway, I think the fact that this discussion is so heated and long says something about the state of the party - if the relatively like-minded people around here on the SDMB have such disagreement, that has to be amplified when it goes outside of otherwise similarly aligned people. > > In other words, the fact that we’re having such a knock-down, drag-out argument about this internally (so to speak) means that the Democratic party probably should figure this out before they start making policy on it. And as usual, they probably ought to try to get their entire party singing from the same hymnal when they do. (but you know they won’t). …what PC point do you mean? Personal Computer? This discussion is heated because we are talking about _the continued existence of trans people_. There are a group of people who want them to no longer participate in society. They want to ban trans women from womens sports. They want to ban trans women from womens bathrooms. They want to ban trans kids and trans people from accessing the healthcare they need. And as you know, some of them are using the law to set up literal detransition clinics. And…you don’t seem to care? Which is fine, because we can’t _force_ you to care. But if I want to fight for trans rights, and if I want to be loud and vocal about it, and if so-called “allies” don’t do the bare minimum to fight for trans rights, what possible reason would you have to object to me calling them out? And what is it going to take before you finally decide to join the fight? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/422 "2026-05-22T14:47:21Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …well you can’t change the country, can you. Not easily. I mean, picking somewhat arbitrary landmarks, lesbian and gay rights took decades from Stonewall to Obergefell, rights for Black Americans is the fucking Civil War in 1865 to 1965 and the Voting Rights Act, which Republicans are busy trying their best to repeal. It might give folks reason to pause when they see an electorate that wants one of the fundamental sources of rights, the fucking post Civil fucking War, Fourteenth Amendment removed from the Constitution and consider that things we take, or took, for granted as settled law and protected rights are as solid as a _Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization_ away. But this is the second or third time I’m making this point and I don’t think it will get any traction this time either. > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > But you do have the ability to influence the party that you vote for, right? Because if you haven’t then what are we even doing here? Thankfully no, despite actually living here, I benefit from a political class that understands that voting for things that the country isn’t ready for and will be repealed by the next Congress, or worse, ruled unconstitutional so you have to go back to square one and start over just isn’t exactly the best way to stay in power or use that power when you, fleetingly, have it. Unlike me, who would throw the dice on White, conservative, Christian Americans not wanting to continue to live in a, far from nascent, Christo-fascist America, despite knowing just how popular going “all in” on that is with them. But who am I to chide my fellow Americans over little things like the end of what’s left of our democracy at the hands of Republicans when there are Democrats to criticize because they can’t do the currently impossible. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/423 "2026-05-22T14:52:45Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > And that bill still would have passed just by 209 to 206 instead of by 217 to 198. My takeaway from this is that you and others are saying this small group isn’t representative of the party as whole (fair) and doesn’t matter. It’s the latter point I’d like to object to. It’s helpful to think about it by analogy. If just eight Democrats voted in a way that was anti-Black or anti-Jewish, would they still get a pass? It’s okay that the Democrats are such a big tent that they welcome such people? What matters, and what I don’t know, is how the party as a whole reacted to this vote. Did anyone stand up for LGBT people, and address them directly? Or, as is likely, did they just shrug their shoulders and move on to the next thing? It’s a fairly short item ([https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20260427/RCP\_H2616\_H2617\_xml.pdf](https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20260427/RCP_H2616_H2617_xml.pdf)), whose key phrase is that no funds may be used “to teach or advance concepts related to gender ideology… relating to defending women from gender ideology extremism and restoring biological truth to the Federal Government.” I will also note that six Democrats didn’t vote; had they bothered, and had the party pulled together, the vote would have been 212 (D) – 209 (R). That, of course, assumes the Republicans who didn’t bother to vote still stayed away, so it’s not really so simple. I’m not Trans. I barely know anyone Trans. But for purely selfish reasons, it really bothers me that eight Democrats are so foolish as to believe the lie that Trans people (trans women, specifically) are a threat to non-trans women. What else are they going to believe about LGBT people? What else will they vote against? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/424 "2026-05-22T15:01:11Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Not easily. I mean, picking somewhat arbitrary landmarks, lesbian and gay rights took decades from Stonewall to Obergefell, rights for Black Americans is the fucking Civil War in 1865 to 1965 and the Voting Rights Act, which Republicans are busy trying their best to repeal. It might give folks reason to pause when they see an electorate that wants one of the fundamental sources of rights, the fucking post Civil fucking War, Fourteenth Amendment removed from the Constitution and consider that things we take, or took, for granted as settled law and protected rights are as solid as a _Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization_ away. The problem is the country just isn’t ready for civil rights for Black people. Rather than demonize people who want to repeal the 14th amendment, we should do more to understand where they’re coming from. Consider the housewife who doesn’t _hate_ black people, she just thinks they’re scary and weird. What do we gain by calling her a bigot? We should really consider repealing the 14th amendment just a little bit, otherwise, she might vote Republican! ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/425 "2026-05-22T15:32:17Z")
Hey, I’m very soft these days on mass arrests and ~~re~~ education camps to teach them that the right to live your lives as you see fit isn’t reserved to them with a heapin’ helpin’ of reading and understanding the fucking Book they want to impose on everyone else. They’re in for a big surprise when they learn that Jesus can not be the Messiah. But, as with John Brown and Sherman’s _March to the Sea_, people think that’s a little extreme. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/426 "2026-05-22T15:36:56Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > But this is the second or third time I’m making this point and I don’t think it will get any traction this time either. …what point is it you think you just made? MAGA isn’t a thing that existed in the past. The disinfo silos that we have to live with didn’t exist in the past. We now live in a _dystopian present_. The lessons of the past will only take you so far. Because we are _regressing_. Stonewall wasn’t just a landmark for lesbian and gay rights; it was also a _landmark for trans people_. I wonder why you didn’t mention that. > [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > hankfully no, despite actually living here, I benefit from a political class that understands that voting for things that the country isn’t ready for and will be repealed by the next Congress, or worse, ruled unconstitutional so you have to go back to square one and start over just isn’t exactly the best way to stay in power or use that power when you, fleetingly, have it. You underestimate the stakes here. This is an _existential threat_. There is no going back to the times when the Republicans and the Democrats kept to the established norms. MAGA is not going away. They will use every single lever of power to steal all the money, take all the power, and the only way you win is to bring the people onto your side. There are _more of you_ than there are them. There are more good people in America than bad. You _can_ shut them down. You _can_ push them back into the margins. But what it takes is _leadership_. And that leadership _has_ to come from the Dems. Because there is nobody else. And that leadership has to take the form of _integrity_. Because it needs to be the inverse MAGA. It needs to cut through the crap. It needs to stand for something. So why do I criticise the dems more than the Republicans, Starmers Labour over the Conservatives, and Hipkin’s Labour over the Nats? Because they aren’t doing their jobs. All over the world the “centre-left” parties are failing to recognise the _existential threat_ that exists. They are all acting like it’s business as normal. And the trans issue is the exemplar of that. As I just said: they want to ban trans women from sports. Ban trans women from women’s bathrooms. They want to ban access to trans healthcare. They want to ban trans kids being called any other pronoun except for what they were given at birth. They are setting up detransition clinics. They are doing their damndest to remove trans people from society. And they are succeeding. The news from the UK today is just devastating. It started with sports. The same will happen in the US. Just this week our government announced they were supporting at first reading our own versions of anti-trans bills. This is a _global coordinated effort to eliminate trans people from society_. And y’all are chiding us for even _suggesting_ that politicians just _talk_ about this. I’m sorry I don’t “live in your country”, but I’m not going to stop defending trans people no matter where they live in the world. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/427 "2026-05-22T16:08:13Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > Stonewall wasn’t just a landmark for lesbian and gay rights; it was also a _landmark for trans people_. I wonder why you didn’t mention that. And the trans rights _Obergefell_ is??? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/428 "2026-05-22T16:10:04Z")
PC = political correctness. Nitpickery about terminology in this case, about a gay man using outdated terminology (“transsexual” I assume) that you censored. It wasn’t meant as a slur, it was probably just someone whose terminology was out of date. Give him some grace. And while I’m not trans-unfriendly, I don’t think this is the hill Democrats should choose to die on in today’s America. It’s politically a losing fight in my opinion. Most people are barely gay-tolerant, never mind friendly, and trans people are a step too far right now. Better to hammer the Republicans on the economic and environmental issues. That’s stuff that most people DO care about and where the Democrats are unequivocally on the winning side. That’s not to say that they shouldn’t continue to push for trans rights, just that it shouldn’t be a major or specific plank in their platform, or a big issue in their messaging. The country’s not ready as a whole, and it comes across as offputting to the electorate if the Democrats emphasize it too much. To much of the country, trans people are extremely strange and unsettling. It’s a big uphill fight, and pragmatically speaking, I don’t think it’s a smart thing for the Democrats to emphasize at the moment, even if it’s the morally right thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/429 "2026-05-22T17:17:35Z")
Right: Trans people will just have to wait. Sucks to be them, right? Ha ha! This seems fundamental to me: you can’t just let people suffer, even if doing so advances your political agenda. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/430 "2026-05-22T17:35:41Z")
> [@bump](#): > > That’s not to say that they shouldn’t continue to push for trans rights, just that it shouldn’t be a major or specific plank in their platform, or a big issue in their messaging. The country’s not ready as a whole, and it comes across as offputting to the electorate if the Democrats emphasize it too much. America has _never_ been “ready” for civil rights, civil rights have _always_ had to be forced into reality against the adamant, lifelong resistance of the right wing. If the people who wanted civil rights waited until the nation was “ready” we’d still have slavery, women wouldn’t be allowed to vote and even talking about LGTBQ people would be outright illegal. America is at its core a nation built on a foundation of undying hatred, and that hatred never goes away; waiting for it to do so is futile. It has to be overcome or fled. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/431 "2026-05-22T17:46:13Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > we’d still have slavery In too many ways still do because even the side that won the Civil War loved them some prison labor. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/432 "2026-05-22T17:49:16Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > There are a group of people who want them to no longer participate in society. They want to ban trans women from womens sports. They want to ban trans women from womens bathrooms. Do they also want to ban trans women from men’s sports, and from men’s bathrooms? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/433 "2026-05-22T17:59:01Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Do they also want to ban trans women from men’s sports, and from men’s bathrooms? They want trans people to _not exist._ ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/434 "2026-05-22T18:40:51Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > trans women from men’s sports [Yes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_Beggs). (ETA: Sorry, that’s a trans boy who wanted to wrestle boys but wasn’t allowed to. Not exactly what you meant, I guess) (ETA2: People say that anyone can compete on the boys side, but that’s clearly not true, at least in TX, because of anti-trans legislation). > [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > from men’s bathrooms [Yes](https://stateline.org/2025/06/26/more-states-pass-laws-restricting-transgender-peoples-bathroom-use/). (ETA3: No, I guess? They are requiring women who look like [this](https://www.elle.com/culture/celebrities/a28601304/victoria-secret-first-transgender-model-valentina-sampaio/) to use the men’s room and men who look like [this](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck_Angel) to use the women’s room) ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/435 "2026-05-22T19:00:23Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Just found [this](https://bsky.app/profile/esqueer.net/post/3mmfkhl3nls2j) in my Bluesky. > > > These 8 Democrats voted to pass a national ban on trans teachers and mention of LGBTQ topics. > > > > … > > **Rep. Cleo Fields (LA)** > > … This is an immense letdown. To the point that I wonder what’s actually going on, at least with Fields. For consideration: Anti-trans bills that Cleo Fields _opposed_ in recent years as a Louisiana state senator: > SB156: Fairness in Women’s Sports Act: Prohibits a team designated for females, girls, or women from being open to students who are not biologically female. > > Legislative outcome: Passed Senate 29-6-4 on May/5; **Sen. Fields voted NO** ; Passed House 78-19-8 on May/27; Vetoed by Gov. Edwards on Jun/22; Senate veto override 26-12-1 on Jul/20. ([Ontheissues.org](http://Ontheissues.org), _[Cleo Fields in LA legislative records](https://www.ontheissues.org/Archive/Legis_LA_Cleo_Fields.htm)_. See also _[The Journal of the Senate of the State of Louisiana](https://www.legis.la.gov/meeting_files/21RS/sjournals/21RS%20-%20SJ%200505%2013.PDF#page=23)_, May 5, 2021) > … House Bill 81, would require parents to submit a form in order for public school teachers and employees to use a name that is not on the student’s birth certificate or to use pronouns that are not in accordance with the student’s sex … > > [House Bill 81 advanced out of the Senate Education Committee] 3-1. Three Republicans– Sen. Mark Abraham, R-Lake Charles; and Sen. Robert Mills, R-Minden; and Sen. Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton—voted for the bill. **The committee’s chairman, Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, opposed it**. (_[The Times of Houma/Thibodaux](https://houmatimes.com/news/senate-panel-advances-louisianas-dont-say-gay-bill-and-pronoun-ban/)_, June 2, 2023) > … [The Senate Education Committee] advanced two pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation [June 1, 2023]. > > House Bill 81 by Rep. Raymond Crews, R-Bossier City, would prohibit school employees from using transgender students’ preferred names or pronouns unless they have parental approval _(see above - b)_. House Bill 466 by Rep. Dodie Horton, R-Haughton, would prohibit the discussion of gender identity and sexual orientation in public schools. > > Both were reported favorably from the Senate Education Committee on a 3-1 vote, with **committee Chairman Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, being the sole member opposed**. (_[Louisiana Illuminator](https://lailluminator.com/2023/06/01/ban-on-trans-youth-healthcare-revived-in-louisiana-senate/)_, June 1, 2023) ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/436 "2026-05-22T19:38:41Z")
Fair enough, but I’m pretty sure no politician in the 1950s or 1960s got elected on a platform of civil rights or social change. I’d guess Johnson got elected in spite of his support in those areas, and probably was a big cause of the migration of southern Democrats to the Republican party right around that time. Social acceptance of stuff like this isn’t something you can force, not in a democracy anyway. At best you can make certain guarantees of rights and set up protected classes. And I feel like pushing it as a primary issue is spending political capital that could better be used elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![DeadTreasSecretaries](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deadtreassecretaries/32/4817_2.png) [@DeadTreasSecretaries](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadTreasSecretaries)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/437 "2026-05-22T20:00:44Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Do they also want to ban trans women from men’s sports, and from men’s bathrooms? In the UK, the labor government just made a guideline saying that trans people must be excluded from both the bathroom of their gender identity and the gender assigned at birth. The delusional rationale (which is from a supreme court interpretation of an equality law passed by a previous labour government) is that trans women could be biological males invading women’s restrooms and that trans people may look pass to the point that they would make people uncomfortable in the bathroom of their assigned gender. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/438 "2026-05-22T21:45:35Z")
Social acceptance is not the goal in this context. It is simply achieving trans rights, and such rights are broadly supported. Figures are between 71–85% for the statement “Trans people should have the same rights as everyone else.” There is broad support for access to healthcare, schools, and antidiscrimination laws in businesses and jobs. All of them in the 70s. The issue isn’t lack of support. It’s that it’s not a priority for them. But that is exactly the window that makes it possible to go hard on it. The downsides are minimal, but the upsides are great. There is nothing about any of those other issues that requires going soft on trans rights. We already see what has happened. We have 8 Democrats who for some fucking reason that it’s better go against the consensus. This wasn’t some bill that had other stuff along with trans stuff. They chose to say “We don’t support trans rights,” loud and clear. This _will_ harm them. Oh, and while BB censoring “transsexual” wasn’t required (it’s not that kind of slur), it was appreciated because it shows the poster cares. “Giv[ing] him grace” makes no sense: he’s not here, and he is very much not the priority. It’s perfectly fine to err on the side of caution. The type of PC that can be harmful is the purity test stuff, not simply conscientious use of language. (The use of “transsexual” is complex and beyond the purview of this thread. I will point out a minority do identify as such, but unless you know for sure everyone is okay with it, simply “trans” is much safer.) ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/439 "2026-05-22T22:06:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > “Trans people should have the same rights as everyone else.” The majority of people when asked that question will think, yes they should have the same rights as everyone else. That doesn’t mean they should get _privileges_ though. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2026, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811/440 "2026-05-22T22:07:20Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > The majority of people when asked that question will think, yes they should have the same rights as everyone else. That doesn’t mean they should get _privileges_ though. And by “privileges”, they mean “rights”. They just don’t want to say so. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barney-frank-criticism-of-democratic-party/1029811.md?page=23)