The Smithsonian Associates Presents “A Frank View of Life in Politics and the Real World: Barney Frank Speaks His Mind”

The Smithsonian Associates presents an evening with former legislator Barney Frank, Tuesday, May 5, at 6:45 p.m. in Baird Auditorium at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. In an interview with journalist Steve Roberts, Frank will share his typically unvarnished thoughts on Congress—and how decisions are made behind closed doors. Frank will also talk about his life as the first member of Congress to come out voluntarily and the first to register a same-sex marriage as a sitting member of the House.

Frank is famously possessed of a lacerating wit and a talent for getting things done. A mainstay in the House of Representatives from 1981 until 2013, he played a vital role in the struggle for personal freedom and economic fairness. While in Congress, he served as chair of the Financial Services Committee and was a leading co-sponsor of the Dodd-Frank Act.

Frank is candid about the emotional toll of living in the closet and how his public crusade against homophobia contrasted for years with his accommodations of it in his personal life. He will share how he used his rhetorical skills to expose his opponents’ hypocrisies and recall the endless favors, grudges and fears that often come with being a legislator. His book Frank: A Life in Politics from the Great Society to Same-Sex Marriage (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) is available for signing after the program.

Ticket prices for the Smithsonian Associates’ presentation are $30 for general admission and $25 for Associate members. For tickets and information, the public may call (202) 633-3030 or visit www.smithsonianassociates.org.

The Smithsonian Associates—the largest museum-based education program in the world—produces vibrant educational and cultural programming inspired by the Smithsonian’s research, collections and exhibitions. Each year more than 750 individual programs are presented to spark creativity and excite learning in people of all ages in the Washington, D.C., area and across the country. The Smithsonian Associates, which marks its 50th anniversary in 2015, brings the Smithsonian to life through seminars, performances, lectures, studio arts classes and local and regional study tours, as well as many engaging programs for children, including performances, museum sleepovers and summer day camps.

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