Gay Democrat makes Trump ‘fag burning’ joke in live TV interview
Retired gay congressman Barney Frank stunned a TV host by making a joke about Trump burning “fags”.
Mr Frank came out as gay in 1987, and served as a Democratic lawmaker in Congress for 32 years.
The lawmaker was the first ever congressman to open up about his sexuality and keep serving, sitting in the House of Representatives for decades before his retirement in 2013.
He appeared on MSNBC to discuss President-elect Donald Trump’s call for burning the US flag to be made a felony.
The lawmaker noted that the late ultra-conservative Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who Trump has repeatedly praised in the past, often cited flag burning as something that should be protected under the First Amendment.
Mr Frank said: “It is interesting that Scalia wrote the opinion that was very strongly on the other side of this [than Trump], but he cited Scalia as his favourite justice!
“I think there was a pronunciation problem there… You know, Scalia was actually the leading advocate of fag burning, not flag burning.”
As the panel nervously laughed, anchor Chris Matthews said: “That’s not funny.”
Of course, Justice Scalia was notoriously opposed to LGBT rights.
Across his long career, the justice has dissented against LGBT equality on nearly every issue – from the court decision throwing out sodomy laws, to the one bringing equal marriage. He also openly compared the rights of gay people to paedophiles and incestuous couples, and was known for his blistering dissents.
In his dissent against the equal marriage decision, Scalia insisted he “would hide my head in a bag” if he ever supported such a ruling. He never did.
Meanwhile, President-elect has pledged to elect Supreme Court justices in the mould of Scalia, noting their opposition to equal marriage.
