Congressman Barney Frank explains his negative comments about National Equality March

I think Barney Frank, one of the less than a handful of openly gay members of the US House of Representatives, missed an excellent opportunity to be a leader in the LGBT movement by not participating in last weekend’s National Equality March.

That he chose to attend a fundraiser on the opposite coast is one thing, but his public statements essentially saying the march is “a waste of time” and will have no impact are infuriating and an insult to all involved.

“The only thing they’re going to be putting pressure on is the grass,” he told the Associated Press.

Frank, chairman of the House Finance Committee, went on The Joy Behar Show last night to explain himself but didn’t back off from his remarks.

“I am afraid that some people will come to Washington and they will march and think they’ve done it,” he told Joy Behar. “That’s why I said what I did. Marching isn’t a negative thing, but to the extent that people think that having marched they’ve done something effective, they wouldn’t do something that is effective.”

He stresses that the real difference can be made not by marching but by lobbying legislators.

“I didn’t say it’s a terrible thing,” he insisted. “I said it wasn’t in and of itself useful. If people march and then in addition do those other things, then that’s fine.”

Here is video of his appearance with Berhar: