U.S. Rep. Barney Frank Retirement Announcement

The longest-serving openly gay member of Congress, U.S. Representative Barney Frank (MA-05), announced today that he would not seek re-election to the U.S. House in 2012.

There are currently on.y four openly LGBT members of Congress, and Tammy Baldwin is giving up her seat to run for the United States Senate. David Ciccilline looks to have a tough-re-election bid. Jared Polis recently welcomed a newborn son to his household.

Joe.My.God has a collection of reactions from the national LGBT organizations on the news of Frank's retirement.

WATCH: LGBT Equality Caucus Says "It Gets Better"

Feingold Endorses Baldwin For Senate

Former U.S. Senator Russ Feingold has announced that he is endorsing openly gay Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin to become the next U.S. Senator from Wisconsin.

Feingold has long been an advocate for strong Wall Street reform and cleaning up corporations -- he opposed the Dodd-Frank legislation because it didn't go far enough and called on Democrats to stop taking corporate contributions.

The only other non-incumbent endorsement Feingold has made in 2012 is his backing of Elizabeth Warren, who is running for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts. In his email endorsement of Warren, Feingold also stressed that she "stood up against the Wall Street wish list of a bankruptcy bill" and would "keep fighting for middle class families on Capitol Hill."

"Tammy is a true progressive champion, one of the strongest fighters for working families our state has ever produced and a hero to those of us who believe in breaking barriers and eliminating injustice in our society," adds Feingold, who also asks supporters to contribute to the Baldwin campaign. "I was proud to call her a colleague as we fought together in Washington for Wisconsin families -- and I’ll be proud to call her my Senator."

Tammy Baldwin Announces U.S. Senate Bid!

Tammy Baldwin is an openly lesbian Congresswoman from Wisconsin (WI-02) who has never lost an election and is today announcing her historic bid to become the first openly LGBT member of the United States Senate! There have been openly LGBT candidates for U.S. Senate before, but no one as widely regarded as Baldwin, who is already polling ahead of potential rivals in the Democratic primary.
Baldwin has represented the Madison, WI area in Congress for over a dozen years and has always been an openly gay politician, becoming the first (and only) open lesbian to serve in the U.S. Congress.
You can bet MadProfessah will be following this race very closely, as well as contributing to the campaign in whatever ways I can. Tammy is the real deal, a progressive Democrat who recognizes LGBT issues as party of the tapestry of progressive politics.

Gay U.S. Congressmembers Urge DADT Veto Threat

There are currently four openly gay members of Congress, out of 535 total, Rep. Barney Frank (MA-05), Rep. Jared Polis (CO-02), Rep. Tammy Baldwin (WI-02) and Rep. David Cicilline (RI-01). All four have signed a letter to President Obama urging him to issue an official veto threat of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 if it is not stripped of it's provisions which would prevent the certification (and thus completion) of the repeal of DADT, the anti-gay policy which prevents open military service by lesbian, gay and bisexual Americans.

Pam Spaulding posted the letter to Scribd:
06-03-11 Letter to President Re DADT

There are other odious provisions in the Defense Authorization bill (such as a reiteration of the Defense of Marriage Act and a prohibition of solemnizing marriages on military bases in states which allow same-sex marriages) which the White House has already expressed its opposition to, but this is a step below a veto threat in the Washington-based kabuki dance of how provisions become federal law.

That is probably why the 4 openly LGBT representatives to specifically ask for a veto threat. It should be noted that there is no way that a provision to prevent the repeal of DADT can become law without President Obama's affirmation. I am confident that will not happen, and DADT will be gone by the end of the year.

Hat/tip to Pam's House Blend.