Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), speaking to some 700 supporters of the Victory Fund at the group’s annual fundraising brunch in Washington yesterday, said the LGBT community will win full equality in America, but not unless we keep fighting hard for it.

“We’re gonna win this battle, there’s no question. … I know people are frustrated, ‘Well, we’re always fighting.’ Of course we’re always fighting, because we have taken on a major task: eradicating one of the great prejudices of human history.  So, of course, we’re going to keep fighting until it’s all over,” said Frank.

Frank also urged the community to focus on politics as a means to achieve their goals, and said helping to elect more openly LGBT candidates is an effective way to change the minds that still need to be changed.

“Legislating is a very personal business.  Prejudice is literally ignorance. It is people prejudging based on a stereotype that substitutes for reality. Reality undermines that. So, the more they see us, the better it is,” Frank said.

Also appearing at the brunch yesterday, Houston Mayor Annise Parker urged attendees to support local LGBT candidates for offices such as city council and school board, explaining that’s how most higher-profile elected officials get their start in politics.

Read more about the event at Metro Weekly.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) is urging LGBT Americans and their allies to call or write their members of Congress to ask them to support a trans-inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act.  Frank, in California for a fundraiser, told LGBT POV blogger/reporter Karen Ocamb that petitions, marches and sign-waving are not as effective as communicating directly with one’s representatives on Capitol Hill:

There’s only one way to do it – it doesn’t mean marching, it doesn’t mean waving signs. It means calling up their representatives – the members of the House who represent them – and say, please vote for this bill and please oppose watering down the transgender provision…Call people and say we want you to support the bill and don’t water down the transgender provision – because that’s the point of political trouble. And they should start calling now. I believe we’ll get a vote sometime this month.

What people need to focus on is lobbying their legislators. We have all that we need form the leadership to bring this bill up. We now need to get the votes. Yes, we will be checking the membership to see where they are. But the more people have called the better that count will be.

To find out contact information for your member of Congress, click here.

The Human Rights Campaign also offers suggested language to use in messages to members of Congress.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) has called on Congressional leaders to pass legislation to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” without regard to an ongoing Pentagon study on implementation of a policy change, according to MetroWeekly’s Chris Geidner.

Responding to Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ comments yesterday that he wanted Congress to wait until the study is finished, Frank said, “I’m disappointed in that, and I disagree with that. And I think we should go ahead and do it.”

Geidner’s story makes it clear Frank is frustrated with the White House over a lack of clarity about a legislative timeline.  ”They’re ducking. Basically, yeah, they’re not being supportive, and they’re letting Gates be the spokesman, which is a great mistake,” Frank told MetroWeekly.

As he approaches his 70th birthday at the end of this month, Barney Frank is marveling at the progress the LGBT community has experienced during his political career and giving most of the credit to the many Americans who have come out in the last couple of decades.  In an interview with the Windy City Times, Frank said our victories are coming from greater visibility:

“Part of it is, you can’t hide and win the fight at the same time,” said Frank, who has represented Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District since 1981.

“The fact that the American people now know who we are, and that we are relatives and friends, customers and teammates, students and teachers, barbers, lawyers and policemen, etc. Coming out has helped us, so [ non-LGBT ] people realize we are them, too.”

Frank also said he has high hopes for the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”  Both could very well happen this year, he said.

“In less than 20 years, I think [ LGBT issues ] will be substantially over; that is, we will have full legal equality. It may even be less if we make the same rate of progress,” Frank added.

He came out during his third term in the House in 1987, a day he often characterizes as “the most important day of my life, and the least important of everyone else’s.”  Since coming out Frank has dedicated a great deal of his time and energy to helping LGBT groups and other openly gay candidates raise money to fight for equality, and though he is clearly among the greatest champions for LGBT equality to serve in Congress, he’s never sugar-coated the chances of achieving major legislative goals.  That hasn’t endeared him to some activists impatient for change, but they’ve always been able to count on his honest opinions.

Frank will speak at the 10th annual Victory Fund Champagne Brunch next month in Washington, D.C.  This signature event raises money to support openly LGBT candidates for public office at all levels of government.  The event is sold out, but a waiting list is available.

The openly gay and lesbian members of Congress are making it clear they want a House vote on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act very soon.  Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) told Lisa Keen he expects a vote following the spring recess, which runs March 29 to April 9:

Rep. Frank said in a phone interview Monday that he does not believe the increased rancor between Democrats and Republicans [over the health reform bill] will jeopardize passage of ENDA. He noted he recently picked up another Republican co-sponsor for the bill because the representative had received a visit from a couple of gay constituents.

Frank said he told Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Education and Labor Committee, “Now, it’s our turn.”

Meanwhile Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) told the San Diego Gay & Lesbian News the House has the votes to pass both ENDA and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”  ”As someone who has actually counted the votes, I believe that there are [enough],” Baldwin said.

Asked whether the LGBT community can expect a vote on ENDA and DADT this year even though midterm elections are coming up, Baldwin said, “We want the votes [taken] as soon as possible.”

“Certainly there are members of Congress who are nervous because of the economy, the rate of joblessness,” she said. “Across the country, people are agitated. On the other hand, my constituents want to see bolder and quicker change, and so I actually see positive signs to follow through [on DADT and ENDA].”

ENDA, a top priority of the LGBT movement for decades, would put in place a federal ban on discrimination in employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.  It remains unclear whether Senate Democratic leaders have the votes to pass a companion bill.  For more information about the legislation, go here.