Barney Frank, a longtime Democratic congressman from Massachusetts and one of the first openly gay members of the US Congress, has died at age 86. Multiple outlets describe him as both a trailblazer for LGBTQ visibility and a leading figure in financial policy in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Frank represented Massachusetts from 1981 until retiring in 2013 and became chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2007 to 2011, a period that included major government responses to the crisis and banking reforms. Sources also note that he came out voluntarily as gay in 1987 and helped bring gay rights into mainstream national politics during his decades in office. In his later years, reporting says he spent his final weeks in hospice care at his home in Maine. One outlet reports he remained politically active even in hospice, working on a forthcoming book about unity and reform of the left. Other coverage says he had faced a health battle in his last weeks, including interviews recorded shortly before his death.