A media frenzy unfolded two years earlier involving the former Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Wilbur Mills. Police apprehended Mills driving drunk with a stripper from Argentina who went by the stage name “Fannie Foxe.” During the traffic stop, the police discovered injuries from an apparent fight between the two in which Wilbur had a bloody nose and scratches on his face, meanwhile Fannie Foxe had two black eyes. This incident surprisingly didn’t ruin Mills’ political career and he managed to be reelected one more time. Although, the final nail in the coffin was struck just weeks after the election when he visited Fannie Foxe at a strip club in Boston. He even drunkenly stepped on stage and held an impromptu press conference
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He was already out of the closet when in 1989 he admitted that he had an intimate relationship with a male prostitute, Stephen Gobie. Not to mention, he had hired Gobie as his personal assistant and allowed him to move into his apartment. According to Frank, he was unaware for quite some time that Gobie continued to operate his escort service while living with him. Afterward, Frank testified that he ended the relationship once his landlord notified him about what was happening during the daytime. Frank said, “I assumed it was something he personally was doing, not that he was arranging it for other people.” In the end, the House Committee on Ethics concluded that he committed a number of violations but couldn’t prove that he was aware of the extent of Gobie’s escort business.
There are several more examples of these types of scandals, but only one these politicians had publicly supported the decriminalization of prostitution before their scandal occurred; it was Barney Frank. Barney Frank was a Massachusetts State Representative in 1975 when he introduced legislation that would have officially recognized the “Combat Zone” district of Boston as an adult entertainment district, thereby making it a de facto red-light district with decriminalized prostitution. Barney Frank’s bill ultimately didn’t get passed even though it was at the behest of the Boston Police Commissioner at that
He was already out of the closet when in 1989 he admitted that he had an intimate relationship with a male prostitute, Stephen Gobie. Not to mention, he had hired Gobie as his personal assistant and allowed him to move into his apartment. According to Frank, he was unaware for quite some time that Gobie continued to operate his escort service while living with him. Afterward, Frank testified that he ended the relationship once his landlord notified him about what was happening during the daytime. Frank said, “I assumed it was something he personally was doing, not that he was arranging it for other people.” In the end, the House Committee on Ethics concluded that he committed a number of violations but couldn’t prove that he was aware of the extent of Gobie’s escort business.
There are several more examples of these types of scandals, but only one these politicians had publicly supported the decriminalization of prostitution before their scandal occurred; it was Barney Frank. Barney Frank was a Massachusetts State Representative in 1975 when he introduced legislation that would have officially recognized the “Combat Zone” district of Boston as an adult entertainment district, thereby making it a de facto red-light district with decriminalized prostitution. Barney Frank’s bill ultimately didn’t get passed even though it was at the behest of the Boston Police Commissioner at that