After the news broke of the First Circuit Court declaring the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, CNN hosted openly-gay Congressman Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and asked him softball questions like "are you heartened to see that?"
The entire interview lasted over 12 minutes, a very long time on cable news, but only a part of it focused on DOMA. Anchor Suzanne Malveaux painted a positive picture for supporters of same-sex marriage, touting a "sea-change" on the issue in America. [Video below the break. Audio here.]
"You were really a pioneer as openly-gay in Congress. Did you ever imagine that it would gain so much support, that you'd be still in Congress and you see this kind of change happening?" Malveaux teed up Frank.
Unsurprisingly, no supporter of DOMA was brought on during the news hour to provide the other side of the debate.
CNN also had some sweet words for the congressman recently, in the wake of President Obama publicly supporting same-sex marriage, when Frank showed off his engagement ring to the CNN audience.
A transcript of Malveaux's questions to Frank is as follows:
SUZANNE MALVEAUX: Congressman, thank you for joining us. First of all, I do want to get your thoughts on a story that just broke, regarding the Defense of Marriage Act. Today a federal appeals court in Massachusetts ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. The law defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman, and the court says that that act discriminates against same-sex couples. Is this part of a sea change, do you think, that is taking place in this country? When you look at that are you heartened to see that?
MALVEAUX: So Congressman, what do you make of what's happened here? Because there does seem to be a sea change regarding same-sex marriage. President Obama coming out in support of it. You were really a pioneer as openly-gay in Congress. Did you ever imagine that it would gain so much support, that you'd be still in Congress and you see this kind of change happening?
MALVEAUX: Do you fear that there will be a backlash? We've heard from several pastors of churches throughout the country, really some fiery rhetoric. Some of them even threatening to kill gay people in the community. Is that a concern at all that we might see something like that?
