Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank wed his partner Jim Ready this weekend, making him the first congressman in a same-sex marriage.
Frank, 72, is 30 years older than his spouse who was a middle-schooler when Frank began representing Massachusetts’ fourth district in 1981.
The two men married before a crowd of about 300 that included family and friends alike, during a quick five-minute ceremony that was short at Frank’s request, according to The Washington Post.
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick officiated the ceremony, as Senator John Kerry and Representatives Nancy Pelosi and Dennis Kucinich looked on.
Frank said he chose not to invite President Obama to the ceremony because of the presence of the Secret Service.
“It would ruin the party to have the Secret Service,” Frank told C-SPAN in May. “I’m not critical of them, but they can go take their layered protection of the president somewhere else.”
Frank told New York Magazine in April he felt it was important his colleagues in Congress interacted with a married gay man, but said he might have waited to wed had he planned to run for re-election and cited the marriage as a ‘complication.’
Frank and Ready married wearing matching Joseph Abboud tuxedos and colorful bow ties.