Tea Partiers Hurl Slurs at Black, Gay Reps

'People have been just downright mean,' says one rep
Tea Partiers Hurl Slurs at Black, Gay Reps
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Congressional Black Caucus members John Lewis and Andre Carson ran smack into a large crowd of protesters screaming "kill the bill"—and punctuating their chants with the N-word. The sentiment didn't appear to be a rogue one: As Barney Frank waded through a crowd of protesters, he was met by an elderly white man screaming, "Barney, you faggot"—which TPM notes resulted in a chorus of laughter from his fellow protesters. "I'm disappointed at an unwillingness to be just civil," says Frank. "[T]he objection to the health care bill has become a proxy for other sentiments." (More Barney Frank stories.)

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