Most people these days know Massachusetts Dem. Barney Frank as one of the most powerful gay politicians in the country. He was an outspoken critic of the Bush administration and helped President Barack Obama campaign to his historic win.

But in 1990, Frank almost lost his seat in the House of Representatives when his bizarre relationship with male prostitute Steve Gobie came to light.

Frank acknowledged that he had paid for Gobie's services several times with private funds, but denied Gobie's more damning accusations that he knew about the Risky Business-like prostitution ring Gobie was running out of the representative's apartment. Frank maintained that he was charmed by Gobie and took the escort into his home in the hopes that he would straighten out his life. He says he didn't know what was going on behind his back. From theWashington Post:

In late 1985, Gobie says, he began to use Frank's apartment and two other locations for prostitution. Frank knew about the prostitution all along, but it was never explicitly discussed, Gobie says.

"He knew exactly what I was doing," Gobie said. "It was pretty obvious. If he had to come home early {from work}, he would call home to be sure the coast was clear . . . . He was living vicariously through me. He said it was kind of a thrill, and if he had been 20 years younger he might be doing the same thing."

Frank denies that he knew, saying he learned from his landlord and kicked Gobie out in August 1987. Gobie supports this part of Frank's story.
It turns out Gobie was something of a fame-whore. The escort tried to sell his story to the Washington Post and speculated that he would "slap together" a book and sell it to the highest bidder. While Gobie's worst accusations were dismissed by by the House Ethics Committee, it was found that Frank had used his position to dismiss 33 of Gobie's outstanding parking tickets. For this, Frank was officially reprimanded by the House and won reelection in 1990.

Curiously enough, the GOP push to kick Frank out of congress was led by Republican Larry Craig, who later had his own gay sex scandal.