United States Democratic representative Barney Frank has become the first sitting congressman to enter into a same-sex marriage, wedding his long-time partner James Ready.

Democrat congressman Barney Frank made history when he married his long-term partner James Ready. (Credit: Getty Images) 

Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick officiated the ceremony.
 

Texas Democratic congressman Al Green, who attended the wedding, said Mr Patrick added some levity by saying Mr Frank, 72, and Mr Ready, 42, had vowed to love each other through Democratic and Republican administrations alike, and even through appearances on Fox News.
 

"Barney was beaming," Mr Green said.
 

He said Mr Frank, a champion of gay rights and the sweeping reform of Wall Street, shed a tear during the ceremony and the couple embraced after exchanging their vows.
 

"It was no different than any other wedding I've attended when you have two people who are in love with each other," Mr Green said.
 

Mr Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat and a former chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee, has been an openly gay congressman since the late 1980s.
 

He is well known for his legislative acumen, including as an architect of the reforms in the Dodd-Frank bill, which US president Barack Obama signed into law in 2010 in the wake of the financial crisis following the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market.
 

Mr Frank's office in January announced he would marry Mr Ready, whom he met at a political fundraiser in Mr Ready's home state of Maine.
 

Mr Ready lives in Ogunquit, where he does carpentry, painting and welding work.
 

They have been in a relationship since 2007.
 

The evening wedding took place at the Boston Marriott Newton, attracting political luminaries including the top Democrat in the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi and Elizabeth Warren, who is battling Republican Scott Brown for his US Senate seat in Massachusetts.
 

Before the ceremony, a tanned and relaxed Mr Frank greeted family and friends in a traditional black tuxedo.
 

Media were not allowed to attend the ceremony.
 

"We're not doing any media today," Mr Frank said.
 

Mr Frank won a seat in Congress in 1980 and said he will retire at the end of the current term.
 

In May a federal appeals court in Boston ruled a US law defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman unconstitutionally denies benefits to lawfully married same-sex couples.

The ruling on the 1996 law, the Defence of Marriage Act, marked a victory for gay rights groups and Mr Obama, whose administration announced last year it considered the law unconstitutional and would no longer defend it.
 

Also in May, Mr Obama openly endorsed gay marriage, a move expected to be a flashpoint in the upcoming presidential election.