Alec Baldwin, Barney Frank take to same stage — but dodge gay questions

Alec Baldwin, who’s been accused of having homophobic tendencies, and Barney Frank, the gay former congressman from Massachusetts, took to the same stage this weekend for an amicable discussion of an upcoming documentary — though they dodged questions about their differing opinions on homosexuality.

It was just last month that Mr. Baldwin tweeted out a series of critical comments and homophobic remarks about a former aide to Mitt Romney. Right around that time, Mr. Baldwin was also asked to attend with Mr. Frank the premier of “Compared to What,” a documentary that highlights the former congressman’s legislative efforts and embrace of his gay sexuality, BuzzFeed reported.

So at the Sunday forum — the prelude to the showing of the movie — Mr. Frank was asked about his association with Mr. Baldwin, and what he thought of the Hollywood icon’s apparent disregard for gay rights.

Mr. Frank said: “The notion that when you appear in some common forum with someone that you’re each adopting the others’ views, no, I don’t pay much attention to that. And secondly, Mr. Baldwin is perfectly capable of explaining himself, but I don’t have any problem with it at all.”

Mr. Baldwin then cut in: “And if I could answer that question in the prism of promoting the film, I’ll let you know, I’ll get back to you. But we’re here to promote the film.”

Mr. Frank’s partner, Jim Ready, meanwhile, expressed disappointment that the documentary spoke of Mr. Frank’s prostitution scandal from the late 1980s.

“I don’t think that was very relevant and they didn’t need to put that in there,” Mr. Ready said, BuzzFeed reported. “His 94-year-old aunt is here, she didn’t need to see that. It was embarrassing. My mom is going to see it and stuff, it’s just kind of rude.”