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Technically, it is not legal to conduct online casino gambling activities in the United States, and for the last several years most politicians have supported the ban on Internet gambling. But there has been one supporter of gamers’ rights to bet.

He is an advocate for online casino operators that would like to do business in the US. His name is Barney Frank, check out this clip of him on youtube. One of the first members of Congress to freely admit that he is gay, Frank is an outright crusader for tolerance and individual rights. He has, over the past years, supported the cause of legalizing Internet gambling.

Here is a brief run down of Congressman Frank’s view on gambling, especially his views of Internet-based gambling:

Although Congressman Barney Frank says that he doesn’t gamble, he has been crusading for the right to gamble online, and that has made him somewhat of a celebrity among online gamers, especially poker players. Poker is one of the largest and most developed online gaming markets in the world, and the members of the online poker community have turned to Barney Frank as one of their advocates. For some, he is a hero, a champion of the cause. Time will tell if this hero will prevail in the fight to allow Americans to gamble online.

Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act

Barney Frank has never been a fan of restricting online casinos. He voted against the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act. That was in 2006, and he stood in the minority. In the years that followed, he actually tried to pass the Internet Gambling Regulation and Enforcement Act, a law that would have undone the Internet Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act. This set of legal provisions would have restored the rights of Americans to gamble their money while playing online casino games like poker or roulette. When that didn’t work, he turned to other means of reinstating the online gambling privileges of the US public.

Payment Systems Protection Act 2008

In another attempt to re-legalize online gambling in the United States, Congressman Barney Frank supported the Payment Systems Protection Act of 2008. This bill went after the ability of the government to enforce the ban on Internet gambling. It proposed a moratorium on prosecutions related to the law that make online wagering a crime. So while it wouldn’t have gotten rid of the law all together, it would have made it impossible to punish people who did gamble in cyberspace.