 During this same Washington lobbying visit, GLBVA officers presented Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) with a certificate of honorary life membership, the first ever granted by unanimous vote of the Board of Directors.By 1996, James Darby, a Chicago native who organized the Chicago chapter of GLBVA, became President of the organization, and was received in 1997 by White House Senior Adviser for Public Liaison Richard Socarides and by Pentagon officials.Under Darby's leadership, the "Lexington Declaration" called on U.S. president Bill Clinton to lift the ban on open service in the military by homosexuals.