Sentence:  ... what appeared to be overt appeals to anti-gay sentiment. When House Majority Whip Dick Armey referred to fellow Congressman Barney Frank as "Barney <WSD>Fag</WSD>" in 1995, he suffered a barage of negative publicity that prompted him to explain his choice of words as a slip of the tongue. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A homosexual man, especially  an especially effeminate or unusual one.