Customer Reviews

The Gentleman from Maryland: The Conscience of a Gay Conservative

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the moving autobiography of a gay Republican who was forced out of the closet. Societal expectations, as well as his Catholic faith, compelled him to hide his homosexuality even from himself, though he could not refrain from furtive homosexual encounters. Eventually he became one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress. In addition, he was married to a woman he cared for deeply and had four children he loved with her. In short, no queer in history has ever been more motivated to overcome his own homosexuality.

His wife had discovered some gay pornography among his possessions when he was outed to the rest of the world. Because of her discovery, Bauman was already in counseling with both a psychiatrist and with a priest. I cite all these facts to illustrate the absurdity of claims that homosexuality can be "cured". Neither psychotherapy nor Jesus nor all the motivation in the world could help Bauman win his decades-long struggle against his sexual orientation.

As a staunchly conservative Republican during the Carter presidency, naturally Bauman was a stumbling block to the powers that be. He is proud of this accomplishment: "Among my accomplishments which gained national notice was a successful single-handed torpedoing of President Jimmy Carter's proposal for a national gasoline tax boost, the initiation of a rare "resolution of inquiry" leading to the revelations concerning brother Billy Carter's Libyan oil deal activities, the defeat and then resurrection of the Panama Canal treaty implementation legislation, and the imposition of tight restrictions on the millions of dollars in aid President Carter insisted on giving the Communist Sandinista government in Nicaragua."

During his campaign, Carter described Bauman as "a good example of all that is wrong with the Republican party." As a major threat to the administration's left-wing agenda, he had to go. There were plenty of closeted homosexuals in Washington, elected officials as well as lower-profile government figures, in both parties. Bauman frequently ran into other Congressmen in gay bars and gay gatherings. He could have wrecked many political careers of friend and foe by naming names, but didn't. On the orders of the Carter administration, the FBI found a young man Bauman had had a brief encounter with, got the young man to fabricate a few spurious allegations in addition to the already embarrassing fact that Bauman had indulged in illicit gay sex, and improperly alerted the media at a critical point in Bauman's re-election campaign.

After Bauman was outed, his political career was destroyed. A few gay-rights groups expressed interest in employing his political acumen but dropped him when they realized, apparently to their surprise, that he wasn't going to jettison his conservative principles just because he was gay. Everyone else was afraid to be associated with him. His marriage also finally collapsed despite great effort on his part to save it. He had everything to lose from being gay, and he lost it. He makes no attempt to evade responsibility for the things he did wrong, for his infidelity, alcoholism and dishonesty. Several times in the course of this book he admits that he acted wrongly.

The first part of this book is a memoir, the second an exploration of the nature of homosexuality. Bauman read widely during his therapy and his struggles to rebuild his life. He discusses the Catholic Church's doctrines on homosexuality, calling for it and other major religious organizations to re-evaluate their positions on homosexuality: "The true paradox lies in the fact that the gay, more than the non-gay person, desperately needs a greater dimension of spirituality simply in order to survive." And a few pages later: "I firmly believe increased spirituality for gays is an essential element in answering the unique and painful demands imposed upon the homosexual."

Every homosexual who has struggled against his or her orientation, especially those of us who are religious, will identify with Bauman's ordeal, and the answers he found for himself can be helpful for the rest of us. This memoir is also of interest to gay conservatives, letting us know that there are more of us out there than it seems, reassuring us that we don't have to give up our values because of our orientation.

When he wrote this book, Bauman's life was at a very low point. Readers will be happy to know that now he is legal counsel for the Sovereign Society, which promotes financial privacy and success for Americans, and I have heard but not confirmed that he has found a life partner.

Bauman did NOT come out of the closet, he was exposed. HE disgusted most of Maryland not because he was gay, but because he was one of the fiercest gay bashers in Washington and few are reviled more than hypocrites like Bauman. If he was having trouble coming to terms with his sexual orientation he had no trouble deciding it was ok to pull the wool over his constituents eyes. What conscience?

This is one of the first books I ever read about a gay person. Instead of being inspiring like other books, this did not make me feel good when I was a closeted teen. Yes, I think this book may help the closeted and some gays and lesbians struggling with alcoholism. Still, I never got the sense that he decided to support gay rights. He may have outed Barney Frank in this book, solely for partisan reasons. He says things that I thought were racist against blacks. I doubt gays of any political stripe would be moved by this book. This was definitely not the material of a gay hero or worthy pioneer.