The Gentleman from Maryland: The Conscience of a Gay Conservative

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

I disagree with the other review. While the book did not inspire me to admire Bauman, it was an interesting look at what motivates closeted anti-gay elected officials. In the end it did end up evoking pity that someone could injure themself in such a manner, simply to conform with others' expectations.