HIGH GEAR, PAGE 4

Wants to run again

Conservative ex-congressman will stay out of closet

In an interview story by C. Fraser Smith which appeared at the top of the front page of the Sunday September 13 issue of the Baltimore Sun, ex-congressman Robert E. Bauman said that he will not claim to be cured of "homosexual tendencies" if he decides to try to regain his seat in the U.S. House in 1982.

Well known as an outspoken and abrasive conservative, Bauman represented Congressional District 1 in Maryland until defeated by Democratic opponent Roy Dyson in the 1980 election.

About six weeks before the election, for several days in a row, front page stories had appeared, in Washington and in Bauman's home district, describing the background of his having been arrested for soliciting for money the sexual services of a sixteen year old male.

The stories had also described his being an alcoholic.

In the September 13 Sun interview Bauman said that his political future will now rest on "an honest, warts and all" presentation of him-

self to the voters.

As the 1980 election approached Bauman tried to nullify the issue of his homosexuality by telling the public that he had confessed everything to his priest and that he had made his peace with God. The reason for that particular stance, Bauman said, was intense pressure from the media. Reporters, he said, were badgering him for details, asking. for example, how many times he had had sex in his Capitol Hill office.

Bauman said that he is now ready to ask the voters in his district to accept his homosexuality as an ongoing condition that would not keep him from performing any less effectively as a Congressman.

Trial separation

During the interview Bauman handed the reporter a copy of a prepared statement announcing that he and his wife of 21 years would be embarking on a trial separation.

In discussing the written statement with the Sun reporter, Bau-

LAMBDA BAR 1052 Broadway Lorain, OH

Phone: (216) 245-9413

HOURS: 8:00 PM 2:30 AM, Tuesday Saturday

9:00 PM to 2:30 AM Sunday Closed on Mondays

-EVERY TUESDAY AMATEUR STRIP NITE-EVERY WEDNESDAY MOVIE NITE-TWO SPECIAL SHOWS IN OCTOBER-

⚫October 17 Miz "D"

• October 31 Halloween Party $50.00 for Best Costume

Drink Specials

diensviaU

s of suisy simil oz dos

man said that some people would be likely to remark, "It's the last straw," and that his reply would be, "It's not the final straw. It's a straw. You have many straws."

What has happened with the marriage, Bauman said, has been a long time in coming and has no single, immediate cause.

"My wife had the good grace to wait until she thought I could handle it," he said, “It's not an angry situation. It's a sad situation."

Two of the Bauman children are now staying with his wife, a son is away at college, and a daughter is staying with him.

Bauman told interviewer Smith that despite the possible break up of his marriage, he had never felt better in his life. Smith says that Bauman did, however, seem to "tighten his grip on an ornamental railing

behind his seat when he talked about his wife's decision."

The interviewing took place in a Washington restaurant and bar called The Monacle, one of the places where Bauman said that he would begin his “night's activities" before he stopped drinking.

According to Smith, "He summoned his friend, Mike, a waiter, for confrontation of his former patronage."

Hiding weakness

Bauman said that while following his "bull your way through life" approach he had not discussed his problems with his wife. He said that hiding weakness had been “a priority" for him since the death of his mother when he was eight years old.

Bauman, who voted for an antigay MacDonald amendment in 1980, and wrote the text of the antiabortion Hyde amendment, was widely regarded as being a very effective legislative strategist. He was also widely noted for his brashness and lack of charity in dealing with what he perceived as being the failings of others.

News of his arrest is said to have generated a great deal of malicious glee among reporters and fellow legislators.

RADIO FREE LAMBDA

מס

WRUW-FM 91.1 Thursday at 10:30pm

ier si enidivne scion

7107

A widely quoted example of Bauman's abrasiveness is the reply gave to reporters two years ago when asked if he would support the candidacy of a Republican senator he had decided not to run against. Said Bauman to reporters, "As Senator Kennedy says, "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it"."

Bauman told Smith that today he has less confidence and is less inclined "to stomp my foot on someone's instep."

More votes losing

Bauman said that one reason he was so eager to reenter politics is that he regarded Roy Dyson, the man he lost to, as being inconsequential as a politician.

He said that Dyson was due to be demolished last year before the story broke of his arrest, and that even with being hit by such a devastating scandal, he managed to end up with 45% of the vote. In losing, said Bauman, he had managed to receive 10,000 more votes than he had gotten with any of his victories.

"You know why it grates on me?" he said. "Because Roy Dyson is an accidental congressman. I hate to judge anyone's motives, but Dyson told a newspaper that when he looked around for something to do with his life he said, 'Well, my father owns a lumber yard. I dropped out of the University of Maryland. I wasn't a plumber or a carpenter. I didn't have a trade. So I looked around and said, "Here is something I could do. I could run for office."

"And here's Bob Bauman, thinking he could be another Lincoln. Studying by reflected firelight. It fit into my loner philosophy. That's why I got into politics. Politics was my life from a very early age."

Bauman said that his polister Arthur H. Finklestein recently urged him to think over his future very carefully, asking him if he realized that "a lot of people in this town wouldn't want to be seen with you."

Bauman said that he was asked by Finklestein if he could possibly handle the "personal hell" he would face by deciding to run again, and that he replied to Finklestein, "I could handle it even if I lose. Vindication isn't all I seek. I've told you, politics is my life. And I could say, for once in my life, I ran as Bob Bauman, warts and all. I could say I ran as myself.”

A recent poll which Bauman had taken in his district shows 48% of the residents thinking of him as a "homosexual" but also 73% of these surveyed believing that he can be reelected despite his difficulties. The poll also revealed a high regard for one his work in Congress, to ac193