Gay man runs for Congress-from Oklahoma

by Trudy Ring

There now are not one but two openly gay men seeking election to their first term in Congress this November.

Paul M. Barby, 61, a ranch administrator from Woodward, Okla., is seeking election from Oklahoma's 6th Congressional District, which covers much of Oklahoma City as well as the largely rural area in the western part of the state, including the Panhandle. He had no opposition in the Aug. 27 Democratic primary, so he will face first-term incumbent Republican Frank D. Lucas in November.

Barby's campaign already has had some dramatic moments, including an announcement by his brother endorsing Lucas; however, Barby has the support of several other family members.

This is Barby's first bid for elective office, but he has a long history of activism on public issues, especially those related to education and the oil and gas industry. The leaders of the state Democratic Party urged him to run, he noted during an interview while in Chicago as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

As he began his campaign, Barby wanted to make sure potential voters and donors heard about his sexual orientation from him, not second-hand, so in June he sent out a letter detailing his positions on all issues and saying that he's gay. He noted that at least one elected official declined to publicly support him after this announcement, but he has gotten positive feedback from many other people.

He and California's Rick Zbur (profiled in the September issue of OUTLINES) now are trying to become the first open gays elected to Congress as non-incumbents; current gay Congressmen came out after they were elected.

Barby said he wants to fight for inclusive policies, for gays and lesbians and all other groups. "I'm very concerned about what the Gingrich Congress has done to exclude people," he said. He cited poet Robert Frost's statement that the ugliest word in the English language is "exclusive."

Education and jobs are the key issues facing his district, Barby said. Welfare reform is pushing people into the job market, but there are no jobs to push them into, he said.

Barby, who received the Oklahoma Education Association's 1996 Friend of Education Award, is a member of the Board of Regents for Oklahoma Colleges, which governs six regional four-year universities, and was president in 1993-94. Recently, he was a leader in the fight against State Question 669, a ballot measure that would have rolled back property tax rates to 1990 levels and would have required voters to approve future increases. This would have devastated social services as the county level, and would have cut severely into funding for school districts, said Keith Smith, Barby's campaign manager. The measure was voted down.

Barby's brother, Stanley J. Barby, was on the opposite side on Question 669, and now the brothers are on opposite sides in the election. Paul Barby said he wasn't surprised that his brother endorsed Lucas; Stanley Barby is a committed Republican. Smith described Stanley Barby and his branch of the family as "Republican Christian Coalition members." Stanley Barby did say, however, that Paul's being gay was not a factor in the Lucas endorsement.

Stanley Barby's children joined in the endorsement, but Paul Barby has the support of his mother, sister and several other family members. (By the way, the brothers have a business relationship; Paul Barby leases their mother's ranch to his brother, Smith said. The Barbys have one of the largest family-owned ranches in Oklahoma.)

Paul Barby also manages the family's oil and gas investments. He is past president and now vice president for legislative affairs of the Oklahoma Chapter of the National Association of Royalty Owners (NARO), representing owners of oil and gas properties. Describing himself as a citizen lobbyist, he has done much lobbying in the state legislature on the group's behalf; for his efforts, he received the 1992 NARO Chairman's Cup Award. He also is on the board of governors for the national group.

Barby said he is a fiscal conservative who recognizes the need to reduce the national debt and work toward a balanced budget-but the budget should not be balanced "on the backs of those who have no power, no voice."

He describes himself as a supporter of civil rights for all, including gays and lesbians, and has spoken out against the Defense of Marriage Act, which limits recognition of same-sex marriages. Lucas supported the act, recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton.

Barby is pro-choice on abortion and emphasizes the need to prevent unwanted pregnancies in the first place.

Barby's district has a mixed political history. Registered Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one, and the Congressional seat was held by a Democrat, Glenn English, for 20 years before Lucas was elected in 1994. English had left Congress to take a job with a rural electric lobbying association, and Lucas defeated Dan Webber Jr., a former aide to U.S. Sen. David Boren, D-Okla., by a large margin in an election marked by low voter turnout. The district has voted Republican in most of the recent presidential elections.

Groups endorsing Barby to date include the Cimarron Alliance (the state's gay and lesbian political action committee), the Oklahoma Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus and a variety of labor, education and Indian organizations, Smith said. Barby has not been endorsed by the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund or the Human Rights Campaign; the latter said the door remains open, however.

To become involved with Barby's campaign, write P.O. Box 18698, Oklahoma City, OK 73154 or call (405) 424-3351.