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Gay Activist Turns from GOP Politics to the Priesthood

By AAN Staff
december 17, 2002  07:37 pm
Gay Activist Turns from GOP Politics to the Priesthood
Patrick Baikauskas was a rising star in the GOP when he arrived in the Illinois state capital. He had worked for a Republican Congressman, two Illinois governors, and the first President Bush. But after being outed on the front page of the daily State Journal-Register, he noticed a "palpable, icy" change in the way he was treated at the statehouse, especially by his fellow Republicans, Pete Sherman writes in Illinois Times. Undeterred, he ran for Dick Durbin's Congressional seat and later made a run for City Council. He started the city's first AIDS Walk and hosted a cable-access show for the gay and lesbian community of central Illinois. Then he decided to become a Catholic priest. As Baikauskas settles into Dominican life, there are rumblings that the Catholic church may ban the ordination of homosexuals.