Barrios Talks to Law Students

Politicians should not sacrifice their values for the sake of delivering tangible results to their constituents, former Mass. State Senator Jarrett T. Barrios ’90 told a room of Law School students last night.

“I think it’s essential that anyone in politics wrestle with the difficult trade-off of being an effective person and being someone who actually stands for something,” said Barrios, who left the Senate in July to become president of the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation.

About 15 students listened intently as Barrios, the first openly gay Hispanic state senator in Massachusetts, shared the lessons he learned from being a minority in public service. The event was hosted by the Harvard Law School Democrats and Lambda, the Law School’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students’ organization.

“People underestimate you for whatever reasons, and that works to your advantage—it’s not a bad thing,” he said.

Barrios said that he became involved in politics as “a way of checking back in on a regular basis why you believe what you believe,” which ultimately caused him to leave the state senate.

“The longer you stay [in politics], the more ossified you become,” he said.

Barrios said his personal beliefs were important when he actively opposed a ban on same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.

“The gay marriage debate was an excellent example of the notion of having values in politics and when not to compromise,” he said.

Barrios pledged to remain committed to public service in his position at the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation. He said he will focus on issues such as increasing minorities’ access to health care.

“I definitely think that he’s a real inspiration in terms that he is openly gay and has a very successful political career,” said Anne H. Gibson, the president of Lambda. “The senator has proved by his own actions that you can be open about who you are and be successful in politics.”