“Gay” Gov. Jim McGreevey Giv New Jerseyans the Shaft

Contents:

• JIM MCGREEVEY: CSHED BY THE CLOSET: FOR YEARS THE NEW JERSEY ERNOR HID THAT HE'S GAY. THEN HE RIGNED AMID A FLURRY OF SNDALS. A BEHD-THE-SCEN LOOK AT HOW HIS DOUBLE LIFE CLOUD HIS JUDGMENT.
• WHERE ‘GAY AMERIN’ JIM MCGREEVEY IS, 10 YEARS ON
• KEV SPACEY IS NOT THE FIRST GAY MAN TO WEAPONIZE COMG OUT
• CALL ON GAY ERNOR TO QU CATHOLIC GROUP US
• FIRST OPENLY GAY GOV. JIM MCGREEVEY WANTS TO BEE A PRIT

JIM MCGREEVEY: CSHED BY THE CLOSET: FOR YEARS THE NEW JERSEY ERNOR HID THAT HE'S GAY. THEN HE RIGNED AMID A FLURRY OF SNDALS. A BEHD-THE-SCEN LOOK AT HOW HIS DOUBLE LIFE CLOUD HIS JUDGMENT.

His gay love affair, if that's what was, was simply the proverbial straw that broke the back of his beleaguered his nfsnal Augt 12 prs nference, McGreevey had been a textbook closet se, leadg a double life that ultimately proved stctive. -based gay advocy group Human Rights Campaign: "The dangers of the closet are te regardls of who we are, regardls of occupatn or fay circumstanc.

"Other than the ernor himself, the person most hurt by McGreevey's li is his wife, Da Mat McGreevey, who had llapsed tears jt three days before her hband's prs nference upon learng he was gay. He swiftly evolved to an amb polician--a morate Democrat--who thrived on what pot he realized he was gay is unclear--perhaps even to the ernor himself--but his sire to succeed as a polician led him to hi his sexualy, a moral promise that praged his eventual undog. One pany termated his employment after 30 days, has been reported, bee Cipel often didn't bother to show up for spotlight on Cipel only fueled whispers that McGreevey was gay.

And he seemed nsistent on gay rights, opposg marriage equaly while signg a sweepg domtic-partnership bill to law. Reporters had a field day wh McGreevey's mistak, and the gay mors spread.

WHERE ‘GAY AMERIN’ JIM MCGREEVEY IS, 10 YEARS ON

He lled Daniel Zgale, an openly gay California polil nsultant and former ai to Gov. Zgale says he "raised the qutn whether would not be better to addrs the personal issu that [McGreevey] was termed to take rponsibily for that day separately" rather than givg the appearance that the ernor was steppg down bee he's gay. "I am absolutely nfint that the people of New Jersey would not want to remove him om his job for beg gay, " Zgale nclus.

KEV SPACEY IS NOT THE FIRST GAY MAN TO WEAPONIZE COMG OUT

McGreevey's nstuents the gay bars along the Jersey ast agree wh Zgale. In the gay mec of Asbury Park at least, speculatn about McGreevey's sexualy apparently stretch back to when he was mayor of while they've been among the first to share McGreevey stori, jok, and speculatn wh a nod and a wk, many New Jersey gays still stand behd their ernor.

He matas that he is not gay and that he was the victim of the ernor's unwanted 's sistence that he's heterosexual has a faiar rg to Twersky: "He did not want to adm to this dark secret and will take to his grave, " the New York Sun ntributor told The Advote. "He said, y, he knew already to be reful of the state police, and I said, 'They thk you are gay and you are McGreevey's lover, ' and he says, 'I know that is absolutely unte. Would he have been a better ernor had he uttered the tried-and-te phrase "And so my tth is that I am a gay Amerin" 20 years ago, at the start of his polil reer?

Gay men and lbians asssg the impact of McGreevey's g-out on the battle for equaly n only speculate about those qutns, at least until the ernor cis to talk. "His level of fort wh himself went up, and there was relief at fally beg able to be himself, " says Henry Shekopf, a New York polil nsultant and longtime McGreevey cultural observers, the lson is one of the hypocrisy of straight society, which nmns gay men who cheat on their wiv and yet forbids them om marryg other gay men. "It is hard for people opposed to gay marriage to e to a logil argument to exclu gay people, " says gay lumnist Dan Savage.

CALL ON GAY ERNOR TO QU CATHOLIC GROUP US

"Gay people are prsg to marry for the same ialistic reasons that straight people image that they should marry, which is love. "Who r if he's gay nowadays.

"Addnal reportg by Sarah Wildman and the Associated out, alreadyMcGreevey is the exceptn: Other policians who have emerged om the closet have thrivedIs stayg the closet the only optn for ambns and privately gay and lbian policians? In his former district he's probably better remembered today for his efforts to help the state's marime dtry than for beg the other hand, a polician who's reported to be fortably gay his private life and yet ref to ls up publicly leav himself a cur limbo.

Reprentative Mark Foley of Florida held a prs nference nouncg but not nyg repeated reports the lol media that he is gay and liv openly wh his male partner. At this pot, no one is bettg agast Frank that, nearly 300 gay and lbian elected officials serve openly the Uned Stat.

FIRST OPENLY GAY GOV. JIM MCGREEVEY WANTS TO BEE A PRIT

Two notable natnal succs stori are openly gay reprentativ Tammy Baldw of Wisns and Jim Kolbe of Arizona. (AP) — Ten years after he announced that he was a “gay Amerin” and would rign om office after a sndal-plagued stt as New Jersey ernor, Jim McGreevey is back ernment, this time mostly as an evangelist for prison reform.

12, 2004, is “ the rearview mirror, ” he said, and he do not see himself as a gay rights trailblazer, though he remas the only person to have served as a ernor while openly gay.

When McGreevey officially left office three months after beg the natn’s first — and so far only — openly gay ernor, Massachetts had jt bee the first state to regnize same-sex marriage. When McGreevey announced he was gay, there were jt a handful of openly lbian, gay, bisexual or transgenr elected officials the unty.