New Jersey governor quits, comes out as gay

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/12/mcgreevey.nj/index.html

CNN) – Dropping a political bombshell, New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey announced his resignation Thursday as he revealed that he is gay and that he carried on an adulterous affair with a man.

With his wife standing quietly by his side, McGreevey spoke in calm tones as he described his struggle with his sexuality, “a certain sense that separated me from others.” It was something that he said began as a child.

“At a point in every person’s life, one has to look deeply into the mirror of one one’s soul and decide one’s unique truth in the world, not as we may want to see it or hope to see it, but as it is,” McGreevey, a Democrat, said.

“And so, my truth is that I am a gay American,” McGreevey said.

Speaking at a packed press conference in the Statehouse in Trenton, New Jersey, McGreevey admitted to an an affair with a man and asked for his family’s forgiveness.

“It was wrong. It was foolish. It was inexcusable,” he said.

And McGreevey said he was stepping down from the state’s highest office.

'“Given the circumstances surrounding the affair and its likely impact upon my family and my ability to govern, I have decided the right course of action is to resign,” McGreevey said.

He said his resignation would be effective November 15.

“This is an intensely personal decision and not one typically for the public domain,” McGreevey said of his revelation. “Yet, it cannot and should not pass.”

McGreevey, a first-term Democrat, took office in January 2002. His term wasn’t due to expire until January 2006.

Senate President Richard Codey, another Democrat, will replace McGreevey as the state’s chief executive; the state has no lieutenant governor’s office.

Once considered a rising star in Democratic circles, McGreevey, 47, served in the state Legislature and as mayor of the town of Woodbridge before winning the governorship.

His administration has been buffeted by some scandal.

A Quinnipiac University poll released August 4 showed McGreevey’s approval among state voters fell sharply after two Democratic fund-raisers were indicted on federal charges in July – one of them accused of lining up prostitutes to discredit a witness in a tax fraud investigation, the other accused of extortion.

2

:-O

3

i don't understand the reasons for him stepping down.

i) Because he is gay?

ii) OR, because he committed adultery?

We had at least one (that i am aware of) gay Member of Parliament in Canada. Why would you have to step down from power if you are gay ? If you've committed adultery, then okay i understand that aspect; some individuals would forever question your integrity and honesty. But the sexual orientation aspect to it is not a reason, i think, for him to have stepped down. i don't get it. What part of the puzzle am i missing here. His sexual orientation is no one's business...or at least, it is not a sufficiently logical reason for him to have stepped down as governor.

4

yowsa, my guess is that he learned that word of his sexual orientation and infidelity would soon come out in the press. "Living a lie" is not a good thing for a politician (& no bush wisecracks from you Nadia!)

That's the only thing I could think of. There are several open homosexuals in congress, so that in itself wouldn't be reason to resign.

5

[QUOTE]
Originally posted by Stu: *
*"Living a lie" is not a good thing for a politician (& no bush wisecracks from you Nadia!)**
[/QUOTE]

:o My lips are sealed. i'll behave myself, i promise.

That's my point, yes, his sexual orientation alone, is not reason enough. 'fact it's not a reason AT ALL to begin with.

6

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Nadia_H: *
i don't understand the reasons for him stepping down.

i) Because he is gay?

ii) OR, because he committed adultery?

We had at least one (that i am aware of) gay Member of Parliament in Canada. Why would you have to step down from power if you are gay ? If you've committed adultery, then okay i understand that aspect; some individuals would forever question your integrity and honesty. But the sexual orientation aspect to it is not a reason, i think, for him to have stepped down. i don't get it. What part of the puzzle am i missing here. His sexual orientation is no one's business...or at least, it is not a sufficiently logical reason for him to have stepped down as governor.
[/QUOTE]

It is No. ii

7

Accusations of sex-harassment forced his hand to come out and combined (accusations & him being a closet gay) consequently have caused him to step down.

8

He was being black mailed by his lover, McGreevey refused to give in.

Arnold Schwarznagger (I cant spell his last name for my life) I guess was right. These Girly men (implying democrats). McGreevey fit his description.

9

Re: New Jersey governor quits, comes out as gay

Mullah Samiulhaq and the entire NWFP MMA cabinet to follow suite :wink:

10

Interestingly his resignation is effective November 15, 2004, which means there will be no special election for the Governor on the ballot, saving some headaches for Kerry (he is leading by double-digits in NJ) cz Dems don’t want Governor election over-shadowing Presidential election in NJ.

Two sources close to McGreevey, both speaking on condition of anonymity, said the man involved in the affair was Golan Cipel, an Israeli poet who worked briefly for the governor as a homeland security adviser despite having no security experience.

One source, a senior McGreevey political adviser, said Cipel threatened McGreevey several weeks ago that unless he was paid “millions of dollars,” Cipel would file a lawsuit against the governor charging him with sexual harassment.

That source said a lawyer for Cipel “indicated that should the money be paid, Cipel would disappear until after the 2005 election.”

The second source, a high-ranking member of the McGreevey administration, said Cipel made several threats about a lawsuit and demanded “an exorbitant sum of money to make it go away.” Cabinet members and administration officials learned of that threat Wednesday night, the official said.

Source: SFGate.com

11

Whatever the circumstances were, at least, he set an example by confessing his wrong doings. He could have easily declared all of the allegations baseless and politically motivated. One may argue that based on available evidences, he would be proved guilty anyways, but the fact remains that it still need a lot of courage to stand up and make such a confession.

Such confessiosns, no matter how shameful they are, always set an example and strengthen a political system. Unfortunately, in our motherland there is not even one single example where a politican accepted his mistaks and offered his resignation.

12

:k:

I agreed. It requires real courage.
But I have one question for him… What was he thinking? :smiley:

13

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by fair_&_balance: *
What was he thinking? :D
[/QUOTE]
I thnk the real question is, from which part of his body was he doing the thinking. It was surely not the upper story.

14

Let's be a little real here. His reason to step down most certainly was not because he committed adultery. Recent American history demonstrates that adultery in office does not matter even for a President. Nor does it matter that someone lied about it until the facts prevented the person from lieing any longer.

I pose a question for you all to really give some serious thought to before answering. If Monica Lewinsky had been Bruce Lewinsky, don't you think Clinton's presidency would have been tubed immediately?

His resignation is absolutely linked to the fact that his was a homosexual encounter. That's real.

Yes, there are openly gay members of the Congress. Barney Frank comes to mind (is he still there?) I'd wager that some representatives from heavily gay districts in SF probably are openly gay although I don't know who they are because I could really care less about any of there sexual preferences.

The distinction between this Gov and those openly gay representaties is the word "openly." People knew what they were getting when they voted for the openly gay folks. The people of NJ saw a guy living the life and giving the appearance of being your average heterosexual when they voted for him for Gov. He lived a lie and presented a false picture of himself to the electorate.

In a perfect world, maybe it shouldn't matter to people what someone's sexual orientation is when they cast a ballot. It does though. Generally speaking, does anyone here think an openly gay guy could be elected President of the US? I doubt an openly gay guy could win an election for Governor of any state either. If the Gov/Pres is male, people are not ready to accept a first lady named Mike and they are not prepared to see the leader of their state or nation embracing and tongueing a mate who is of the same sex.

15

Flashbacks of Gore and Tipper :yukh:

16

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Faisal: *
I thnk the real question is, from which part of his body was he doing the thinking. It was surely not the upper story.
[/QUOTE]

lol...what are you talking about.....:D :D

17

In this whole ordeal I felt bad for his father. I saw his picture standing next to the "gay American". There was this old man, a Marine drill sergeant from the world war II era, he was gazing into nothing with a cold confused stare in his eyes, standing by his son. The dude reminded me of that guy in 'mail call' on History channel.

18

What a wife this man has...had?

I've been thinking about her standing with the gov.... as he made his speech...

Here she is listening to her husband admit to commiting adultary....and his partner was another man!!!

Heard media comments made asking why she didn't speak!!!!!

huh?

Not enough to be humilated worldwide?

Gal has guts.

And I feel sorry for her.

19

Isn't it interesting that since everyone is so intent on focusing on his sexual orientation what got overlooked was the fact that he gave a man he had a relationship with a 100,000+/yr job when the man in question had no qualifications or experience for the position.

And as for his wife, well, I guess he knew her price...

20

I heard according to the DMV, a rear-end accident is now called a McGreevy!! :D (someone sent a bunch of McGreevyisms)