N.J. governor resigns, admits gay affair

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fnordboy
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N.J. governor resigns, admits gay affair

Post by fnordboy » Aug 12th 2004, 5:35 pm

New Jersey governor quits, comes out as gay
McGreevey announces resignation after telling of affair
Thursday, August 12, 2004 Posted: 5:27 PM EDT (2127 GMT)

(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.

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


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Post by Natasha (candygirl) » Aug 12th 2004, 5:54 pm

What I found interesting was this excerpt:
But he has been dogged by several scandals involving fund-raising.

Among those caught up in recent scandals were his first chief of staff and former counsel; a top Democratic fund-raiser and former high school classmate; and real estate developer Charles Kushner, McGreevey's biggest campaign contributor, who was charged with trying to thwart a federal campaign-finance investigation by luring a grand jury witness — his own brother-in-law — into a compromising position with a prostitute and sending video and photos to the man's wife.
That list bit just made me go :shock:
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Post by fnordboy » Aug 12th 2004, 10:30 pm

Oh that is fairly old news. Supposedly there are a bunch more lawsuits and problems coming down the pipeline (sexual harassment suit from a former aide, etc.) which is really the reason why he is resigning most likely. The gay thing, IMO, is just a red herring. I think it is messed up and will inevitably hurt any gay rights progress in the state in the future for a while since most people will perceive his reason for resigning as because of being gay.

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Post by Nothingman » Aug 13th 2004, 10:14 am

I don't see any reason why a man's sexual preference should influence his ability to serve an elected office. Nor do I think an affair really affects it much. But the other scandal stuff certainly does. I can also understand why he'd resign regardless of any other scandal. With this information out, he won't be relected, and would only be dogged by the media. In addition it would provide republicans and conservative democrats an easy excuse to scuttle anything he might try and put through the legislature.
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Post by Jody Barsch* » Aug 14th 2004, 11:34 pm

This is just turing into a mess, and the talk shows are having a field day. Having been kickin' it with the trout in the Sierra's this past week, I still have some more reading to do on this, but it certainly seems clear that he's got a lot of questionable stuff going on, including alleged nepotism, fraud, rape, sexual harrassment, and more, which is spuring this resignation, rather than his "soul-searching" realization of his sexuality. Being gay certainly has no bearings on whether a person can hold a poltical office, and being unfaithful to your spouse, while is not admirable, does not automatically translate to being unfit to govern. It seems like he's made this announcement to draw attention away from the other, and, I'll venture to say, real factors in his resignation.

It's horrible that in the same moment that he claims the identity of a "gay American," he goes on to say that it is what keeps him from performing his job. In what seems to me to be him giving the appearance of gay pride, he is actually conveying a message of shame and inadequacy, and in a context where it does not seem relevant at all.
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Post by lance » Aug 21st 2004, 2:35 pm

fnordboy wrote:Oh that is fairly old news. Supposedly there are a bunch more lawsuits and problems coming down the pipeline (sexual harassment suit from a former aide, etc.) which is really the reason why he is resigning most likely. The gay thing, IMO, is just a red herring. I think it is messed up and will inevitably hurt any gay rights progress in the state in the future for a while since most people will perceive his reason for resigning as because of being gay.
That has been my understanding as well. Jon Stewart had a pretty good show about this topic this past week.

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