Aug 13, 2004  |  By: STEVE WEINSTEIN  | COMMENTS     

NEW YORK — New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey shocked the nation Thursday, Aug. 19, by calling a press conference to admit to an extramarital affair with another man and abruptly resigning from office, effective Nov. 15.

Speaking in a resolute voice before a phalanx of news cameras, McGreevey, 47, with his second wife by his side, said, "I am a gay American."

Initial media reports indicated that Golan Cipel, a former bodyguard, was prepared to file a sexual harassment suit against McGreevey. Cipel had been a highly paid advisor who came under a cloud of controversy.

McGreevey had named Cipel as director of the state's Homeland Security task force; a $100,000 position that was the highest-ranking state official dealing with terrorism in a state under threat.

Terrorists had reportedly targeted the Prudential Building in Newark. Many state residents died in the World Trade Center bombing.

But Cipel couldn't obtain security clearance from the federal government because he was an Israeli citizen. McGreevey has said that he met Cipel on a trip to Israel in 2000 and decided to bring him to the United States.

Cipel had worked with Charles Kushner, a developer with close ties to the governor. Kushner has since been named in a lurid plot to blackmail a relative and has been indicted for trying to thwart a campaign-finance investigation.

New Jersey lawmakers were angry that Cipel was not subjected to a background check. When the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee demanded Cipel testify before them, McGreevey changed his job to "counselor to the governor" with no specific duties — but retaining his salary. Cipel finally resigned from state government.

McGreevey, a Democrat, has served in Trenton for two-and-a-half years. McGreevey had been a suburban mayor when he shot to the statehouse in 2001. He beat Bret Schundler, mayor of Jersey City, by 15 percentage points.

He has been in the forefront of environmental legislation and has kept taxes down despite inheriting a large deficit. But he has come under intense criticism in recent months over scandals from cronies such as Kushner. In recent weeks, bad news has been washing over the governor's office.

Gay-rights record mixed
As for gay-rights issues, McGreevey has had a mixed record in office. New Jersey has been one of the battleground states in the campaign to legalize gay-marriage. A case brought by seven couples has been wending its way through the court system.

Advocates were disappointed when McGreevery publicly called upon the state attorney general to vigorously defend the heterosexual marriage law, in contrast to neighboring New York, where the attorney general stated his preference for the courts legalizing gay marriage.

Laura Pople, the president of the New Jersey Lesbian & Gay Coalition, worked very closely with McGreevey's administration on the statewide domestic-partnership law, which is less inclusive than gay marriage but does give official state recognition to gay relationships.

"He pushed it very hard," she said. "In terms of gay marriage, he did not take the initiative. Advocates would have preferred to see the state not challenge the same-sex lawsuit, but instead it was fairly aggressively challenged."

Nevertheless, Pople said she was sympathetic to the governor's plight.

"The coming-out process is incredibly difficult under any circumstance," she said. "What he's gone through, I can't fathom."

Matt Foreman, the director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, echoed that sentiment.

"We don't know what prompted today's announcement, but we do know that the closet is a terrible place to be," he said. "It took a great deal of courage for the governor to be so honest and straightforward. It's such a sad day for him, his wife and family."

Alan Van Cappelle, the director of the Empire State Pride Agenda in New York, added, "This shows what a terrible thing being in the closet is. You lead double lives, it catches up with you. He did for 47 years."

Van Cappelle went on to cite "broken families, broken careers. We lost a talented governor," he said. "I hope Americans realize we gain nothing by keeping a talented governor in the closet. People need to come out. At one moment, I think it's courageous for him to come out. On the other hand, it's tragic that it had to happen in these circumstances."

The nation will have its first out-gay governor for three months, however. McGreevey said in his Trenton announcement that he will not leave office until mid-November.

Some have speculated that the Kerry campaign may have leaned on the governor to stay in office ...