Aug 20, 2004  |  By: JOE CREA  | COMMENTS     

After New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey told the world last week that he is gay, had an extramarital affair with another man and announced his resignation, many gay groups came to his defense, calling his proclamation that he is a “gay American,” courageous.

Yet a growing chorus of politicians, activists and media outlets claim that the governor came out of the closet only because he was being blackmailed and had abused the powers of his office by appointing his sexual companion to a sensitive homeland security position for which he was not qualified.

Cheryl Jacques, executive director of the Human Rights Campaign, confirmed this week that the group had advised McGreevey before last Thursday’s coming out announcement. She said McGreevey showed “enormous courage.”

“We were there for him as we would be for anyone looking for guidance on coming out,” Jacques said. “I was pleased that Governor McGreevey, with character and confidence, told the world that he is a gay American.”

Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, echoed Jacques’ sentiments, noting, “It takes a great deal of courage to be so honest and straightforward.”

HRC also confirmed that McGreevey’s memorable line from the news conference — “I am a gay American” — was suggested by HRC during a consultation last week.

“It’s a pretty simple phrase that we found in the early ‘90s was one of the most powerful ways of describing ourselves,” said Steve Fisher, communications director for HRC. “It ensures that as a community we are part of this country and are no different than anyone else.”

Courage ‘overrated’?
But not all prominent gays are rushing to McGreevey’s defense.

“The ‘courage’ issue is overrated,” said gay historian Eric Marcus, author of “Making Gay History: The Half Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights.”

“Being gay is the least of his problems. McGreevey and I are almost the same age. He had choices to make when he was a young man. He’s an educated guy who chose to remain in the closet.

“He married not once, but twice, the second time late in his life when he had to know he was gay. He appointed an adulterous romantic partner to a state job for which he wasn’t qualified. And the way he constructed his speech it felt like he was using his gay identity to deflect attention from what was really going on. I find myself curiously without sympathy for his situation.”

The man McGreevey is believed to have had an affair with, Golan Cipel, 35, claims he is straight and that they did not have a consensual relationship. Further, Cipel said this week though his attorney that the governor made repeated, unwanted sexual advances, including an incident in which McGreevey allegedly forced himself on Cipel and performed oral sex.

“At first it looked like he was only appointing someone who wasn’t qualified but now he has to deal with an issue closer to nepotism,” said Ingrid Reed, director of the Eagleton Institute for Politics at Rutgers University’s New Jersey Project.

Juliet Johnson, a spokesperson for the governor, said McGreevey is not granting any interviews on this subject and that he is remaining focused on his family and his job.

During his news conference, McGreevey said he had an affair with another man but did not name the person. News reports claim the other man was Cipel, an Israeli national whom the governor appointed New Jersey’s homeland security director at a $110,000 annual salary, the fifth highest salary on the governor’s staff.

During Cipel’s tenure, which began the first day McGreevey took office in January 2002, the Israeli citizen was unable to obtain federal security clearances. Cipel, whose background is in public relations, was eventually moved out of the homeland security position but remained on the payroll at the same salary as an adviser.

McGreevey reportedly met Cipel in 2000 on a trip to Israel. In 2001, Cipel helped McGreevey during his second gubernatorial bid. McGreevey first ran for the state’s top office in 1997 when Christie Todd Whitman narrowly defeated him.

Shortly after his time working for the governor, Cipel was hired by one of McGreevey’s top fund-raisers, multi-millionaire Charles Kushner, who federal prosecutors charged in July with hiring a prostitute to impede a federal probe, according to an Associated Press report.

On Wednesday, Kushner pled guilty to tax violations and to charges stemming from a witness tampering scheme in which he allegedly hired a prostitute to have sex with his sister’s husband, who was a witness in an ...