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[emmagrant01]

Governor McCreevey just resigned. Because he's gay and had an affair with another man. (He was married.)

So if he'd had an affair with a woman, would he be resigning? Just wondering...

Comments

[cypress-vine.livejournal.com]

Where on earth does it say he's gay? I see that he's resigning, but nothing about a man and an affair...

Maybe I'm just stupid...

[mizbean.livejournal.com]

It doesn't say it in the article she linked to but it says it in big letters on the top of CNN.com.

[lauramcewan.livejournal.com]

he says in the first paragraph (I think there) "My truth is that I am a gay American," he said.

[jedirita.livejournal.com]

Mebbe. That guy dropped out of the Illinois race because of straight sex, didn't he?

It does seem silly to resign from office over an affair, though. But maybe he's stressed out by the whole thing and can't concentrate on his job.

I was in Zimbabwe during the whole Monica Lewinsky thing. The Zimbabweans couldn't figure out what the fuss was. They said, "You should hear what *our* president does! An affair is nothing!" Does kinda put it all in perspective....

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

It was just the combination of "Yes, I had an affair" and "Yes, I'm gay" that made me cringe. He said in his speech that (and I'm paraphrasing a bit) he thought the combination of the affair and his homosexuality had left the governor's office "vulnerable".

I do think our country has some serious issues with human sexuality, though. Funny what behavior we will tolerate in our leaders...

[geofan.livejournal.com]

Yes, I had been in the US during Monica-times, I actually found the whole "Billy-Boy"-affair highly amusing, while my host mother was totally shocked!
Amusing, because of the fuss they made off hit - We had to do some stuff and watched NBC, etc, they didn't have another topic the whole night.

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

OK, this is how you know I'm really a terrible person. Because my very first thought was, "Oh, wow, maybe it'll inspire Rick Perry!"

*hangs head in shame*

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

*snerk* To resign, or to have an affair with a man?

[primroseburrows.livejournal.com]

Politicians do resign after opposite-sex affairs. I'm glad the guy came out (although it seems like he was forced out. And, I don't think being unfaithful to one's spouse, no matter the gender of the lover, is a reason to end a political career, because it has nothing to do with the job, IMO.

If I believed otherwise, I wouldn't admire Bill Clinton (politically) so much. *shrugs*

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I actually know very little about this story or this politician! I was just posting a question...

Yes, I love Bill, myself!

[hazelhawthorne.livejournal.com]

I think part of the problem is that he is about to be sued for sexual harrasment of a former male employee.

I could see that causing a big stir, especially when the affair got dragged out in court. This way, he has a say in what information is known when by whom. In his speach, he implies that he has been fighting his homosexuality for most of his life in order to do what he thought he was supposed to do. And it sounds like he is pulling himself out of public life in order to deal with the ramifications to his familly rather than cause he is gay.

Here is a bit of his speach:

I am also here today because, shamefully, I engaged in adult consensual affair with another man, which violates my bonds of matrimony. It was wrong. It was foolish. It was inexcusable.

And for this, I ask the forgiveness and the grace of my wife.

She has been extraordinary throughout this ordeal, and I am blessed by virtue of her love and strength.

I realize the fact of this affair and my own sexuality if kept secret leaves me, and most importantly the governor's office, vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of disclosure.

So I am removing these threats by telling you directly about my sexuality.

Let me be clear, I accept total and full responsibility for my actions. However, I'm required to do now, to do what is right to correct the consequences of my actions and to be truthful to my loved ones, to my friends and my family and also to myself.

It makes little difference that as governor I am gay. In fact, having the ability to truthfully set forth my identity might have enabled me to be more forthright in fulfilling and discharging my constitutional obligations.

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.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

I know very little about this story, but someone commented below that it isn't as one-sided as the media is making it sound.

[eliminate.livejournal.com]

First, Happy Birthday :D!

Second, he seems like the kind of man that if he had an affiar with a woman he would resign. but, then again, he may not. He may just be doing it to avoid public humiliation--which sucks! It really pisses me off that some of this world is so homophobic.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the birthday greetings!

I'm learning more, and it seems this story is more complicated than it first appeared.

[ms-mindfunk.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I didn't know Governor Goodhair was bent, although in retrospect, maybe I should have suspected. Maybe my gaydar is off at a distance? I don't live in Texas. :)

The comments above are probably correct. I think the vulnerability comes into play because there's talk of a sexual harassment suit from an aide. McGreevey's polls are bottoming out anyway, so the best thing for him to do was head off the attempts to use this against him. I said elsewhere that now he looks like a stud for coming out live on CNN instead of looking like scandal bait when someone else broke the story.

You're right, buy the way. If it were a woman, he wouldn't have resigned. My reasoning? US Rep. Dan Burton, famous for his penchant for shooting at watermelons in his backyard to prove the theory that Clinton friend Vince Foster was murdered, is straighfacedly co-sponsoring the "Federal Marriage Amendment". This guy has some stones on him, considering the illegitimate child he fathered with a mistress during his marriage and the rampant sexual harassment he's exhibited as an elected official. He's a man's man rather than a queer, so it's all nod nod, wink wink, he apologizes and all is forgiven. *rolling eyes*

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

First, love your icon! Second, I'm learning more and more about this story as time goes on. It seems much more complicated than what first got reported. It is hard to imagine that homophobia isn't playing a huge role, though.

[simmysim.livejournal.com]

In his speech he said it was because he didn't want the rest of his term to be just about sex, which I can sympathize with. :3

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I imagine it would have been worse if he hadn't.

[corinnethewise.livejournal.com]

This was kind of the last straw. He's had so many scandals he couldn't take anymore. He was hugely corrupt, as were most of the people in his administration, like three of them are under federal investigation. I think he would have resigned over an affair with anyone, especially with a lawsuit over sexual harassment coming out soon.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Here's where I admit I knew very little about this situation before dashing off a comment! :-P However, some of the comments below seem to indicate that the guy he had an affair with may be pulling a "Paula Jones". Looks like it's pretty complicated, as politics often can be.

[rainchild.livejournal.com]

Oi, I'd just like to point out that McGreevey resigning has very little to do with the fact that he's gay, and a lot more to do with (as others have mentioned) that he's about to get a lawsuit for sexual harrassment. An even bigger issue is probably that he appointed his former lover, a Muslim Israeli Nationalist, as Security Czar for New Jersey, even though the FBI didn't trust this guy and wouldn't give him clearance. It seems there are a lot bigger issues and scandals here, and I resent him for making it seem like he's resigning because he's gay of all things.

(I am Republican... err, Libertarian actually, but that gets complicated... so you can view this comment as biased. Which reminds me that I've been meaning to get over to your previous post about non-liberal slashers. *grin*)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

To be honest, I knew very little about this before dashing off a comment on my LJ! I've learned a lesson about that...

It looks like it's a complicated, touchy issue, though, with lots of finger-pointing all around. Some of the other comments on this topic attest to that. So was he playing the gay card by coming out on TV, though? Wouldn't the situation have been worse for him and the whole state if the other side had brought up the issue? Call me cynical, but I get the feeling he was trying to trump the opposition's ace in the hole.

[brownstudy.livejournal.com]

Okay, actual New Jersey person here. I'm not exactly a lurker; I popped over to check up on the post-Hogwarts and wound up finding this. Watching McGreevey's speech today was surreal; my friends and I have been wondering if he was gay for a year, and there he was, coming out of the closet on TV. McGreevey did not resign because he's gay. He resigned because he had an affair and (pardon the expression) the shit is about to hit the fan.

A close friend of mine works for the state government, and the rumor is that this person who's suing McGreevey is an asshole -- they did have an affair, yes, and now the person is upset about it, so they're trying to make McGreevey look like a creep. I don't know how true that is, but knowing McGreevey (who has a tendency to be something of a diplomatic wimp, which is fairly obvious to the casual observer), I find it very hard to believe that he's capable of harassing anyone. I'm a complete liberal democrat, but the man is not a very good leader.

I feel genuinely sorry for him -- he's a really nice guy, and even though everyone around him is corrupt he keeps trying to do his job. I think he was very brave to come out on TV -- in fact, I would say that, character-wise, that's the strongest thing he's done in a while. Occasionally he puts his foot down and really gets something done, and that's what he did today. Everyone I know who's met him says he's a really, really sweet man -- even the people who hate his politics think he's nice, and he clearly loves his family very much. I'm suspicious of the situation and am curious to find out what's actually going on. My question is why didn't he resign when half the people he works with were found to be corrupt, and not over such a little thing as his sexuality? It's inconsistent, and that worries me.

There you have it, a combination of my theory and the political rumor mill. Sorry for the scatterbrained rant in your journal; I just couldn't not say something, if that makes sense.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Wow, you're the first person who seems to be familiar with the situation who's been remotely supportive of this guy! I don't know much about it, to be honest. I saw it on CNN and fired off a comment based on my first impression. I had no idea I'd get this sort of response! :-P I'm going to be more careful about what I post from now on...

[shezan.livejournal.com]

But... but he's a Democrat! I thought you guy were the tolerant ones!

;-)

(Remember I'm French. I may be a conservative, but I'm a lot more relaxed when it comes to private life.)

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

Yes, he's a democrat, something I didn't even know until a few hours after the story broke. What does that have to do with this? My point was that, for better or worse, the fact that he's gay seems to be what the media is focusing on. I guess it's sensational...

I agree that the American public seems a bit too concerned with the private lives of our public officials. This is the reason I will never, ever run for a public office. I have far too many skeletons in my closet now!

[coconutswirl.livejournal.com]

You know, this story's made it all the way over to little Denmark. And tomorrow I'm off to Copenhagen Pride which is giving an award to Danish PM Fogh Rasmussen because he's spoken in favour of gay church weddings. It's terribly ironic this happens the day after McGreevey: Fogh Rasmussen's political party (Right-wing Lib) is displeased that Fogh Rasmuassen will take part in something so .. deviant. OTOH, Fogh Rasmussen is well-known among people who frequent a certain Copenhagen park after dark.. It's even been a Popbitch blind item.

[emmagrant01.livejournal.com]

It made the news in Denmark? Wow.

[geofan.livejournal.com]

It makes me sad, what a fuss is made about the sexuality or "moral" of a person. Being honest is the best way to deal with it.

My place is a little more tolerant in those matters, my countries two biggest cities a are ruled by gay mayors - "and thats a good think"