McGreevey's Impact on
Gay America Debated
By AP from the
NYTimes on the Web, August 12, 2005
In the year since New Jersey Gov.
James E. McGreevey told the world, ''I am a gay American,'' his words have
appeared on bumper stickers and his likeness on an action figure. But a
year after McGreevey became the nation's highest-ranking, openly gay elected
official, it does not appear he had much of a long-lasting effect on gay
America.
McGreevey's soul-baring speech drew national attention Aug. 12, 2004 as he
declared his sexuality in one breath and announced his resignation with the
next. For some gay Americans, the governor closing the door on his
political career still overshadows his coming out of the closet.
''I had mixed feelings about the way McGreevey did it,'' said Allan H. Spear, a
former state senator in Minnesota who in 1974 became one of the nation's first
state lawmakers to acknowledge publicly that he was gay. ''It made it
sound as though this was some sort of a fatal flaw. The fact that the
coming out was accompanied by the statement that, 'I'm going to resign,' took
away some of the positive impact it may have had.''
McGreevey's speech was carried live on national television and stories about it
were in newspapers around the world the next day. Coverage of the story
earned The Star-Ledger of Newark a Pulitzer Prize.
McGreevey made immediate -- but short-lived -- ripples in pop culture, starting
with jokes from the likes of David Letterman and Jon Stewart. Within a
week, the Connecticut toymaker Herobuilders.com was selling McGreevey action
figures.
Company owner Emil Vicale said this week that among the Herobuilder action
figures of 10 or so politicians -- a lineup that includes Hillary Clinton,
President Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger -- McGreevey's is by far the slowest
selling.
Northampton's Pride and Joy, a gay book and gift shop in Northampton, Mass., has
been selling bumper stickers that say ''I am a gay American.'' Similar
stickers and T-shirts with the slogan are also available on several Web sites.
At Rainbow Road, a gay-themed gift shop in Minneapolis, the McGreevey-inspired
trinkets have not made an appearance. In fact, when asked about
McGreevey's impact, shop owner Jim Connelly responded: ''Who is he?''
While the fact that he was gay got the most attention, McGreevey had been having
a tough few months. Two major fundraisers had been indicted. It also
was later revealed that the former aide, identified by McGreevey confidantes as
the governor's lover, was threatening to file a sexual harassment lawsuit that
never came about. The man, Golan Cipel, denied having an affair with
McGreevey and denied being gay.
Jeff Jones, a former co-chairman of the Fairness Alliance, a gay rights group
based in Louisville, Ky., said that for a few days last August, McGreevey was a
hot topic on gay-oriented online message boards in Kentucky.
''The way I felt and maybe what the consensus was, the issue was not that he was
gay but that A) he was cheating on his wife and that B) he was using his
political power to get his boyfriend a job,'' said Jones, a professor at the
College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky.
But to Scott Schmidt, a West Hollywood, Calif., blogger who describes himself as
a gay Republican, it was an odd but promising sign for America's acceptance of
gays that McGreevey seemed to use his being gay as ''a cover-up for the
corruption.''
''Ten years ago, 20 years ago, the corruption would have been better than being
gay,'' said Schmidt.
McGreevey has tried to live out of the public eye since he left office in
November. He worked for a time for a law firm, has traveled to West
Virginia to research poverty and is working on a book. But he has not yet
submitted to media interviews.
Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality and perhaps New Jersey's
most visible gay activist, said McGreevey's words might be better remembered
than the man himself.
''It really qualifies as a 'Jeopardy!' $100 question,'' Goldstein said.
''Who said: 'I'm a gay American'?''
This AP article was also published in the NJ Home News Tribune
this date with an AP 04 photo of him on TV announcing that he was going to
resign. The headline: “Gay governor didn’t change gay America”.
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