From liberal Massachusetts to con-servative Arizona, gay politicians have gone public in the US and survived. New Jersey Governor James McGreevey's decision to come out on live television could have made him the most prominent among them -- the US' first openly gay governor.
But there was much more to it than McGreevey's sexual orientation -- allegations of sexual harassment and rumors of being blackmailed, on top of months of fund-raising investigations and indictments. And that, say gay activists and political strategists, is what made all the difference: It wasn't McGreevey's homosexuality but his political missteps that mean the end of his career.
"I think gayness is being used," said Alan Rosenthal, a political science professor at Rutgers University. "It's not the root cause of his resignation. And it's certainly not the root cause of McGreevey's
demise."
Many things force politicians from office -- allegations of corruption, sex, infidelity. Rarely is it all of them.
If it were homosexuality alone, there's much to argue he could have stayed. Representative Jim Kolbe, Republican of Arizona, declared his orientation in 1996 as a gay magazine prepared to "out" him, and has not lost a race since. Democratic Representative Barney Frank of Massachusetts was reprimanded for hiring a male prostitute as an aide (with his own money), but has held his office since 1980.
"Why would you resign just because the public now knows you're gay?" said Jennifer Veiga, a Democratic Colorado state senator who came out to her constituents while seeking her fourth term as a state House member -- and has won two elections since.
"Generally, there's a sentiment, when public officials come out it's a positive thing," she said. "It's a question of people seeing gay and lesbians in public life and understanding that we are the same as them, we share the same values. And we even make mistakes."
McGreevey, in a confession with his wife and parents by his side, said his sexual orientation should be no bar: "It makes little difference that as governor I am gay."
It was "the circumstances surrounding the affair" he said, that made the office "vulnerable to false allegations and threats of disclosure."
Those circumstances he chose not to explain, taking no questions after his brief announcement.
Sources close to McGreevey have said only anonymously that the man involved in the affair was Golan Cipel, an Israeli poet who briefly was the state's homeland security adviser.
A senior McGreevey political adviser said that Cipel threatened McGreevey several weeks ago that unless he was paid "millions of dollars," Cipel would file a lawsuit charging the governor with sexual harassment.
On Friday, Cipel's lawyer claimed McGreevey made repeated sexual advances toward Cipel and has now made him the victim of a "smear campaign."
Cipel's ties to the governor had already brought complaints, after he got the security post in 2002 without any background check or official announcement, and a salary of US$110,000.
Cipel was reassigned a few months later and soon after left government.
That controversy was followed by questions about other asso-ciates, appointees, friends and fundraisers of McGreevey caught in scandals, investigations or indictments. The most lurid, until now, was when the governor's top campaign donor was charged with trying to thwart a federal campaign-finance investigation by luring a witness -- his own brother-in-law -- into a compromising position with a prostitute and sending the video to the man's wife.
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