Tough Day

The Closet Case, Left Without a Room of His Own

Yesterday was an interesting day to be gay. The morning brought the expected bad news from California that 4,000 couples were no longer married as the California Supreme Court invalidated all the licenses given by San Francisco to same-sex couples during February and March. That, it seemed, was enough to chew on for one day, but around 2:30 Wonkette suddenly had a post about Governor McGreevey in New Jersey that seemed to indicate things were about to get hairy.

And hairy they got, as you no doubt know by now. I thought McGreevey's speech was a good one under the circumstances, perhaps better on video than on paper. And while the pundits on Hardball were anxious last night to contemplate whether Republicans should demand an earlier resignation and an election rather than standing by and letting McGreevey pass his office on to another Democrat for the remaining year of his term, I don't think that's the most important issue this morning. (He did the right thing, though; in such a moment of shock, the last thing New Jersey needs is a rapid-fire election that would surely create quite a furor.) What I couldn't stop thinking about was his poor wife, who stood by his side but will surely be facing him in a courtroom proceeding, hopefully a friendly one, very soon. She had to have known this about her husband, right? There must have been some sort of understanding, right? They have a young child; how will they handle this new reality in light of their parental responsibilities?

For all of that, I must confess that I'm impressed by what McGreevey did. Yes, he did it because the threat of a lawsuit pushed him forward, but he managed to keep it under wraps until an hour before he made his announcement, and while his motives are questionable, he certainly did what he thought was best for the state; he could have stuck it out in office and dragged the state through the mud. And McGreevey looked so relieved as he stood there, telling the world the truth about what he had done and who he is. The look on his face and the seeming weight lifted from his shoulders as he owned up to reality was the best advertisement for coming out I've seen in years. Were it not for all the other corruption and scandal surrounding his administration, I'd be sad to see him resign; as it stands, I hope he finds peace in his future and happiness in his late start on a new life.