Jim McGreevey condemned gay marriage when he was New Jersey's governor, but yesterday he said he'd love to tie the knot with boyfriend Mark O'Donnell."My opposition was all about political positioning," McGreevey said in a wide-ranging interview at the historic Plainfield, N.J., mansion he shares with his partner.
His uncompromising stance against gay marriage, McGreevey added, also stemmed from "a fear of being discovered" that he, too, was homosexual. "I had to prove to everyone that I was a red-blooded American male," he said.
McGreevey, 49, opened up about what he called his life-long "pattern of deception" as his memoir, "The Confession," hit bookstores and a previously taped interview with Oprah Winfrey aired on ABC.
Dressed in a sweater despite the muggy weather and flanked by his ghostwriter, David France, McGreevey expressed "great remorse" for wounding his soon to be ex-wife, Dina Matos.
McGreevey stunned the country two years ago when he outed himself as "a gay American" and resigned.
In his book, McGreevey said he decided to come out of the closet after Israeli sailor Golan Cipel threatened to go public about their affair. Cipel denies the romance and claims McGreevey sexually harassed him.
"The truth is the truth," said McGreevey, who said he has no love letters or other correspondence with Cipel to back up his version of the story. "Golan was my first real relationship, but I was very careful to not leave a trail. I expected to remain in the closet my entire life."
His advice to Cipel? "Embrace your own truth," he said.
McGreevey said his father, Jack, in particular, has been a "tremendous" support to him.
"He's an old Marine, tough and strong, who loves his son," he said. "Hopefully, I'm the last of my generation in America that has to choose between professional success and love."
from The New York Daily News
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