EDITORIAL – Is coming out our business?

Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey is making the rounds to promote his tell-all book,… Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey is making the rounds to promote his tell-all book, “The Confession,” this week. The governor resigned in 2004 after a scandal that ended with a public announcement that he was gay.

McGreevey allegedly had an affair with a man, Golan Cipel, whom he appointed to be the New Jersey Homeland Security adviser. Cipel filed a sexual harassment suit in 2004, and when the secret talks broke down between McGreevey’s and Cipel’s lawyers, the governor made a public announcement about his sexuality and his resignation. McGreevey’s wife, who has stayed mum on the subject since the announcement, stood by her husband in an apparent gesture of support.

After McGreevey left office, Cipel dropped his suit against the former governor.

Although it is unclear whether the marriage was intended to function as a “beard” or was a product of McGreevey’s personal uncertainties, we can’t help but think about our political climate and how it might make a person act in such a way.

This is a blatant example of homophobia in American politics. Sure, people came out after McGreevey’s announcement and said that their only gripe was that McGreevey hadn’t been honest from the beginning. We can come up with a myriad of hypothetical situations on the subject but it comes down to one question: How much do public officials have to disclose about their personal lives?

Do we draw a line, and where is it? Elected officials are our voice in the government and some would argue that it is the voter’s right to know where their candidate is coming from. It’s possible to see how voters would feel lied to, assuming that sexuality is subject to public disclosure or, indeed politically relevant.

However, it’s virtually impossible to be openly homosexual as a celebrity or public official. It’s a terrible device constructed in America in which we scrutinize people for getting caught being themselves.

Because there are gay people across the political spectrum, it’s unlikely that undisclosed sexuality would even matter. Public officials have the right to privacy in matters that have little or no effect on their ability to perform their elected duty.

So maybe the truth is the best bet for most people – it certainly would have helped McGreevey avoid public attention and resignation. But if he had been open about it, he probably wouldn’t have even had the position from which to resign.