Oct 26, 2006 10:20 am US/Eastern
McGreevey Would Wed Partner If Law Passes
TRENTON (CBS/AP) ―
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Former N.J. Gov. Jim McGreevey said he would marry his partner if the new law allowed. (File photo)
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Lawmakers must now determine whether the state will honor gay marriage or some other form of civil union.
AP
Former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey, who resigned after admitting to a gay affair, says he would marry his partner if state lawmakers decide to allow gay marriage.
"Marriage would offer the ability to bless our relationship in a committed way," McGreevey, 49, told The New York Times for Thursday's newspapers.
McGreevey's comments came in response to a New Jersey Supreme Court that said same-sex couples must be extended the same rights as married people. The court left it up to the Legislature to decide whether those rights would be described as marriage or something else.
Some gay rights advocates criticized the decision for not going far enough. McGreevey hailed it.
"The decision is courageous," he told The Star-Ledger of Newark.
McGreevey told The Associated Press last month that he had publicly opposed gay marriage while in office a way to keep his homosexuality hidden.
"I did not want to be identified as being gay, and it was the safe place to be," McGreevey told the AP. "I wanted to embrace the antagonist. I wanted to be against it. That's the absurdity."
The former governor stepped down in 2004 after announcing he was gay. Before McGreevey and his partner, an Australian businessman with whom he lives, could marry, the former governor would have to finalize his divorce from his second wife.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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