Former NJ Gov. McGreevey Talks Gay Rights

It has been more than a decade since former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey stepped down from his post amid an extramarital affair with a five-word declaration: “I am a gay American.”

The label was at first difficult for him to accept. As a young man, he looked up “homosexual” in his local library’s card catalog and found it listed under psychiatric illnesses.

“It was something like “God, I don’t want to own this,'” McGreevey told MetroFocus Host Jack Ford.

But since his resignation in 2004, McGreevey says both he and the country have come a long way. The former governor tells MetroFocus about his struggles accepting his sexual orientation and how the U.S. has progressed on gay rights.

“It’s a good place for our country to be,” he said.