Jim and Dina Matos McGreevey's divorce proceedings began this week, with tawdry rumors about their sex life again making headlines. (Photo by AP)
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By STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
Thursday, May 08, 2008
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — She claims she was duped into marriage by a closeted gay man who needed the cover of a wife to advance his political career. He says he gave her a child and the coattails she rode to the governor's mansion, thus fulfilling the marriage contract. As Jim and Dina Matos McGreevey's three-and-a-half-year separation approaches the duration of their marriage, the former first couple is about to become unhitched. Their divorce trial began this week. New Jersey's former first couple are fighting over custody of their 6-year-old daughter — he's seeking a 50-50 split — alimony and child support. Matos McGreevey, 41, is seeking $600,000 as compensation for the time she would have lived at the governor's mansion in Princeton had her soon-to-be-ex not resigned in disgrace. McGreevey's political career unraveled during his first term after an affair with a man he put on the state payroll as homeland security adviser.
McGreevey says in his book that the marriage was "a contrivance on both our parts." McGreevey "will testify at trial that he needed to have a disrobed male present in the room with them when the parties had sexual relations in order to maintain an erection," his lawyer, Stephen Haller, wrote in court papers. "This tends to prove that plaintiff was at least bisexual, a fact which should have been obvious to defendant prior to the marriage."
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Delegates to the United Methodist Church's general conference have upheld a church law that says gay and lesbian relationships are "incompatible with Christian teaching." Gay advocates at the conference also failed to remove a sentence from the Methodist Book of Discipline that says the church "does not condone the practice of homosexuality." Methodist delegates retained a policy that lets pastors deny membership to gays and lesbians. The meeting is held every four years to set church policy. On the final day Friday, more than 200 Methodists did attend a lesbian couple's commitment ceremony in a park across the street from the convention center in Fort Worth, Texas. Rev. Julie Todd spoke during the commitment ceremony and led communion.
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A Greek court has been asked to draw the line between the natives of the Aegean Sea island of Lesbos and the world's gay women. Three islanders from Lesbos — home of the ancient poet Sappho, who praised love between women — have taken a gay rights group to court for using the word lesbian in its name. One of the plaintiffs said in April that the name of the association, Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, "insults the identity" of the people of Lesbos, who are also known as Lesbians. "My sister can't say she is a Lesbian," said Dimitris Lambrou. "Our geographical designation has been usurped by certain ladies who have no connection whatsoever with Lesbos," he said. The three plaintiffs are seeking to have the group barred from using "lesbian" in its name and filed a lawsuit on April 10. The other two plaintiffs are women. Also called Mytilene, after its capital, Lesbos is famed as the birthplace of Sappho. The island is a favored holiday destination for gay women, particularly the lyric poet's reputed hometown of Eressos. "This is not an aggressive act against gay women," Lambrou said. "Let them visit Lesbos and get married and whatever they like. We just want [the group] to remove the word lesbian from their title." The case will be heard in an Athens court on June 10. Lambrou argues that the term has only been used for female homosexuals in the last several decades while islanders have used it for thousands of years.
From staff and wire reports
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