The estranged
wife of the nation's first openly gay governor, New
Jersey's Jim McGreevey, said in a court filing Monday
that she felt ''betrayed and abandoned'' upon learning
of his sexual orientation.
Dina Matos
McGreevey's attorneys said in the divorce filing that
learning James McGreevey was gay and cheating on her
''had an immeasurable lasting impact.''
McGreevey
resigned as governor of New Jersey in 2004 after
acknowledging that he was ''a gay American'' and
saying he had engaged in an affair with a male aide.
In the
ex-governor's divorce filing, McGreevey claims his wife
''knew of my sexual orientation before our marriage''
and ''chose to either ignore it or block it out of her
mind, even when questioned by her friends.''
In response,
Matos McGreevey said in court papers she ''was shocked and
traumatized beyond description and she felt betrayed and
abandoned by plaintiff.''
She claimed the
ex-governor ''has been guilty of extreme cruelty'' toward
her since their marriage and continuing up the present.
Besides fraud and
intentional emotional distress, Matos McGreevey also
claimed libel in the filing.
Matos McGreevey
argues that her husband and his representatives last
month made public claims that she was homophobic and had
made antigay statements--charges she says her
husband knew weren't true.
The disputes
inside the marriage have gone public in recent weeks amid
the divorce case and Matos McGreevey's publicizing of her
new book, Silent Partner: A Memoir of My Marriage.
James McGreevey
referred questions about particular accusations in the
filing to his divorce attorney, but he did say that he hoped
the legal dispute would be over soon.
''Our most
important duty is to work to be good parents for
Jacqueline,'' McGreevey said, referring to the
couple's 5-year-old daughter.
The McGreeveys
for now will continue to share custody of their daughter,
with Matos McGreevey the primary parent. McGreevey is
allowed visitation every other weekend and alternate
Wednesdays.
McGreevey has
been planning to join in a civil union with Mark O'Donnell,
an Australian money manager with whom he lives. The vicar at
St. Bartholomew's Church in New York City said
last week that McGreevey has become an Episcopalian
and is considering becoming a priest in that faith.
(Chris Newmarker, AP)
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