ELIZABETH, N.J. - A judge handling the contentious divorce of the nation’s first openly gay governor and his estranged wife urged them on Friday to use “common sense” during their split.
Judge Karen Cassidy also called former Gov. James E. McGreevey’s sexual orientation insignificant to the case.
The courtroom session with McGreevey and Dina Matos McGreevey was their first public appearance together since he resigned and told the world he was “a gay American” more than two years ago.
At the hearing, which followed a private meeting with lawyers, the judge said the couple had agreed to continue their current visitation arrangements for their only child, 5-year-old Jacqueline.
The divorce has drawn intense publicity, much of it brought on by court filings in which the McGreeveys accuse each other of bad parenting and other misdeeds.
The judge asked the two to be mindful of media attention surrounding the breakup and to minimize the potential effects it has on their daughter. “As she ages, she’s going to see and hear things, and some of those things may hurt her,” Cassidy said.
Source: tucsoncitizen.com