Gay ex-NJ Gov. Jim McGreevey mentoring female prisoners

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After resigning a governorship, admitting a homosexual affair with a staffer and being denied a priesthood, there’s apparently only one place to go: jail.

Jim McGreevey, the former governor of New Jersey who resigned in 2004 after revealing an affair with his homeland security adviser Golan Cipel, is now a spiritual adviser to 40 female inmates at the Hudson Country Correctional Center, New Jersey’s largest jail, the Associated Press reported.

“Prison ministry is something that spoke very deeply to me – allowing women and men to reclaim their lives, to go beyond our personal circumstances,” McGreevey said.

McGreevey attempted to enroll in seminary to become an Episcopal priest, but the Episcopal Diocese of Newark denied him — a source said, “it was not for being gay, but for being a jackass.”

In 2009, McGreevey did a stint teaching ethics at Kean University in New Jersey.

Now, McGreevey works with women — whom he refers to as “my ladies” — in a pilot program at the jail that aims to teach life skills and keep inmates from things that will land them back in jail. There’s a focus on staying off drugs, finding a job and improving mental health. McGreevey follows the 12-step program with the women to help them “find and embrace a higher power,” according to the AP.

McGreevey has been working with Integrity House on the program for the past seven months.

“Every day is an incredible blessing,” McGreevey said. “I learn so much more from these women than I can give them – their honesty, courage and strength. It’s a very different place than politics.”