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By his own admission, Jim McGreevey lied about numerous aspects of his life. As a result, it's hard to take anything he says about his personal or political life without a large grain of salt. That's where Oprah comes in.

In her usual Oprah fashion, she served as a stand-in for her mostly middle-American female audience, acting as a guide through McGreevey's discussion of a life of lies that started in early childhood, when he first realized he was different. He described how as a young boy he was terrified of his gay feelings, based in part on what he heard in church. He talked about going to the library for information, only to read he was perverted and damned. He explained how difficult and damaging it was for a young gay boy.

Oprah would nod sympathetically, often rephrasing what he had said, making his words her own, thereby validating his point-of-view for the millions of straight women who watch her show.

Oprah did this repeatedly as McGreevey talked about wanting to be authentic to himself, about wanting to find true love, and how horrible and damaging life in the closet can be.

McGreevey, a strong Irish Catholic, also talked at length about the importance of his religious beliefs, and how convinced he now is that a life in the closet is antithetical to the “authentic” person God meant him, and all gay people, to be.

McGreevey also admitted to being so terrified of his own feelings that had the scandal with Golan Cipel never broken, he didn't see himself ever coming out.

While Oprah seemed sympathetic to the damage McGreevey might have suffered, she and her audience clearly identified with his former wife Dina. Oprah repeatedly wanted to know if any of their life together had been real, including their sex life. McGreevey insisted it was, that he loved his wife and their daughter (he also has a second daughter by an earlier marriage). Oprah wasn't entirely convinced, seeming to be genuinely puzzled how McGreevey could have had sexual relations with a woman, especially after writing in his book about how liberating it was to finally make love with Cipel.

The show did touch on the more salacious aspects of McGreevey's closeted life. He described having sex in back-alleys and other seedy locations. Some of the graphics occasionally veered toward the tabloid-y, but given the governor's own words, it's hard to argue that the images didn't match the words.

But those weren't the images Oprah's audience was left with, and that is arguably what is most important. The last portion of the show was devoted to McGreevey's new relationship with Australian businessman Mark Williams. The audience watched video footage of the two men strolling around the home they now share together, as well as Williams talking about how the two men met at a cocktail party. Oprah even managed to draw laughter from the audience by teasing McGreevey for not knowing to ask for Williams' phone number as the normal way to date someone. There was even a shot of the two men kissing.

Within the final moments of the show, Oprah brought up an issue that should've been more prominent in the interview: McGreevey's opposition to gay marriage while in office, even though he did sign one of the nation's first civil unions bills. McGreevey said that his opposition was due to wanting to deflect any attention from his own sexuality. Now that he is out, he supports it openly, since “gay marriage only strengthens marriage.” This statement drew one of only two instances of applauses from the audience.

It's doubtful that many gay people will care to embrace Jim McGreevey as a role model or hero to the gay rights movement. Oprah, on the other hand, just might be the best advocate we could have.

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