Dick Cheney Weighs In On Daughters' Gay-Marriage Fight
Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
With their two daughters publicly feuding over same-sex marriage,
Dick Cheney and his wife weighed in on the spat this afternoon in a
prepared statement that appears largely to back their elder daughter,
Liz—aka the one who is running for Senate in Wyoming.
"This is an issue we have dealt with privately for many years, and we
are pained to see it become public," Dick and Lynne Cheney said. "Since
it has, one thing should be clear. Liz has always believed in the
traditional definition of marriage. She has also always treated her
sister and her sister's family with love and respect, exactly as she
should have done. Compassion is called for, even when there is
disagreement about such a fundamental matter and Liz's many kindnesses
shouldn't be used to distort her position."
For those of you who missed it over the weekend, a refresher: During an appearance on Fox News Sunday, Liz Cheney restated her opposition to same-sex marriage, a position seemingly at odds with
that of the rest of her family. "I love Mary very much, I love her
family very much," Liz said about her younger sister, Mary, a lesbian
who married her partner, Heather Poe, last year. "This is just an issue
on which we disagree."
Mary and Heather both quickly took to Facebook to voice their
displeasure with Liz's stance. "Liz has been a guest in our home, has
spent time and shared holidays with our children, and when Mary and I
got married in 2012—she didn't hesitate to tell us how happy she was for
us," Poe wrote. "To have her now say she doesn't support our right to
marry is offensive to say the least." That last comment appeared to
suggest that Liz had flip-flopped her position now that she's waging a
primary fight against GOP Sen. Mike Enzi.
Josh Voorhees is a Slate senior writer and the editor of the Slatest. He lives in Iowa City, Iowa.
