First Words
Come out,
come out, Dick Cheney!
The vice president of the United
States, Richard Bruce Cheney, known universally as "Dick",
is married to Lynne Vincent. They have two daughters, Elizabeth
and Mary. Elizabeth is married and has four children. Mary is
not married.
As everyone probably knows,
Mary Cheney is a lesbian and she is out of the closet. She shares
a home with a woman, Heather Poe, that she refers to as her life
partner, and she wears a gold wedding ring. For several years
she was director of gay and lesbian marketing for Coors Brewing
Company, as part of that company's efforts to overcome its reputation
for being stridently anti-gay – a reputation it earned through
its association with the Adolph Coors Foundation and the Castle
Rock Foundation, both of which fund ultra-conservative groups.
Mary's work stands in stark
contrast to the careers of her father and mother. Her father
represented the generally very conservative state of Colorado,
and his recently cited congressional voting record shows that
he was on the conservative extreme of a conservative party. Her
mother, with a PhD in 19th century British Literature, has worked
for several conservative causes. In 1995, she founded the American
Council of Trustees and Alumni, a conservative watchdog group
that examines academia. The same group that after 9/11 published
a report that stated: "College and university faculty have
been the weak link in America's response to the attack [of 9/11]."
In 2000, when her father became
a candidate for vice president, Mary joined the Republican Unity
Coalition, a "gay-straight alliance of Republican leaders"
that promotes LGBT interests in the Republican Party – as
part of the party's efforts to overcome its reputation for being
stridently anti-gay.
Questions about Mary in the
2000 campaign were squelched by insisting that Mary was a private
citizen and that her privacy should be respected. When Lynne
Cheney was interviewed by conservative journalist Cokie Roberts,
and Roberts suggested that Mary Cheney had "openly declared"
her sexuality, Lynne Cheney angrily responded, "Mary has
never declared such a thing!" Lynne Cheney then virtually
rebuked Roberts for asking the question.
According to friends of Mary's,
she came out to her family when she was in her 20s, and her father
actually received the news better than her mother. Mary appears
to enjoy a better relationship with her father overall.
What about Mary? What are we
to make of the fact that Dick and Lynne have often reaffirmed
– almost formulaically – that they love both their
daughters very much, and yet, Mary did not appear on stage with
her father, mother and sister, brother-in-law and nieces and
nephews, either after his speech at the Republican National Convention
or after George Bush's speech. Certainly, Mary's life partner
was nowhere in sight.
Mary may not often appear in
person, but she is always present in spirit. The very fact of
Mary makes her an integral part of the campaign, a question which
is asked silently and answered indirectly. Her absence says more
than her presence.
It isn't clear why she was
not on stage at the convention. Was she refusing to be a token
of partial acceptance in that she would not appear without her
partner? Or was it the campaign who asked her not to appear in
order not to antagonize her father's ultra-conservative political
base? Her appearance would be awkward given the president's support
for an amendment forbidding forever the right of gays and lesbians
to marry. As expressed in the Republican platform: "We support
the traditional definition of ‘marriage' as the legal union
of one man and one woman, and we believe that federal judges
and bureaucrats should not force states to recognize other living
arrangements as marriages. We rely on the home, as did the founders
of the American Republic, to instill the virtues that sustain
democracy itself. That belief led Congress to enact the Defense
of Marriage Act, which a Republican Department of Justice will
energetically defend in the courts. For the same reason, we do
not believe sexual preference should be given special legal protection
or standing in law." [Emphasis mine.]
Mary was very present by her
absence in the recent vice presidential debate when moderator
Gwen Ifill asked the vice president a question about how he reconciles
his personal statements affirming that private citizens should
have the freedom to form any relationships they choose and his
support of the president's call for a constitutional amendment
defining American marriage as between one man and one woman only.
Here is the entire exchange including the question, the vice
president's answer and Senator John Edward's response.
IFILL: The next question goes to you, Mr. Vice President.
-- I want to read something you said four years ago at this very
setting: "Freedom means freedom for everybody." You
said it again recently when you were asked about legalizing same-sex
unions. And you used your family's experience as a context for
your remarks.
-- Can you describe then your administration's support for a
constitutional ban on same-sex unions?
CHENEY: Gwen, you're right, four years ago
in this debate, the subject came up. And I said then and I believe
today that freedom does mean freedom for everybody. People ought
to be free to choose any arrangement they want. It's really no
one else's business.
-- That's a separate question from the issue of whether or not
government should sanction or approve or give some sort of authorization,
if you will, to these relationships.
-- Traditionally, that's been an issue for the states. States
have regulated marriage, if you will. That would be my preference.
-- In effect, what's happened is that in recent months, especially
in Massachusetts, but also in California, but in Massachusetts
we had the Massachusetts Supreme Court direct the state of --
the legislature of Massachusetts to modify their constitution
to allow gay marriage.
-- And the fact is that the president felt that it was important
to make it clear that that's the wrong way to go, as far as he's
concerned.
-- Now, he sets the policy for this administration, and I support
the president.
IFILL: Senator Edwards, 90 seconds.
EDWARDS: Yes. Let me say first, on an issue
that the vice president said in his last answer before we got
to this question, talking about tax policy, the country needs
to know that under what they have put in place and want to put
in place, a millionaire sitting by their swimming pool, collecting
their statements to see how much money they're making, make their
money from dividends, pays a lower tax rate than the men and
women who are receiving paychecks for serving on the ground in
Iraq.
-- Now, they may think that's right. John Kerry and I do not.
-- We don't just value wealth, which they do. We value work in
this country. And it is a fundamental value difference between
them and us.
-- Now, as to this question, let me say first that I think the
vice president and his wife love their daughter. I think they
love her very much. And you can't have anything but respect for
the fact that they're willing to talk about the fact that they
have a gay daughter, the fact that they embrace her. It's a wonderful
thing. And there are millions of parents like that who love their
children, who want their children to be happy.
-- And I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman,
and so does John Kerry.
-- I also believe that there should be partnership benefits for
gay and lesbian couples in long-term, committed relationships.
-- But we should not use the Constitution to divide this country.
-- No state for the last 200 years has ever had to recognize
another state's marriage.
-- This is using the Constitution as a political tool, and it's
wrong.
IFILL: New question, but same subject.
-- As the vice president mentioned, John Kerry comes from the
state of Massachusetts, which has taken as big a step as any
state in the union to legalize gay marriage. Yet both you and
Senator Kerry say you oppose it.
-- Are you trying to have it both ways?
EDWARDS: No. I think we've both said the same
thing all along.
-- We both believe that--and this goes onto the end of what I
just talked about--we both believe that marriage is between a
man and a woman.
-- But we also believe that gay and lesbians and gay and lesbian
couples, those who have been in long-term relationships, deserve
to be treated respectfully, they deserve to have benefits.
-- For example, a gay couple now has a very difficult time, one,
visiting the other when they're in the hospital, or, for example,
if, heaven forbid, one of them were to pass away, they have trouble
even arranging the funeral.
-- I mean, those are not the kind of things that John Kerry and
I believe in. I suspect the vice president himself does not believe
in that.
-- But we don't -- we do believe that marriage should be between
a man and a woman.
-- And I want to go back, if I can, to the question you just
asked, which is this constitutional amendment.
-- I want to make sure people understand that the president is
proposing a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage that
is completely unnecessary.
-- Under the law of this country for the last 200 years, no state
has been required to recognize another state's marriage.
-- Let me just be simple about this. My state of North Carolina
would not be required to recognize a marriage from Massachusetts,
which you just asked about.
-- There is absolutely no purpose in the law and in reality for
this amendment. It's nothing but a political tool. And it's being
used in an effort to divide this country on an issue that we
should not be dividing America on.
-- We ought to be talking about issues like health care and jobs
and what's happening in Iraq, not using an issue to divide this
country in a way that's solely for political purposes. It's wrong.
IFILL: Mr. Vice President, you have 90 seconds.
CHENEY: Well, Gwen, let me simply thank the
senator for the kind words he said about my family and our daughter.
-- I appreciate that very much.
IFILL: That's it?
CHENEY: That's it.
IFILL: OK, then we'll move on to the next
question.
Cheney's final response was
stunning.
Dick Cheney has had a long
and distinguished career, both in government and industry. Cheney's
personal fortune has been estimated at around $50 million dollars
– once out of office he can increase that significantly.
He must weigh all this against the disrespect he and his party
have shown his daughter. This is the price he and his family
pays for power. If Dick Cheney truly loves Mary, this cannot
be lost on him. His final response to Gwen Ifill shows that he
is aware. A consolation for him must be that what allows Mary
Cheney to be as out as she is and to play the role that she does
is the privilege afforded her by her parent's wealth and position.
Not many people have that advantage.
Though "The Cheneys"
is the most restrained of soap operas, it is played out on the
national stage. It's a high profile display of the complexities
and injustices imposed on gays and lesbians.
And somewhere – deeper
than his conservative politics – there must be a part of
Dick Cheney that believes his own daughter should have the freedom
he talks about and purports to defend. Perhaps the next step
is for Mary and Heather to adopt – or attempt to adopt –
a child. What will Dick and Lynne believe their grandchild deserves?
National Coming Out Day would
be the perfect opportunity for parents, siblings and friends
to "come out" in support of the people they love. Perfect
day for something a father's heart knows is right. Come out,
Dick Cheney. Come out.
[top]
|