It's been a long time coming but out lesbian Mary Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has finally found her voice and is speaking up about her family, much to the chagrin of her older sister, Liz, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Wyoming and is attempting to use her opposition to same-sex marriage to convince voters she is an authentic, hardcore conservative.
Over the weekend, the Cheney family feud spilled out into public view as Mary and her wife, Heather Poe, apparently couldn't take another round of watching Liz on Fox News Sunday spewing her anti-gay rants, knowing full well that in private at least Liz had been far more gracious to her younger sibling. On the program, Liz Cheney once again said that she opposed same-sex marriage, describing it as "just an area where we disagree," referring to her sister.
This time, Mary Cheney responded on her Facebook page and put her candidate sister in a very awkward spot.
"Liz – this isn't just an issue on which we disagree you're just wrong – and on the wrong side of history," Mary wrote.
But the squabble didn't end there. Poe also weighed in, providing some detail into why she and Mary Cheney were so upset.
"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 say she doesn't support our right to marry is offensive to say the least.
"I can't help but wonder how Liz would feel if as she moved from state to state, she discovered that her family was protected in one but not the other," Poe added. "Yes Liz, in 15 states and the District of Columbia you are my sister-in-law."
Poe's statement exposed what has been a thorn in Liz Cheney's side in her upstart primary Senate campaign against well-respected – and equally anti-gay – Senator Mike Enzi, who happens to be a friend of the Cheneys. Liz Cheney moved her family from northern Virginia to Wyoming to run for the office and is fending off accusations of carpetbagging in the race.
Dick Cheney weighed in Monday, releasing a statement that said he and his wife, Lynne, were "pained" that the family spat had gone public. And he sided with Liz, stating that while she has always supported "traditional" marriage, she has treated her sister and her sister's family with "love and respect."
We don't see it that way. Respect means not throwing your LGBT family member under the bus, which is exactly what Liz and Dick Cheney are doing. Liz Cheney had to expect that she would be asked about marriage equality in her Senate campaign; it's been widely known for years that Mary is a lesbian, and her marriage to Poe and the birth of her children had been noted in media outlets. Yet the best defense she could come up with is "just an area where we disagree"? Well, at least she isn't saying she disapproves of the "gay lifestyle." But really, Liz, cut the hypocrisy.
We give Mary Cheney kudos for finally speaking up. The recent Facebook exchange is the most she's ever said publicly on gay rights, and for that, she deserves credit. She spent the dark years of the Bush-Cheney administration quietly in the background, silently acquiescing as Karl Rove and company made life miserable for same-sex couples, whether through threats of a federal constitutional amendment banning marriage equality or the very real state amendments banning such unions that passed in numerous elections during their eight years in office.
In her 2006 memoir, Now It's My Turn , Mary Cheney offended just about everyone: dinging the right-wingers and lambasting John Kerry and John Edwards for mentioning her during the 2004 presidential race, even though she had been out for years. In recent campaign cycles she has given money to anti-gay politicians. While that is certainly her right, it's a head-scratcher to us.
Apparently the tide has now turned. Maybe it's because she's married with children? Maybe it's because she and Poe now realize that all couples deserve the freedom to marry? Whatever the reason, it's about time that Mary Cheney stands up for herself and her family against a neocon who would outlaw her marriage if she should. That the neocon is her own sister is undoubtedly uncomfortable, but there comes a time in one's life when you stand up and say, "Enough is enough."
That time is now for Mary Cheney and we applaud her for it.