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Liz Cheney on Civil Rights |
CHENEY: Yes. Listen, I love Mary very much. I love her family very much. This is just an issue in which we disagree.
CHENEY: It's not and I stand by both of those positions. I don't believe we've got to discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation. If people are in a same sex relationship and they want their partner to be able to have health benefits or be designated as a beneficiary on their life insurance, there's no reason they shouldn't do that. I also don't support amending the constitution on this issue. I do believe it's an issue that's got to be left up to the state. I do believe in the traditional definition of marriage.
The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney was responding to a reported "push poll" that led voters to believe that she "aggressively promotes gay marriage."
Mary Cheney married partner Heather Poe in Washington DC--where same-sex marriage is legal--last June. The couple has two children. On Facebook, Mary Cheney wrote "For the record, I love my sister, but she is dead wrong on the issue of marriage. It's not something to be decided by a show of hands."
Dick Cheney said in 2009 that he believes that marriage should be regulated on a state-by-state basis but that "freedom means freedom for everyone."
A: That's right.
Q: Your personal reaction when you heard that?
A: I think my family's made clear that it made us angry. We thought it was wrong. I think it was unprecedented for a candidate to use the child of another candidate--in this case my sister--for political gains.
Q: The original question was whether people were born gay or they acquired the behavior. I don't think they wanted to make your sister feel bad. I think they were trying to make a point that just backfired on them.
A: What you saw after the debate with Senator Kerry's campaign chairwoman coming out and saying that Mary Cheney was fair game confirms what seems to be pretty obvious, which is that they were trying to score some political points.