High Wire Act

Cheney Backs Freedom for Gay Relationships

So it begins. The Bush-Cheney campaign had to eventually start moving toward the center in preparation for November, and apparently now they're going to try to do it.

Dick Cheney acknowledged that his daughter, Mary, is gay, something he and Lynne have often hesitated to do in public. He said, "Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it's an issue our family is very familiar with. With respect to the question of relationships, my general view is freedom means freedom for everyone ... People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to." Cheney went on to talk about reserving marriage for the states and why Bush supported a constitutional amendment.

I'm glad Dick is ready to play the friendly dad and chat about his daughter, but this really doesn't change anything of substance. He thinks people ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship. Does he think they should be free from the fear that they will lose their job or their housing for doing so? Does he think they should pay higher taxes for less benefits because they do so? Does he think they should worry that they will be unable to visit a partner in the hospital because the government does not recognize their relationship?

If he wants to talk about this issue, Dick Cheney should talk about the very real problems that face gay Americans and how he proposes to solve those problems. Freedom to have a relationship with anyone doesn't mean anything when you're fighting with a hospital administrator or losing your house because you can't inherit your partner's share of your home without paying enormous taxes on it. Just because Cheney thinks this is a matter for the states to solve doesn't mean he should get a pass on suggesting how they should solve it. If he really thinks this issue is important--and since it's in the family, he ought to--he should be willing to talk about the protections he thinks states should offer to his daughter and others like her.

It's a hell of a bully pulpit you've got there, Mr. Cheney. You're brave enough to use it to start a war or savage your opponents--but do you have the guts to use it to make life better for your own child?