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| FILE - In this July 17, 2013, file photo, Liz Cheney, left, speaks during a campaign appearance in Casper, Wyo., and her sister Mary Cheney, right, is seen in a Dec. 30, 2006, photo attending the funeral for former President Gerald Ford in Washington. Liz Cheney is running in a Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat from Wyoming. She told "Fox News Sunday" on Nov. 17, 2013, she disagrees with her sister Mary Cheney, who is married to Heather Poe, over the topic of same-sex marriage. Mary Cheney responded on Facebook: "You're just wrong." |
CHEYENNE, Wyo.
(AP) -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife stepped into a
sibling squabble Monday after their daughters became involved in a
public feud over gay marriage that began on "Fox News Sunday" and soon
spread to social media.
Discussing her U.S.
Senate campaign on the talk show, Liz Cheney restated her support for
the "traditional definition" of marriage. She added that states should
be free to decide for themselves whether to allow or prohibit same-sex
unions.
Her sister, Mary Cheney, who is married to a woman, shot back on Facebook: "You're just wrong."
Things got testy enough that their parents were compelled to address the matter.
"This
is an issue we have dealt with privately for many years, and we are
pained to see it become public," read a statement distributed by Dick
and Lynne Cheney.
"Since it has, one thing
should be clear," the statement continued. "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."
In Wyoming, scene of the
murder of gay university student Matthew Shepard 15 years ago that
remains a watershed moment for gay rights, Liz Cheney's stance mirrors
the Equality State's own soul-searching on gay marriage.
The
heavily Republican state Legislature has swung from close votes just a
few years ago on proposals to ban recognition of gay marriages performed
in other states to, this year, giving serious consideration to
permitting same-sex civil unions and a ban on discrimination against
gays.
Liz Cheney's opponent Sen. Mike Enzi
says he supports a constitutional amendment to define marriage as
between one man and one woman, only.
For her
part, Liz Cheney says gay marriage should be a matter for states to
decide and supports the "traditional definition" of marriage. But she
says she doesn't think states should discriminate against same-sex
couples.
She has opposed a federal
constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and supported equal spousal
benefits for same-sex couples employed by the State Department, where
she used to work.
"I stand by both of those
positions," she said on Fox News Sunday. "I don't believe we ought 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 under
life insurance, there's no reason we shouldn't do that."
But
what if a state were allowed to ban gay marriage and, as a consequence,
prohibit all the advantages, such as health insurance and death
benefits, which marriage confers to heterosexual couples?
"The
issue of sanctioning marriage has always been up to the states and to
the people in the states and that is where it belongs. My own personal
view is that marriage is between a man and a woman," she responded to
The Associated Press by email.
How much
attention the matter gets before Wyomingites cast their votes in their
state's Republican primary nine months from now remains to be seen.
Mary
Cheney and her wife, Heather Poe, didn't waste any time challenging Liz
Cheney's television comments as insufficiently pro-gay marriage.
"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 posted on Facebook.
"To have her now say she doesn't support our right to marry is offensive
to say the least."
Chimed in Mary Cheney:
"Couldn't have said it better myself. Liz - this isn't just an issue on
which we disagree - you're just wrong - and on the wrong side of
history," she posted.
Enzi was first elected
to the U.S. Senate in 1996 and is seeking a fourth term. He will
continue to support
legislation that "protects the institution of
marriage," campaign spokeswoman Kristen Walker said by email Monday.
Many
people informally call Wyoming the Cowboy State. Officially, it's the
Equality State, so-named because it was first to allow women to vote,
serve on juries and hold public office.
