MARCH 13 . 2004 • Q-NOTES
National
13
Cheney gets testy over daughter
l//ce President insists he supports
Bush's statement about Federal
Marriage Amendment
by Paul Marcus
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Gay civil rights
advocates accused Vice President Dick
Cheney of hypocrisy after the VP gave an
interview to MSNBC in which he com
plained that his lesbian daughter’s private
life was being “intruded upon” in the debate
over gay marriage.
Cheney was referring
to recent questions
as to whether he felt
any remorse about
supporting a consti
tutional amendment
that would make
his openly lesbian
daughter a second-
class citizen.
When asked about
his lesbian daughter
Mary, Cheney re
plied: “One of the
most unpleasant as
pects of this business
is the extent of which private lives are intrud
ed upon when these kinds of issues come up.
1 really have always considered my private —
my daughters’ lives private and 1 think that’s
the way it ought to remain.”
Cheney’s daughter Mary, 34, is running
his re-election campaign and is paid
$100,000 a year. Mary previously served
Cheney on lesbian
daughter Mary:
'I really have
always considered
... my daughters'
lives private...'
on the board of the gay advocacy group
Republican Unity Coalition and used her
lesbian status during the 2000 election to
woo gay money and gay votes for the
Bush-Cheney ticket.
“Vice President Cheney also indicated
in the interview that he supports a consti
tutional amendment to ban marriage
equality for gay and lesbian couples. “The
president’s taken the clear position that he
supports a constitutional amendment,”
Cheney said. “1 support him.”
Vice President Cheney’s remarks are
nothing short of surreal,” said )ohn
Aravosis, creator of DearMary.com and
national co-chair of DontAmend.com
“Dick Cheney has no problem taking a
slap at my gay family members in the U.S.
Constitution, but when the topic is lesbians in
his.own family, suddenly the vice president is
a defender of the privacy rights of gays and
lesbians. His statement reeks of hypocrisy.
Prior to joining her father’s campaign in
2000 Mary Cheney worked for the Colorado
Rockies and the Coors Brewing Co. where,
among other duties, she worked on out
reach to gays and lesbians. During the 2000
campaign the fact she is gay and has a com
mitted partner became national news.
So far Mary Cheney has not comment
ed on her father’s new stance on gay mar
riage. Her silence has prompted a group
fighting for same-sex marriage to launch
the DearMary website, complete with a
milk carton bearing her picture in the space
usually reserved for missing children.
Buying or Selling
Carol makes it
'easy'...
My goal as a Relocation Specialist is
to make your change of address a
pleasant experience — reducing
frustration while getting the best
price for my clients.
Call me if you know someone
who can use my expertise.
Maybe it's you.
Carol A. Reinard, ABR, GRI
Relocation Specialist
RE/MAX Executive Realty
6842 Morrison Blvd.
Charlotte, NC 28211
careinard@aol.com
(O) 704-509-4798
(M) 704-458-4857
(F) 704-509-4710
Each Office Independently Owned and Operated
in a
r-j I iv71 I |\ I rr-j
_ J ^ K J \ j/ r~j
1 and cosmetic dentistry
, soothing, spa-like atmosphere
r i' i
V.
kenilworth commons *1716 kenilworth avenue * charlotte, nc 28203
'J
J. ^ J
J
J