Liz Cheney — daughter of Dick and current U.S. senate candidate — has recently lost the support of her own sister Mary after publicly denouncing Mary’s gay lifestyle on Fox News Sunday. In a desperate bid to win over Wyoming’s Tea Party and far right voters, Liz Cheney (who, as of this month, is trailing 52-points behind her opponent Mike Enzi), told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace that she does not support same-sex marriage, adding “Listen, I love Mary very much. I love her family very much. This is just an issue on which we disagree.”
Rightfully, Mary Cheney and her wife Heather Poe are less than impressed with Liz Cheney’s tired and hypocritical “love the sinner, hate the sin” bullshit and are calling it out for exactly what it is — political opportunism.
Poe took to Facebook to post the following missive:
I was watching my sister-in-law on Fox News Sunday (yes Liz, in fifteen states and the District of Columbia you are my sister-in-law) and was very disappointed to hear her say “I do believe in the traditional definition of 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.
To have her now 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.
I always thought freedom meant freedom for EVERYONE.
Mary Cheney reposted Poe’s message, adding, “Liz — this isn’t just an issue on which we disagree — you’re just wrong – and on the wrong side of history.”
Preach. Even former Vice President Dick Cheney, evil lizard face of the Republican party, eventually got hip to marriage equality (he publicly clashed with President Bush over the issue in 2004 and lobbied for Maryland legislators to pass a marriage equality bill in 2012).
Worth noting, Liz: You are even less of a humanitarian than your father, a man best remembered for the time he shot someone in the face.
Mary Cheney told the New York Times on Sunday that she and her sister are currently estranged:
Mary Cheney, 44, said in a phone interview Sunday that she presumed her sister shared her father’s views on marriage, and that view was reinforced because Liz Cheney “was always very supportive” of her relationship with Ms. Poe and the couple’s two children. She learned otherwise in August when Liz Cheney declared, shortly after announcing her Senate candidacy, that she was opposed to same-sex marriage rights. Mary Cheney said it is now “impossible” for the sisters to reconcile as long as Liz Cheney maintains that position.
“What amazes me is that she says she’s running to be a new generation of leader,” Mary Cheney said, citing her 47-year-old sister’s slogan in her campaign against Mr. Enzi, 69. “I’m not sure how sticking to the positions of the last 20 or 30 years is the best way to do that.”
Liz Cheney declined the Times‘ request for an interview, instead emailing a brief statement, in which she said, “I love my sister and her family and have always tried to be compassionate towards them. I believe that is the Christian way to behave.”
What with her already in a delicate position with Wyoming voters, it’s important that Liz Cheney doesn’t appear as though her anti-gay marriage stance is one adopted solely to appeal to black hearted conservatives. In fact, Lynne and Dick Cheney — who are more desperate than anyone to get their daughter in the Wyoming senate seat — issued the following statement to HuffPo this afternoon:
This is an issue we have dealt with privately for many years, and we are pained to see it become public. Since it has, one thing should be clear. 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. Compassion is called for, even when there is disagreement about such a fundamental matter and Liz’s many kindnesses shouldn’t be used to distort her position.
See? Liz Cheney isn’t a fair weather hater of gay people. She’s an all-weather hater of gay people…with a heart of gold.
Unfortunately, the sisters’ feud may throw a wrench in the Cheney family’s holiday plans. Mary tells the New York Times that they will not be seeing each other over Thanksgiving and that come Christmastime at Jackson Hole (which also happens to be what I call my Winter Solstice sex party), she and Liz will not be speaking. A family vacation ruined by an argument with homophobic relative? Is the Cheney family our family?
In the interview, Mary Cheney, who is a longtime political consultant, said she would continue to raise the matter. Reminded by a reporter that such criticism could complicate her sister’s Senate campaign, Mary Cheney offered a clipped answer reminiscent of her father’s terse style. “O.K.,” she said, before letting silence fill the air.
Haha, that’s awesome and mean and that entire family is terrible.
Image via Getty.