Many bloggers, including this one, have written about the legacy of the outgoing President and Vice President. As one of the leading gay conservative blogs, it falls on us to address the legacy of the outgoing Vice-President’s lesbian daughter, Mary.
Since most gay leaders are of the liberal persuasion and believe the (R) after a politician’s name renders him or her repugnant, few will take the time to praise the Vice President or his daughter. Yet, each has contributed significantly to improving the image of gay people in America. Mary lives happily with her partner Heather Poe, and their son Sam, all of whom have been accepted into the Vice President’s family and featured together at public events.
Yet, gay rights’ groups won’t give this impressive young lady much credit. They wanted her to use her prominence as a politician’s daughter to become a professional activist. But, that’s not the kind of person Mary is. She is not an activist, not wishing to be an outspoken public advocate for any cause.
Simply by being herself and eschewing activism, however, she has done more than many activists have done to undermine anti-gay animus in America. In the public eye by dint of her Dad, she has carried herself with class and thus put forward a positive image of a gay person leading an ordinary life (in, until today, extraordinary circumstance). Many social conservatives admire her father. As they see how she carries herself and how he treats her and her partner, they may well reconsider any prejudices they harbor against gay people.
Having met Mary, I sense that on a personal level, she’ll appreciate her Dad’s departure from the public stage. She’ll be less in the spotlight and will have more time to spend with parents whom she loves and who love her, more opportunities to enjoy the great outdoors with her family. And that, I believe, is where her true passion lies.
Her legacy is this: as the first openly gay child of a President or Vice President, she has showed us how such an individual should conduct herself when her father is in office. And her father has shown us how a parent should treat such a gay child. Gay people now know that a prominent Republican can love and accept a gay child without compromising his conservative principles. And so do Republicans.
That’s a lot for one person to accomplish. So, thank you, Mary Cheney. And thank you, Mr. Vice President. You’ve made it a lot easier for a gay person to be open about his sexuality, especially in Republican circles.
Related:Â Dick Cheney: The Most Pro-Gay Vice President in History.
Because I would venture to guess if you polled the American people and asked them to name Cheney’s daughter, over 90% probably couldn’t could up with “Mary.”
Who are you kidding? She is a virtual unknown. She has no legacy.
And liberal gays like yourself, Erik, have wished death on her and her family.
Of course youre right Eric. 90% of Americans wouldn’t know her name. Afterall, Obama takes office tomorrow because over 60% of his supporters think Republicans have been running congress for the past two years (and you have to figure at least half of those who answered correctly were only making a lucky guess, so its probably much higher).
And she isn’t part of the administration, shes a private citizen, so perhaps legacy is the wrong word.
Nevertheless, she is still known and admired by millions of Americans (mostly conservatives) and she has been a great example to those. And that is something to be proud of.
And of course they know who the “gay leaders” are right off the top of their heads.
Well, the made a movie about one…
Doubtful they’ll make one about Mary… unless its a remake of this one…
A co-worker of mine that travels to work from where Mary lives 3 doors down from him with his partner has never seen her or her family in the 3 years he’s lived there
The liberal media tried to “beat up on Mary Cheney” in the beginning but her family would not have it. This is what a caring father does for a child he loves.
The media beat up on Sarah Palin’s daughter and thank goodness they have gone on to other issues.
No one expected Palin’s daughter to become an activist for pro-life…why should Mary have been held to a different standard.
Mary lives life on her own terms……GOOD FOR HER!
On a personal note….I wish my partner and I had the support that Dick Cheney has shown his daughter. My dad never accepted the 10 yr relationship we had together.
Jeb n Tex
And yet her presence made no noticeable impact on the Republican platform, policy or rhetoric. I guess we are supposed to give the Cheneys credit for loving their daughter even if they won’t stand up for her equality under the law. Sorry but the whole sordid mess reminds me why I left the Republican party and never looked back.
All I know about Mary Cheney is she came out and wrote a book that Different Light refused to sell. All the gays drew their knives to attack her on Amazon.com. At least she was honest about who she was. But she didn;t have much of a chance to do anything, the gay community rejected the very concept of a Republican lesbian. That does not compute, Will Robinson!
It’s ok, Houndentenor. It hasn’t changed the voting record of the democrats either.
And yet her presence made no noticeable impact on the Republican platform, policy or rhetoric.
It’s kind of amusing to watch gay liberals whine about “platform, policy, and rhetoric” when you see what they endorse and support as “equality under the law”.
Looks like they don’t really care about one’s positions — only one’s party. And that’s why Republicans really don’t bother; they know that the vast majority of gays don’t care about actions, only affiliations.
And yet her presence made no noticeable impact on the Republican platform, policy or rhetoric.
It’s kind of amusing to watch gay liberals whine about “platform, policy, and rhetoric” when you see what they support as “equality under the law”.
Or what gay liberals endorse as “pro-gay” and “gay-supportive”.
This is why Republicans generally don’t bother; they know that gays are going to hate them regardless of what they do because they’re not Democrats. There is no need to pander to a minority group that has proven itself to be both obsessed with its minority status and utterly bigoted.
What party’s candidate just had a gay-bashing, anti-semitic preacher give the invocation at the coronation?
The Democrats.
Which party does the House Majority Leader who implied that gays cannot be trusted around children (Minority leader at the time)?
The Democrats.
Gays who continue to support this party suffer from Tammy Wynette syndrome. They continue to stand by someone who has consistently done them wrong, when they can do better.
They do stand up for her equality under the law. Id also point out that the Cheneys, and the Bush’s have the exact same position on gay marriage as Barack Obama, Joe Biden, John Kerry and John Edwards, they all support civil unions but are against changing marriage
Because youre an idiotic perma-victim, who doesnt know what a right is?
I have read some gay bloggers that just can’t demonize Bush and Cheney enough. Cheney’s love and acceptance of his daughter is something that I think tells a lot about Cheney. A lot of people seem to forget that his press secretary while he was Secretary of Defense was Pete Williams. Williams was outed during the first Gulf War. Cheney stood by the man.
Actually the only time Cheney publicly went against Bush was the issue of Gay marriage and was against an amendment to the constitution banning it (though Cheney only supported it as a State issue not federal).
I’d call that standing up for equality under the law.
*Ahem*
1. What, exactly, did Milk do, aside from delivering superfluous flummery?
2. What, exactly, has Mary lied about?
Behind the scenes, Mary Cheney was actual a stellar civil rights advocate. She had every right to call John Kerry a “son-of-a-bitch” because he viciously outed her. No one has a right to expose our intimate bedroom lifestyle.
Mary went on to form a Republican group called the Unity Coalition. They accomplished some profound things in regards to the glbt community and White House policy. I am sick of those on the Left who so hatefully criticize her. I would say that she and Marine Cpl Matt Sanchez have done a hell of a lot more to improve this country than a liberal Bush-hater like Andrew Sullivan.
You people should be ashamed of yourselfs. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IS HERE TO DESTROY ANY RIGHTS GAY PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE OR EVER GET! GET OFF THE ENEMYS SIDE!
Mary Cheney’s legacy is that she stood by and let her father kill the American dream for thousands of people (and in some cases kill actual people), some of which were good friends of hers, then said what she really felt only when it could be put into a book to make her money. She is the very definition of “cunt”.