The Bitter Taste of Hypocrisy

Dick Cheney, the Vice-President of the USA, is about as conservative as they come. Representative of many of the right wing ideologies of the Republican Party, he is a controversial figure, to say the least. He oversaw the first Gulf War, while Secretary of Defense for Bush I, and served as CEO for energy giant Halliburton before becoming VP for Bush II. He has attracted media attention over his long political career, most notably for: ‘dodging’ the draft for the Vietnam War, shady financial dealings with former employer Halliburton, his hawkish staging of the current war in Iraq and accidentally shooting lawyer Harry Whittington while hunting. However, it is his implicit support of conservative gay marriage bans that has courted the greatest controversy – considering that his second daughter Mary is gay.

During the 2000 election campaign, Mary worked for the Republicans, who went out of their way to avoid media scrutiny of the clash between her sexuality and the Party’s policies. In fact, she was used to help soften the Party’s hard line image. Rival politicians, particularly John Kerry were admonished when they tried to bring this issue out into the public forum. The issue came to a head in 2004 when the Bush administration supported a constitutional amendment restricting marriage to heterosexual couples, while banning civil unions and other legal rights for gays. Though the amendment failed to pass, divisions within the Party and in Cheney’s personal and public life were demonstrated.

This week Mary Cheney is in the news again after announcing that she and long time partner Heather Poe are expecting a child. The announcement has already prompted a range of denouncements for conservatives across the country, but is a huge positive for gay couples the world over. Again the issue of gay rights is thrust back into the spot light, and it will be difficult to say the least for Mr. Cheney to stake out a position that perpetuates Republican oppression of gays, while anticipating the arrival of a new grandchild. Family Pride executive director Jennifer Chrisler summed it up best when she said: "Grandfather Cheney will no doubt face a lifetime of sleepless nights as he reflects on the irreparable harm he and his administration have done to the millions of American gay and lesbian parents and their children." It’s hard perpetuating discrimination when your own daughter is the recipient.