op-ed
Christian Grantham was a student activist in the late 90s and later was a consultant to domestic policy forums for the Clinton Administration as well as events for HRC and GLAAD.
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October 15, 2004

Last night, On FOX's O'Reilly Factor, Former Deputy Assistant for Domestic Policy to Vice President Cheney, Ron Christie, said he was outraged that John Kerry mentioned Mary Cheney's sexual orientation because she's never presented her sexual orientation in a professional capacity.

Ron Christie doesn't have his facts straight. Take a look at how right-wing Concerned Women For America describes Mary Cheney.

Mary Cheney’s lesbianism was hardly a secret. Working for Coors Brewing Company as a liaison to homosexual groups, she funneled corporate contributions to several homosexual activist organizations, including $110,000 to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)—a strident homosexual group that later led a mean-spirited crusade against Dr. Laura Schlessinger. GLAAD celebrates positive portrayals of homosexuality in Hollywood and the media, most recently heaping praise on the TV show Dawson’s Creek for featuring a five-second kiss between two young male characters. Mary Cheney also guided Coors to give $2,500 to Equality Colorado, the lead group fighting the state’s Amendment 2 ballot initiative, which would have banned laws giving special recognition to homosexuals as a class. Colorado voters approved Amendment 2 by a 55-45 percent margin in 1992, but it was struck down four years later by the U.S. Supreme Court, with David Souter—a justice appointed by George Bush, Sr.—voting in the majority.

During the 2000 presidential campaign, Mary Cheney was her father’s senior policy advisor and described by him as his "aide-de-camp." She attended the GOP convention and the presidential inauguration openly with her lesbian partner. Second Lady Lynne Cheney—after initially reacting angrily to a question posed by ABC newswoman Cokie Roberts about her daughter’s sexuality—has begun to use rhetoric favored by homosexual activists. She praised singer Elton John for supporting "equal rights" for homosexuals and defended the president’s appointment of a homosexual activist as "AIDS Czar."
[The Cheney Factor - 05-31-01]

Does Lynne Cheney have any indignation to spare? Recently, Cheney's father, the Vice President, specifically referenced her sexual orientation on the campaign trail, and did so in direct reference to the Bush Administration's policy on gay marriage. How tawdry.

The more conservatives express their outrage over Kerry's positive acknowledgement, the more curious it becomes as to where their outrage and indignation was when:

• Alan Keyes slandered Mary Cheney as a "sexual hedonist."
  
• Concerned Women For America attacked Mary Cheney for joining the Republican Unity Coalition, later accusing her of pushing "the envelope on homosexuality"
  
• Illinois Family Institute Executive Director Peter LaBarbera praised Alan Keyes comments about Mary Cheney
  
• Gary Bauer of American Values recently said Dick Cheney's publicly pronounced love for his daughter "demoralizes some sections of the base that they need in an election where we could all be counting chads again."
  
• Family Research Council President Tony Perkins recently invoked the "well-publicized homosexual status of one of Cheney's daughters" when expressing his displeasure with Cheney's position on gay marriage.