Burnt Orange Report

Lynne Cheney: A Pattern of Shame and Denial

By Byron LaMasters

My previous post about Lynne Cheney was getting a bit long, and I wanted to respond to this comment that Chris made:

In the case of Lynne Cheney, BOR writers headline that she's ashamed of her daughter. Show me where she said that. On the contrary, she has made it obvious for years, even in the aforementioned article, that she does NOT want her daughters' personal lives brought up in the campaign.

I'm not picking on Chris here, I just wanted to clear up some of the misconceptions coming from the other side today. For those not familiar with the context, Lynne Cheney said this regarding John Kerry's comment last night that Mary Cheney along with any other gay or lesbian could tell you that being gay or lesbian is who they were born as:

Lynne Cheney issued her post-debate rebuke to a cheering crowd outside Pittsburgh. "The only thing I can conclude is he is not a good man. I'm speaking as a mom," she said. "What a cheap and tawdry political trick."

So, why does Lynne Cheney lash out like that? Easy. Salon wrote in 2000 about Lynne Cheney's response to a question about her daughter's sexual orientation. Lynne Cheney has a history of shame and denial about her daughter's sexual orientation:

On Sunday, the issue of Cheney's sexuality took an odd twist, when her mother Lynne denied ABC's Cokie Roberts' assertion that Mary Cheney has "declared that she is openly gay." An irritated Lynne Cheney shot back: "Mary has never declared such a thing. I would like to say that I'm appalled at the media interest in one of my daughters. I have two wonderful daughters. I love them very much. They are bright; they are hard-working; they are decent. And I simply am not going to talk about their personal lives. And I'm surprised, Cokie, that even you would want to bring it up on this program."

Either Lynne Cheney was absent in her daughter's life for most of the 1990s decade, or she is ashamed and in denial about Mary Cheney's sexual orientation. The fact of the matter is that it's inevitable that the personal lives of candidates and their children come up in a campaign, especially one for the White House. The personal life of the Cheney's other daughter has been displayed by the Cheney's in this campaign, whether it be when Liz Cheney appeared with her family (when Mary Cheney's family did not) after Vice President Cheney's speech at the GOP convention, or when Elizabeth Cheney says things like this in interviews:

E. CHENEY: No, I think this is an issue my dad's been very clear about. And, frankly, it's an issue that not a lot of Americans are spending a lot of time being focused on this election cycle. My family is out working very hard.

You know, I'm a security mom. I've got four little kids. And what I care about in this election cycle is electing a guy who is going to be a commander in chief, who will do whatever it takes to keep those kids safe.

So, it's fair to bring up Elizabeth Cheney's family, but it's not fair to bring up Mary Cheney's? Instead, Lynne Cheney resorted to denial in 2000. Saying "Mary has never declared such a thing" about Mary Cheney's sexual orientation is about as desperate a comment as saying "The only thing I can conclude is he is not a good man" of John Kerry for bringing it up. Mary Cheney is not ashamed of her sexual orientation. Neither is John Kerry, but Lynne Cheney is ashamed. When Lynne Cheney sharply declared in 2000 that her daughter had never declared that she was a lesbian, that was a flat out falsehood. Salon continues:

Mary Cheney, 31, is not just any lesbian. Until May, she was the lesbian/gay corporate relations manager for the once-notoriously anti-gay Coors Brewing Co. In that role she became a key player in the pivotal "movement vs. market" debate raging inside the gay activist community, representing the point of view that corporate America is a better friend than government in advancing the cause of gay rights.

[...]

Judging from her efforts on behalf of Coors, Cheney will go the extra mile for a cause she believes in. To get gay advocates to drop their support for a Coors boycott, for instance, she traveled the country with the winner of the International Mr. Leather 1999 competition -- a hugely popular event on the gay-bar circuit -- meeting with gay leaders to advance the Coors cause.

Mary Cheney was active in the gay community before 2000 both privately and publically. In both he personal life, and her professional life, Mary Cheney was openly lesbian. However, her mother denied it. Why?

Posted by Byron LaMasters at October 15, 2004 12:36 AM | TrackBack