Though the Supreme Court settled this debate half a decade ago, Liz Cheney, a once fierce defender of “traditional marriage,” despite having a married lesbian sister, says same-sex couples deserve the same freedoms as everyone else.
Speaking to 60 Minutes yesterday, Cheney said her past opposition to gay marriage was “wrong.”
“I was wrong,” she conceded. “It’s a very personal issue, and very personal for my family. I believe that my dad was right. And my sister and I have had that conversation.”
“Freedom means freedom for everybody.”
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Cheney famously broke with her family on this issue during her failed run for Senate in 2013, during which she opposed marriage equality. Her homophobia caused a rift with her sister, Mary, and her wife, Heather Poe, who took to Facebook to publicly blast her.
“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,” Poe wrote. “To have her now say she doesn’t support our right to marry is offensive to say the least.”
Speaking to 60 Minutes, Cheney said she and her sister have since reconciled, adding, “I love my sister very much.”
“I was wrong. I was wrong.” says Rep Liz Cheney about condemning same-sex marriage in 2013, a position that caused a split with her sister Mary, who is married to a woman. Rep Cheney says the sisters are now reconciled. “I love my sister very much.” https://t.co/EwRrkWDcT8 pic.twitter.com/KEdlqibZoJ
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) September 26, 2021
But before anyone goes cheering for Cheney suddenly deciding that gAy MaRrIeD pEoPlE dEsErVe FrEeDoM tOo, remember that, as a congresswoman, she holds a 0% rating with the HRC and has solidly opposed LGBTQ rights for years and years.
In fact, just this past February she voted against the Equality Act, the bill seeking to add protections for the LGBTQ community in federal anti-discrimination law.
In February, Liz Cheney voted against the Equality Act, which would finally enshrine protections for the LGBTQ+ community in federal antidiscrimination law. https://t.co/mUEi5ifzLi
— Mondaire Jones (@MondaireJones) September 27, 2021
Here’s how Twitter’s been responding the Cheney’s declaration that same-sex marriage is now OK in her book…
"I was wrong to oppose #LGBTQ rights in 2013."
—Liz Cheney, who voted against the Equality Act in 2021.
— Mrs. Betty Bowers (@BettyBowers) September 27, 2021
Liz Cheney threw her own LGBTQ sister in the bus to win an election. I wouldn’t count on her being an ally.
— Stan Van Gundy (@realStanVG) September 27, 2021
On one hand, @Liz_Cheney went on @60Minutes and said she was wrong to oppose gay marriage
On the other hand, gaslighter @RepLizCheney went onto the floor of the House on 2/25 and voted against the Equality Act pic.twitter.com/ma4JSUdcor
— ????? ?????? ? Make #GoodTrouble (@LarryTenney) September 27, 2021
Liz Cheney is on 60 Minutes trying to win some of you over. DON’T TRUST LIZ CHENEY.
— Mayo (@MayoIsSpicyy) September 27, 2021
Took Liz Cheney decades to finally admit she was wrong on gay marriage tonight
She voted AGAINST women’s reproductive rights 2 days ago. How many decades will it take for her to come around?
Being anti-Trump doesn’t absolve one of the responsibility to uphold basic human rights
— Lindy Li (@lindyli) September 27, 2021
Liz Cheney now supports gay marriage — whereas the far-right Supreme Court is potentially going to reverse itself in the next 18 months and say states can ban it again.
— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) September 27, 2021
Liz Cheney crossed a very low bar three decades late. Her sister has been with her wife since 1992 and they married in 2012. #TheView
— OGBlack (@VAKnightStick) September 27, 2021
Remarkable that Liz Cheney’s sister has been with her partner since 1992 and married since 2012, yet Liz has only *just now* publicly said she was wrong to oppose gay marriage. I’m all for progress, but everybody needs to recognize how long it took her to change her mind.
— ?? Charlotte Witch ?????? (@GrooveGrl4) September 27, 2021
“In February, Liz Cheney voted against the Equality Act.” I’m sure she’ll apologize at some point. https://t.co/2xZru8ZEFU
— Fiziker (@Fiziker) September 27, 2021
It is entirely possible to recognize Liz Cheney's moment of character in standing against her own party regarding the Jan. 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol without turning her into a martyr. She is responsible for enabling Trump for years. Stop putting her on a pedestal.
— Charlotte Clymer ???? (@cmclymer) September 27, 2021
Stop lauding Liz Cheney. She voted for Trump twice, voted with him 93% & reiterated on #60Minutes that she considers the most basic elements of Biden's agenda to be extremist. She stood against voting rights. She voted against the #EqualityAct and her sister is gay. Stop already.
— Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) September 27, 2021
Don't be fooled. Liz Cheney's turnabout on gay marriage is due mainly to her trying to find more sympatico voters. She's still a conservative hack.
— Lady with an opinion (@srwchristian) September 27, 2021
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
Invader7
Too little , too late. You republithug slime ball loser !!!
Cam
Cheney just voted against LGBTQ rights a few months ago. This is her being cynical…..
She knows Republicans will run a primary challenger against her. She will probably lose, and is probably planning to run as an independent, and by backing off from some of the Republican bigotry she is hoping some Democrats will cross over and vote for her in the general election.
Still, Trump and other Republicans hate her, so if the choice is her or a Trump supporter, she is the lesser of two evils.
Chrisk
It’s pretty simple. She lost the republican aka trump support so now she has to soften her appeal to the moderates and independents. Liz Cheney believes or doesn’t believe based on what her polls say.
Mister P
I guess the people on the right don’t really stand for anything except what can help get them elected. None of them cares about discriminating against anyone but if they want to stay in power they have to lie about being a bigot?
How do they live with themselves?
Tombear
I know her voting record is abysmal for LGBT rights but she is doing something to try and put the orange turd in jail!
Prax07
Cheney is scummy GOP, but she’s the best GOP, next to Kinzinger, out there trying to be Actual rational human beings. Imagine if we’d had her instead of the orange turd as president? Not saying the world would be a thousand times better than under Trump but it’d have been quite a bit better than under the do nothing narcissistic abuser we did get saddled with. Plus her and Kinzinger are the Only mentally stable Republicans we’ve got in government.
Major
If she was voting against us as recently as this year she gets ZERO props from me just because she has had an epiphany and thinks it’s ok to for us to get married now. *points at wedding ring on left finger* We got here without her help.
Fahd
She´s a Republican who voted to impeach Trump and who has stated she would do everything she could to prevent Trump from being reelected. That´s something. On the other hand, she´s an educated, prominent person whose sister is a lesbian and she just now changed her mind about gay marriage. She can´t really be much of a mensch, which isn´t really surprising – she’s the daughter of Dick Cheney, one of the most evil politicians in American history.
linniewantstoknow
To everyone,
Who doubts Ms. Cheney’s sincerity, I think as all she should be given a chance. I have people in my family who are steadfast against gay relationships and marriage, however they will tell you in a minute, live and let live.
Jack
Liz Cheney is no advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. I applaud her recent determination in holding those responsible for the Insurrection and standing up for our democracy. But that bar is ridiculously low in her party. Judge her ideology on her voting record.