I owe Mary Cheney an apology. So do many of you.
If you recall, Mary Cheney is Dick Cheney's quasi-openly lesbian daughter. I called her a Judas, a traitor, and a self-hating gay person in 2004, when she worked as a senior campaign advisor for Bush/Cheney at the same time the Heterosexual-in-Chief issued grave pronouncements about the "sanctity of marriage," and at the same time that campaign used homophobic ballot initiatives to turn out their "base" around the country. Gays and non-gay progressives around the blogosphere said horrible things about her.
Mary, I'm sorry. I was wrong.
Tonight at 10 PM on ABC's "Primetime," Mary Cheney explains her side of the story. She talks up her new book, "Now It's My Turn." In
this article, we get a preview of what she will say:
"I struggled with my decision to stay on the 2004 campaign," Cheney told "Primetime." Her personal challenge came when President Bush said the nation must defend the sanctity of marriage. When Bush proclaimed it in the State of the Union, she refused to go. Mary Cheney, a senior campaign advisor, was finally taking her stand. "I didn't want to be there. No one banned me from being there. But I didn't want to stand up and cheer," she said. She says the president offered to let her give a public statement in disagreement . . . She declined but says she did talk with her family about quitting the campaign.
Oh, Mary, I misjudged you. Once again:
Mary Cheney, a senior campaign advisor, was finally taking her stand.
Little did I know that behind the scenes, Mary Cheney was bravely, boldly, selflessly taking a stand for gay rights. Taking a stand by refusing to take up President Bush on his offer to let her issue a public statement of disagreement. Taking a stand by continuing to work for the campaign that would officially write her second-class status into the Constitution. Taking a stand by refusing to attend a speech because she "didn't want to stand up and cheer." Taking a stand by not standing up.
Well, I'll be damned. I thought she was a Benedict Arnold, a Quisling, a traitorous enabler. But in fact, she is the Martin Luther King of our day. Or maybe she is the lesbian equivalent of this man:
(Photo by Jeff Widener, AP)
Thank you, Mary, for taking your stand. Surely it will go down in the history books.