The family feud isn’t stopping Mary Cheney from speaking out on marriage equality.
The daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, who is married to a woman, was scheduled to speak at a fundraiser for the gay rights group Freedom Indiana on Wednesday evening in Indianapolis.
LGBT activists in the Hoosier State are fighting back against a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution that would define legal marriage as between one man and one woman. Indiana lawmakers are set to tackle the qustion in the 2014 legislative session, and it may end up getting sent to the voters to decide in a statewode referendum.
The topic of marriage equality has been a sensitive issue among the Cheney clan in recent weeks -- especially between the once-close sisters Mary and Liz Cheney, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat in Wyoming.
Mary announced she’s not supporting Liz’s over her sister’s anti-gay marriage stance. “I am not saying I hope she loses to Enzi,” she told Politico in a not-so-ringing endorsement.
Liz, arguably, started the spat. She played down the marriage equality issue, saying that she and her married gay sister “just disagree” on the matter. Mary Cheney then proceeded to jab her sister in a Facebook post.
Heather Poe, Mary’s wife, also pounced on her sister-in-law’s views: “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. To have her say she doesn’t support our right to marry is offensive to say the least.”
Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, have appeared to take Liz's side in the dispute.
Liz Cheney faces a tough primary challenge against the conservative Republican Sen. Mike Enzi.