Dick Cheney reminds America that he supports gay marriage

June 1, 4:34 PMInternational LGBT Issues ExaminerKelvin Lynch

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                              Former VP Dick Cheney

Perhaps sensing a chance to seize on the LGBTQ community's growing impatience with President Obama's complete silence on gay marriage victories and defeats in the states, Dick Cheney reiterated publicly today that he supports state gay marriage.

You read that right:

Dick Cheney is more gay marriage-friendly than President Obama.

Mr. Cheney told reporters at the National Press Club this morning that he supports gay marriage at the state level.  However, he said he didn't support gay marriage in federal government.

When a reporter asked him to comment on the recent legalization of gay marriage in Iowa and New England, Mr. Cheney said,

"I think that freedom means freedom for everyone. As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don't support.

Cheney, whose daughter Mary is gay, made similar remarks during the 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns.  He said then that he had a gay daughter and he supported her right to marry, but he believed marriage was a matter best left for the states.

When Mr. Obama promised during his presidential run that he would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), it was widely assumed that he supported federal gay marriage as a matter of law, even though he made it clear he didn't personally believe in it.  However, since taking office, Mr. Obama has completely abandoned his promise to repeal DOMA but supports same-sex civil unions and the federal responsibilities and benefits that would make them the legal equivalent of marriage. 

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