'Freedom means freedom for everybody': Dick Cheney's legacy on LGBTQ+ issues Michael Collins, USA TODAYNovember 18, 2025 at 2:00 AM 0 WASHINGTON – It was the first time Dick Cheney broke publicly with George W. Bush over the issue of samesex marriage. But it wouldn't be the last. Bush, the Republican nominee for president in 2000, held the traditional view that marriage should be between a man and a woman.
- - 'Freedom means freedom for everybody': Dick Cheney's legacy on LGBTQ+ issues
Michael Collins, USA TODAYNovember 18, 2025 at 2:00 AM
0
WASHINGTON – It was the first time Dick Cheney broke publicly with George W. Bush over the issue of same-sex marriage. But it wouldn't be the last.
Bush, the Republican nominee for president in 2000, held the traditional view that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Cheney, his running mate, stunned many Americans when he announced during a vice-presidential debate in Kentucky just a month before the election that he believed people should be able to enter into any kind of relationship they wanted.
"Freedom means freedom for everybody," he said, adding that regulating personal behavior in that regard was no one's business.
Four years later, Cheney would again distance himself from Bush over gay marriage in the middle of another election campaign. Referencing his daughter, Mary, who is a lesbian, Cheney said during a town hall meeting in Iowa that gay marriage is "an issue our family is very familiar with" and that a federal constitutional amendment that Bush supported to define marriage as between a man and a woman was unnecessary.
Following reports of former Vice President Dick Cheney's death, explore the lives of his family — from wife Lynne and daughters Liz and Mary to grandchildren — and see how they shaped his public career, with some forging political paths of their own. From left, granddaughters Katie Perry, Grace Perry, Dick Cheney, Lynne Cheney, granddaughter Elizabeth Perry, daughter Liz Cheney Perry, and son-in-law Phillip Perry on Aug. 18, 2004, near Moose, Wyoming.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/noj8K9F class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
Following reports of former Vice President Dick Cheney's death, explore the lives of his family — from wife Lynne and daughters Liz and Mary to grandchildren — and see how they shaped his public career, with some forging political paths of their own. From left, granddaughters Katie Perry, Grace Perry, Dick Cheney, Lynne Cheney, granddaughter Elizabeth Perry, daughter Liz Cheney Perry, and son-in-law Phillip Perry on Aug. 18, 2004, near Moose, Wyoming.
">Following reports of former Vice President Dick Cheney's death, explore the lives of his family — from wife Lynne and daughters Liz and Mary to grandchildren — and see how they shaped his public career, with some forging political paths of their own. From left, granddaughters Katie Perry, Grace Perry, Dick Cheney, Lynne Cheney, granddaughter Elizabeth Perry, daughter Liz Cheney Perry, and son-in-law Phillip Perry on Aug. 18, 2004, near Moose, Wyoming.
" src=https://ift.tt/noj8K9F class=caas-img>Vice President Dick Cheney waves with his family, L-R, daughter Liz Perry, holding grandson Phillip Perry, granddaughters Elizabeth and Kate, wife Lynne, granddaughter Grace and son-in-law Phil Perry at the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City in September, 2004.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/TONx5Dd class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
Vice President Dick Cheney waves with his family, L-R, daughter Liz Perry, holding grandson Phillip Perry, granddaughters Elizabeth and Kate, wife Lynne, granddaughter Grace and son-in-law Phil Perry at the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City in September, 2004.
">Vice President Dick Cheney waves with his family, L-R, daughter Liz Perry, holding grandson Phillip Perry, granddaughters Elizabeth and Kate, wife Lynne, granddaughter Grace and son-in-law Phil Perry at the Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden in New York City in September, 2004.
" src=https://ift.tt/TONx5Dd class=caas-img>Family members of Republican vice-presidential candidate Dick Cheney listen as Cheney addresses the media on his release from George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, November 24, 2000. From Left, Lynne Cheney, his daughter Liz Cheney Perry, her husband Phil Perry, (R), and in front is the Perry's daughter Kate.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/SH1fAMe class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
Family members of Republican vice-presidential candidate Dick Cheney listen as Cheney addresses the media on his release from George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, November 24, 2000. From Left, Lynne Cheney, his daughter Liz Cheney Perry, her husband Phil Perry, (R), and in front is the Perry's daughter Kate.
">Family members of Republican vice-presidential candidate Dick Cheney listen as Cheney addresses the media on his release from George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC, November 24, 2000. From Left, Lynne Cheney, his daughter Liz Cheney Perry, her husband Phil Perry, (R), and in front is the Perry's daughter Kate.
" src=https://ift.tt/SH1fAMe class=caas-img>U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, pose with their sixth grandchild, Samuel David Cheney, in Washington, in this photograph released by the White House on May 23, 2007. Samuel David Cheney is the first baby for the vice president's daughter, Mary Cheney, and her longtime partner, Heather Poe. Samuel weighed 8 lbs, six ounces (about 3.8 kg) at birth at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/faqj9O4 class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, pose with their sixth grandchild, Samuel David Cheney, in Washington, in this photograph released by the White House on May 23, 2007. Samuel David Cheney is the first baby for the vice president's daughter, Mary Cheney, and her longtime partner, Heather Poe. Samuel weighed 8 lbs, six ounces (about 3.8 kg) at birth at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington.
">U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, pose with their sixth grandchild, Samuel David Cheney, in Washington, in this photograph released by the White House on May 23, 2007. Samuel David Cheney is the first baby for the vice president's daughter, Mary Cheney, and her longtime partner, Heather Poe. Samuel weighed 8 lbs, six ounces (about 3.8 kg) at birth at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington.
" src=https://ift.tt/faqj9O4 class=caas-img>Republican presidential nominees George W. Bush (4th L), vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney (5th L) and their families wave to the delegates after Bush's acceptance speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention at the First Union Center in Philadelphia on August 3, 2000.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/8BxRLVn class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
Republican presidential nominees George W. Bush (4th L), vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney (5th L) and their families wave to the delegates after Bush's acceptance speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention at the First Union Center in Philadelphia on August 3, 2000.
">Republican presidential nominees George W. Bush (4th L), vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney (5th L) and their families wave to the delegates after Bush's acceptance speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention at the First Union Center in Philadelphia on August 3, 2000.
" src=https://ift.tt/8BxRLVn class=caas-img>Vice President Dick Cheney (4th R) poses with US Congressman Paul Ryan (C), R-Wisconsin, as his daughter, US Congresswoman Liz Cheney (4th L) is sworn in during the opening of the 115th US Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 3, 2017.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/FBXKfRl class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
Vice President Dick Cheney (4th R) poses with US Congressman Paul Ryan (C), R-Wisconsin, as his daughter, US Congresswoman Liz Cheney (4th L) is sworn in during the opening of the 115th US Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 3, 2017.
">Vice President Dick Cheney (4th R) poses with US Congressman Paul Ryan (C), R-Wisconsin, as his daughter, US Congresswoman Liz Cheney (4th L) is sworn in during the opening of the 115th US Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 3, 2017.
" src=https://ift.tt/FBXKfRl class=caas-img>U.S. Vice president Dick Cheney (L) takes the oath for his second term in office from House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R) at inaugural ceremonies in Washington D.C. January 20, 2005. Cheney's wife Lynn (2nd L), daughters Mary (3rd L) and Liz (2nd R) watch. Watching behind is U.S. President George W. Bush (rear R) and Senator Trent Lott (R-MS).
" data-src=https://ift.tt/7kjtNOg class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
U.S. Vice president Dick Cheney (L) takes the oath for his second term in office from House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R) at inaugural ceremonies in Washington D.C. January 20, 2005. Cheney's wife Lynn (2nd L), daughters Mary (3rd L) and Liz (2nd R) watch. Watching behind is U.S. President George W. Bush (rear R) and Senator Trent Lott (R-MS).
">U.S. Vice president Dick Cheney (L) takes the oath for his second term in office from House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R) at inaugural ceremonies in Washington D.C. January 20, 2005. Cheney's wife Lynn (2nd L), daughters Mary (3rd L) and Liz (2nd R) watch. Watching behind is U.S. President George W. Bush (rear R) and Senator Trent Lott (R-MS).
" src=https://ift.tt/7kjtNOg class=caas-img>Liz Cheney waves to the crowd while holding her daughter, Kate, at the Republican National Convention, August 2, 2000 in Philadelphia. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Newsmakers)
" data-src=https://ift.tt/vMb0wCz class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
Liz Cheney waves to the crowd while holding her daughter, Kate, at the Republican National Convention, August 2, 2000 in Philadelphia. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Newsmakers)
">Liz Cheney waves to the crowd while holding her daughter, Kate, at the Republican National Convention, August 2, 2000 in Philadelphia. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Newsmakers)
" src=https://ift.tt/vMb0wCz class=caas-img>
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary Cheney (2nd R) and her partner Heather Poe (2nd L) hold their hands over their hearts as an honor guard with the U.S. flag walks past during ceremonies in memory of the victims of the September 11 attacks for members of the Bush administration and White House staff on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington September 11, 2006.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/kbef3LK class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary Cheney (2nd R) and her partner Heather Poe (2nd L) hold their hands over their hearts as an honor guard with the U.S. flag walks past during ceremonies in memory of the victims of the September 11 attacks for members of the Bush administration and White House staff on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington September 11, 2006.
">U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary Cheney (2nd R) and her partner Heather Poe (2nd L) hold their hands over their hearts as an honor guard with the U.S. flag walks past during ceremonies in memory of the victims of the September 11 attacks for members of the Bush administration and White House staff on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington September 11, 2006.
" src=https://ift.tt/kbef3LK class=caas-img>Daughters of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, Liz (L) and Mary (R) arrive on the inaugural platform before the start of the swearing-in ceremony for U.S. President George W. Bush January 20, 2005 in Washington, DC. In his inaugural address, President Bush outlined his plans to pursue freedom around the world as well as push a legacy-setting agenda at home championing "freedom in all the world" as the surest path to peace.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/3bVeM7v class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
Daughters of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, Liz (L) and Mary (R) arrive on the inaugural platform before the start of the swearing-in ceremony for U.S. President George W. Bush January 20, 2005 in Washington, DC. In his inaugural address, President Bush outlined his plans to pursue freedom around the world as well as push a legacy-setting agenda at home championing "freedom in all the world" as the surest path to peace.
">Daughters of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, Liz (L) and Mary (R) arrive on the inaugural platform before the start of the swearing-in ceremony for U.S. President George W. Bush January 20, 2005 in Washington, DC. In his inaugural address, President Bush outlined his plans to pursue freedom around the world as well as push a legacy-setting agenda at home championing "freedom in all the world" as the surest path to peace.
" src=https://ift.tt/3bVeM7v class=caas-img>In this handout photo provided by Fox News, Mary Cheney appears on "Fox News Sunday" from the "Fox News Sunday" studios May 14, 2006 in Washington, DC.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/6iLZkdR class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
In this handout photo provided by Fox News, Mary Cheney appears on "Fox News Sunday" from the "Fox News Sunday" studios May 14, 2006 in Washington, DC.
">In this handout photo provided by Fox News, Mary Cheney appears on "Fox News Sunday" from the "Fox News Sunday" studios May 14, 2006 in Washington, DC.
" src=https://ift.tt/6iLZkdR class=caas-img>Former US vice president Dick Cheney (R) and his daughter Mary Cheney attend the centennial birthday celebration for former US president Ronald Reagan at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California February 6, 2011.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/m6l5Ui9 class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
Former US vice president Dick Cheney (R) and his daughter Mary Cheney attend the centennial birthday celebration for former US president Ronald Reagan at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California February 6, 2011.
">Former US vice president Dick Cheney (R) and his daughter Mary Cheney attend the centennial birthday celebration for former US president Ronald Reagan at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California February 6, 2011.
" src=https://ift.tt/m6l5Ui9 class=caas-img>384539 04: Dick Cheney, with his daughter Liz holding the Bible, is sworn in as Vice President of the United States by Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist January 20, 2001 outside the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/0RS4aOB class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
384539 04: Dick Cheney, with his daughter Liz holding the Bible, is sworn in as Vice President of the United States by Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist January 20, 2001 outside the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC.
">384539 04: Dick Cheney, with his daughter Liz holding the Bible, is sworn in as Vice President of the United States by Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist January 20, 2001 outside the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC.
" src=https://ift.tt/0RS4aOB class=caas-img>Vice President Dick Cheney, accompanied by his wife Lynn, who is his campaign manager, traveled by bus through eastern Pennsylvania in Wilkes-Barre on Aug. 25, 2004.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/He0Ziz8 class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
Vice President Dick Cheney, accompanied by his wife Lynn, who is his campaign manager, traveled by bus through eastern Pennsylvania in Wilkes-Barre on Aug. 25, 2004.
">Vice President Dick Cheney, accompanied by his wife Lynn, who is his campaign manager, traveled by bus through eastern Pennsylvania in Wilkes-Barre on Aug. 25, 2004.
" src=https://ift.tt/He0Ziz8 class=caas-img>In this handout image provided by David Hume Kennerly, former Vice President Dick Cheney (L) hugs his daughter Liz Cheney after she won the Republican primary for the U.S. Congress August 16, 2016 in Wilson, Wyoming. Vice President Cheney was formerly the U.S. Congressman from Wyoming.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/P03zyq6 class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
In this handout image provided by David Hume Kennerly, former Vice President Dick Cheney (L) hugs his daughter Liz Cheney after she won the Republican primary for the U.S. Congress August 16, 2016 in Wilson, Wyoming. Vice President Cheney was formerly the U.S. Congressman from Wyoming.
">In this handout image provided by David Hume Kennerly, former Vice President Dick Cheney (L) hugs his daughter Liz Cheney after she won the Republican primary for the U.S. Congress August 16, 2016 in Wilson, Wyoming. Vice President Cheney was formerly the U.S. Congressman from Wyoming.
" src=https://ift.tt/P03zyq6 class=caas-img>The morning after the 2000 election without a clear winner, vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney talks with daughter Liz Cheney and advisers at the Four Seasons Hotel on November 8, 2000.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/m6Y7i2V class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
The morning after the 2000 election without a clear winner, vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney talks with daughter Liz Cheney and advisers at the Four Seasons Hotel on November 8, 2000.
">The morning after the 2000 election without a clear winner, vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney talks with daughter Liz Cheney and advisers at the Four Seasons Hotel on November 8, 2000.
" src=https://ift.tt/m6Y7i2V class=caas-img>In this handout photo provided by the White House, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne Cheney pose with their fifth grandchild, Richard Jonathan Perry, July 11, 2006 in Washington, DC. Richard Jonathan Perry was born at today at 11:19 a.m. at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington and weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces. The child's parents are Liz Cheney and Phil Perry.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/1LXAVvY class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
In this handout photo provided by the White House, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne Cheney pose with their fifth grandchild, Richard Jonathan Perry, July 11, 2006 in Washington, DC. Richard Jonathan Perry was born at today at 11:19 a.m. at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington and weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces. The child's parents are Liz Cheney and Phil Perry.
">In this handout photo provided by the White House, U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne Cheney pose with their fifth grandchild, Richard Jonathan Perry, July 11, 2006 in Washington, DC. Richard Jonathan Perry was born at today at 11:19 a.m. at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington and weighed 7 pounds, 4 ounces. The child's parents are Liz Cheney and Phil Perry.
" src=https://ift.tt/1LXAVvY class=caas-img>Former Vice President Dick Cheney (L) and his daughter Liz Cheney (R) visit FOX News Channel's 'Hannity' regarding their new book at FOX Studios on August 31, 2015 in New York City.
" data-src=https://ift.tt/2nHCXvh class=caas-img data-headline="See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren" data-caption="
Former Vice President Dick Cheney (L) and his daughter Liz Cheney (R) visit FOX News Channel's 'Hannity' regarding their new book at FOX Studios on August 31, 2015 in New York City.
">Former Vice President Dick Cheney (L) and his daughter Liz Cheney (R) visit FOX News Channel's 'Hannity' regarding their new book at FOX Studios on August 31, 2015 in New York City.
" src=https://ift.tt/2nHCXvh class=caas-img>
1 / 19See inside Dick Cheney's family: Photos of Liz, Mary, Lynne and his grandchildren
Following reports of former Vice President Dick Cheney's death, explore the lives of his family — from wife Lynne and daughters Liz and Mary to grandchildren — and see how they shaped his public career, with some forging political paths of their own. From left, granddaughters Katie Perry, Grace Perry, Dick Cheney, Lynne Cheney, granddaughter Elizabeth Perry, daughter Liz Cheney Perry, and son-in-law Phillip Perry on Aug. 18, 2004, near Moose, Wyoming.
Yet despite his early support of same-sex couples, Cheney, who died on Nov. 3, leaves behind a complicated legacy on LGBTQ+ issues.
Though he opposed a federal marriage amendment, he never lobbied publicly against it. And not only did he remain on the ticket in 2004 despite their differences, but Bush and Cheney's political campaign turned gay marriage into a wedge issue to drive conservative voters to the polls and help them win a second term.
"He could have either stood up or stood down, and he chose to stay on the ticket," said Brian Bond, chief executive officer of PFLAG, a national nonprofit dedicated to LGBTQ+ people and their families. "I absolutely believe he loved his daughter. But he was a person of power and privilege. And at that moment, he was trying to split the baby. And I'm not sure that necessarily helped anyone."
A pugnacious reputation: Cheney embraced 'Darth Vader' persona shaped by wars, national security fights
Stephen Herbits, a gay man who knew Cheney for five decades, said Cheney believed deeply that Republicans should win the election and probably feared that "if he became too strong on the (marriage) issue, it would have affected Bush's chances."
"I don't think he wanted that responsibility," Herbits said, "because he was a true conservative believer."
Herbits worked as a consultant to Cheney years earlier during Cheney's transition to becoming Defense secretary under President George H.W. Bush in 1989. Herbits took on similar duties under Donald Rumsfeld, who served as Defense secretary for six years under George W. Bush and Cheney.
Herbits said neither Cheney nor Rumsfeld – nor anyone else in the administration, for that matter – treated him any differently because of his sexual orientation. "I was fairly well known as an out gay person at that point," he said. But, "it wasn't an issue."
Vice President Dick Cheney listens as President George W. Bush makes a statement about a war supplemental funding bill and answers questions from the press in the White House Rose Garden on April 3, 2007.'I don't want you to resign'
Being gay did turn into an issue for Pete Williams, who served as the Pentagon's chief spokesman when Cheney was Defense secretary.
Pentagon policy at the time barred gay men and women from serving in the military, and many gay service members were subject to investigations and then driven from the military because of their sexual orientation.
Williams, whose orientation wasn't widely known, was outed in an article published in 1991 by The Advocate, an LGBTQ+ magazine. The article sought to call attention to the unfairness of a discriminatory policy that targeted service members but was not equally applied to civilian employees in positions of power.
Williams, like Cheney, was from Wyoming. He had worked for Cheney when he was in Congress and then followed him to the Pentagon. He'd never had a conversation with Cheney about his sexual orientation. But when The Advocate article was about to land, he went into Cheney's office to give him a heads-up.
"I said, 'I'm here to resign – I certainly don't want this to be a problem for you or the administration," Williams recalled in an interview with USA TODAY.
Cheney refused to accept his resignation. "He said, 'No, absolutely not – I don't want you to resign,' and said so in no uncertain terms like, 'Get back down to your office and get to work,'" Williams said.
The phone on Williams' desk included a button that, when pressed, would ring directly into Cheney's office. For days after their conversation about the upcoming magazine article, "I would be sitting at my desk, and every once in a while, the 'SECDEF' button would light up," Williams said. "I'd pick up the phone, and he'd say, 'Doing OK? Everything all right?' He was tremendously supportive of me, and I was grateful for that."
Herbits said Cheney asked him to talk to Williams and persuade him not to quit. "Dick had mentioned to the president that he wanted him to stay," Herbits said. "And the president said, basically, there ain't no problem with it."
Williams stayed on the job through the end of George H.W. Bush's term as president in 1993 and later became a justice correspondent for NBC News.
'Unwavering sense of duty': See how former presidents and VPs reacted to Dick Cheney's death
On marriage equality, gay-rights activists applaud Cheney for standing up for same-sex unions at a time when federal law defined marriage as a legal union between a man and a woman. Cheney's view was that the regulation of marriage should be left to the states, not the federal government. But he also noted that Bush was the president, not him, and that Bush supported a federal constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage.
During the 2004 presidential campaign, the Log Cabin Republicans, which is made up of LGBTQ+ Republicans and their allies, used Cheney's remarks in a 30-second television ad to help make the case against a federal marriage amendment. The ad showed footage of Cheney during the 2000 vice-presidential debate saying different states may come to different conclusions on gay marriage and that there shouldn't necessarily be a federal policy on the issue.
The words "We agree" then appeared on the screen.
Cheney's daughter, Mary, married her partner, Heather Poe, in 2012. The couple has two children.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney and daughter Mary Cheney attend the centennial birthday celebration for Ronald Reagan at the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on Feb. 6, 2011.A brave decision or a missed opportunity?
In some ways, though, Cheney's remarks that gay marriage should be a decision left to the states made it harder to gain federal recognition of same-sex unions, said Luce Remy of Family Equality, a nonprofit that works on behalf of LGBTQ+ families.
"I do genuinely believe that he loved his daughter and cared for his grandchildren," said Remy, the organization's vice president of public policy. "But I think Cheney's stance allowed Republicans to be able to say I know and love gay people, but I am still conservative, and these things should be left to the states."
Cheney's belief that a federal marriage amendment wasn't needed "was probably perceived by some or many as brave, but he was not actually out of lockstep with the administration because saying it isn't necessary isn't saying you shouldn't do it," Remy said.
Same-sex marriage would not be legalized in all 50 states until 2015, when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that held that marriage is a fundamental right and that state marriage bans were unconstitutional. A decade after that decision, the high court refused on Nov. 10 to revisit the case, rejecting an appeal by Kim Davis, a former county clerk in Kentucky who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, citing her religious beliefs.
Obergefell ruling: Kim Davis refused same-sex marriage license in 2015. Now she wants to cancel gay marriage.
Cheney had an opportunity to influence the debate over federal support of marriage back in 2000 and 2004, Remy said, but he missed that moment.
"What his heart wanted him to do and what politics needed him to do were vastly different," she said. "And I think he will be judged by what he did politically more than what his heart wanted."
Michael Collins writes about the intersection of politics and culture. A veteran reporter, he has covered the White House and Congress. Follow him on X: @mcollinsNEWS
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Dick Cheney leaves complicated legacy on LGBTQ+ issues
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Published: November 18, 2025 at 10:54AM on Source: MORNING MAG
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