Friday, May 9, 2008
Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter, Mary, is expected to stump for the GOP ticket. As the gay corporate relations manager for Coors, she knows all about the hard sell.
Jul 29, 2000 | The gay rights battle appears poised to enter the presidential campaign in an unlikely way. Republican vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney has a lesbian daughter, and friends report she has already put off grad school to play an active role on the campaign trail.
Mary Cheney, 31, is not just any lesbian. Until May, she was the lesbian/gay corporate relations manager for the once-notoriously anti-gay Coors Brewing Co. In that role she became a key player in the pivotal "movement vs. market" debate raging inside the gay activist community, representing the point of view that corporate America is a better friend than government in advancing the cause of gay rights.
Gay leaders don't know what to expect from the surprise addition of a candidate with an openly gay daughter to the Republican ticket. While both Cheney and George W. Bush have been opposed to many gay rights measures, some advocates think the presence of Mary Cheney can't help but advance the cause of social acceptance for gays in both parties.
Judging from her efforts on behalf of Coors, Cheney will go the extra mile for a cause she believes in. To get gay advocates to drop their support for a Coors boycott, for instance, she traveled the country with the winner of the International Mr. Leather 1999 competition -- a hugely popular event on the gay-bar circuit -- meeting with gay leaders to advance the Coors cause.
Friends describe Cheney as extremely close to her father and fiercely loyal to the family. She takes frequent hunting and fishing trips with him; they recently returned from an excursion to South America.
"Family trumps everything," said Bob Witeck, chairman of a public relations firm specializing in gay marketing. He has worked with Coors on its gay strategy, been a close advisor to Cheney and spoken with her since the announcement. "They will close ranks and succeed together," he said. "All other considerations go aside."
On Sunday, the issue of Cheney's sexuality took an odd twist, when her mother Lynne denied ABC's Cokie Roberts' assertion that Mary Cheney has "declared that she is openly gay." An irritated Lynne Cheney shot back: "Mary has never declared such a thing. I would like to say that I'm appalled at the media interest in one of my daughters. I have two wonderful daughters. I love them very much. They are bright; they are hard-working; they are decent. And I simply am not going to talk about their personal lives. And I'm surprised, Cokie, that even you would want to bring it up on this program."
Lynne Cheney's outburst raises a crucial question: Will Mary Cheney be as open about her sexual orientation on the campaign trail as she has been in Denver?
The blond, athletic Cheney stands only medium height, but strikes a commanding physical presence. "She comes across as a cross between a young businesswoman and tennis star," said Human Rights Campaign spokesman David Smith.
She has been open about her sexuality for years, living with her partner in the quiet mountain town of Conifer, southwest of Denver. She plays a highly visible role in the gay community through her work, but retires to the mountains nights and weekends, and isn't widely seen on the Denver social circuit. She's an avid hockey player and golfer and enjoys hiking and outdoor activities.
"She's pretty mainstream American," one friend said. Friends and colleagues describe her as bright, direct and "universally respected." Most spoke on condition of anonymity, and Cheney did not return calls seeking comment on her new role.
"She's tough, very tough," a colleague said. "She'll look you straight in the face and tell you how she feels. No sugar-coating." The direct approach didn't sit well with everyone, and she was respected at Coors but also made a few enemies.
Cheney left Coors in May, and was accepted to the MBA program at the University of Colorado. She was set to begin classes next month, but friends say she has already decided to defer school to work for the campaign. "How often does your father run for vice president?" a friend asked her. The dean's office reports that she has not yet signed up for classes, though that process is still underway for incoming students.
Some gay activists wonder how Cheney can stump for a ticket considered antagonistic to gay rights. Bush opposes workplace anti-discrimination laws, supports a ban on gay adoptions and says he wouldn't allow gays to serve openly in the military. In May he killed the Texas hate crime law because it included sexual orientation. And earlier this year he refused to meet with Log Cabin Republican leaders during the primary campaign, though he later met local Log Cabin leaders at a widely hailed reconciliation meeting.
Dick Cheney has also had a dubious record on gay rights issues. In Congress, he voted against the Hate Crimes Statistics Act of 1988, and was one of 13 House members to oppose the first major AIDS testing/counseling bill the same year. He was a vocal opponent of open gay military service, both as defense secretary and later during congressional hearings which led to the "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the Clinton administration.
But Cheney publicly supported his defense spokesman Pete Williams when he was outed by the Advocate in 1991. "I have operated on the basis over the years with respect to my personal staff that I don't ask them about their private lives," Cheney said. "As long as they perform their professional responsibilities in a responsible manner, their private lives are their business."
Mary Cheney is used to walking a twisting political line. Working for Coors, she was representing a company hated by many gay activists, trying to burnish its image. But she was also charged by Coors with promoting the gay cause with the company's beer distributors, hardly the most gay-friendly group in America.
"Beer distributors aren't the most educated on the gay and lesbian market," a Cheney colleague said diplomatically.
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