Liz Cheney, the daughter of former vice
president Dick Cheney, on Sunday reiterated that she's opposed to gay
marriage.
Cheney, who is challenging Wyoming
Senator Mike Enzi in the upcoming Republican primary, was attacked in
a TV ad for her stances on the issue.
After a male announcer describes cabler
MSNBC as “the go-to network for Barack Obama and Washington's
liberal elites,” a clip of Cheney in a 2009 appearance on the
network is played.
“In Wyoming, Cheney campaigns as a
conservative,” the narrator states in the ad. “In Washington,
she appears on MSNBC to campaign against the marriage amendment and
support government benefits for gay couples.”
In an appearance Sunday on Fox
News Sunday, Cheney said she is opposed to discrimination
based on sexual orientation and allowing gay couples to marry.
Host Chris Wallace asked if it was a
flip for her to come out against marriage equality after she publicly
opposed amending the constitution to limit marriage to heterosexual
couples and supported offering benefits to the same-sex partners of
federal employees.
“Some of your conservative critics
and, frankly, some of the Enzi people, say that you have flipped
positions on some issues to try to attract voters that you didn't
previously hold,” Wallace said. “You now say that you oppose
same sex marriage, but they point out that in 2009, you opposed a
constitutional amendment – I know you say it's a state issue –
constitutional amendment that would have banned same sex marriage and
they point out that you supported the State Department offering
benefits to same sex partners. They say that's a flip.”
“It's not, and I stand by both of
those positions,” Cheney said. “I don't believe we ought to
discriminate against people because of their sexual orientation. If
people are in a same-sex relationship and they want their partner to
be able to have health benefits or be designated as a beneficiary in
your life insurance, there's no reason we shouldn't do that.”
“I also don't support amending the
Constitution on this issue. I do believe it's an issue that's got to
be left up to the states. I do believe in the traditional definition
of marriage.”
Cheney's sister, Mary Cheney, who is
married to a woman, has criticized her sister's position on the issue
as “dead wrong.”
“Listen, I love Mary very much. I
love her family very much. This is just an issue on which we
disagree,” she said.