Rep. Liz Cheney says she was “wrong” to oppose same-sex marriage despite having a gay sister who is married with children.
Cheney had previously opposed same-sex marriage in 2013, a contrasting view to her father and former Vice President Dick Cheney, who expressed his support for it.
In an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes that aired on 26 September, the show’s host Lesley Stahl reminded Cheney of her prior stance on the subject.
“I was wrong. I was wrong,” she responded. “I love my sister very much. I love her family very much, and I was wrong.
“It’s a very personal issue and very personal for my family. I believe that my dad was right, and my sister and I have had that conversation.”
Earlier in 2021, Cheney was stripped of her position as the third-ranking Republican in the House as a result of her vocal opposition to former President Donald Trump’s repeated false claims of election fraud.
Cheney, who has been the U.S. Representative for Wyoming’s at-large congressional district since 2017, said Americans have a responsibility to “work against discrimination of all kinds in our country, in our state.”
“We were at an event a few nights ago and, and there was a young woman who said she doesn’t feel safe sometimes because she’s transgender — and nobody should feel unsafe. Freedom means freedom for everybody.”
Despite this, Cheney voted against the Equality Act in February 2021 – something that aimed to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in an array of areas, including employment and housing.
Her original comments opposing gay marriage were made in an interview on Fox News Sunday eight years ago.
Cheney said she believed “in the traditional definition of marriage,” regardless of her sister, Mary, being a lesbian.
“I love Mary very much. I love her family very much. This is just an issue on which we disagree,” she said in 2013.
In a post on social media at the time, her sister wrote: “Liz — this isn’t just an issue on which we disagree — you’re just wrong — and on the wrong side of history.”
Gay marriage was legalised in America in 2015 as a result of a landmark Supreme Court ruling.
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