Row continues in US over Kerry's lesbian comment
Eric Johnston
Monday 18 October, 2004 11:40
When US Senator John Kerry referred to the lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney during last Wednesday night's presidential debate in Arizona, his statement prompted heated reactions of both support and criticism.
Kerry was responding to a question by moderator Bob Schieffer about whether homosexuality is a choice.
"We're all God's children, Bob," said Kerry, "and I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was. She's being who she was born as. I think if you talk to anybody, it's not a choice."
The reference angered Mary Cheney's mother, Lynne. She called it a "cheap and tawdry political trick" at a post-debate event in Pennsylvania, adding, "Of course, I am speaking as a mom, and a pretty indignant mom."
Schieffer's question went straight to the heart of a thorny campaign issue. Though neither candidate supports marriage rights for same-sex couples, the president favours a constitutional amendment to permanently prohibit gays and lesbians from marrying their partners, while Kerry does not.
During his turn to answer the question, President Bush said he did not know whether people choose to be gay.
Prominent LGBT Democrats in the USA defended Senators Kerry in interviews with the PlanetOut Network.
"The only cheap and tawdry political trick was George W. Bush avoiding the question -- refusing to acknowledge that it's not a choice and feigning compassion while endorsing a discriminatory and divisive marriage amendment," said Brian Richardson, a spokesman for the Democratic Party on LGBT issues.
"The only people who would be upset (by Kerry's statement) are homophobes and self-loathing gay people," added John Marble, communications director for the National Stonewall Democrats.
In an interview with Fox News, White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett called Kerry's reference to Mary Cheney's sexual orientation "inappropriate".
However, the LGBT group Log Cabin Republicans saved its sharpest criticism for the Bush-Cheney campaign.
"Senator Kerry could have made his point about gay and lesbian Americans without mentioning the Vice President's daughter," Log Cabin Executive Director Patrick Guerriero said in a statement.
"However, this shouldn't distract us from the fact that President Bush, Karl Rove and other Republicans have been using gay and lesbian families as a political wedge issue in this campaign." |
