Speaking at the National Press Club for the Gerald R. Ford Foundation journalism awards, Cheney was asked about recent rulings and legislative action in Iowa and elsewhere that allowed for gay couples to legally wed.
“I think that freedom means freedom for everyone,” replied the former V.P. “As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish. The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statute to protect this, I don’t support. I do believe that the historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue and I think that is the way it ought to be handled, on a state-by-state basis. … But I don’t have any problem with that. People ought to get a shot at that.”
I think that he’s wrong that it won’t become a federal issue. If enough states allow gay marriage, there will be pressure on the U.S. government to accept it on a federal level as well (such as U.S. tax forms and SS benefits). So Dick Cheney joins the ranks with Steve Schmidt, Meaghan McCain and Ted Olson. Again I ask, wouldn’t the time to have done something have been when you were actually in power?
Video of the remarks:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5jefmsqBG8&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]