We’ve all heard quite a bit about Kerry’s invocation of Mary Cheney at the debates on Wednesday. Many people, like me, thought it was an innapropriate use of the un-involved daughter of a politician. That was, until I knew that Miss Cheney has used her lesbianity as a campaign piece for both the Bush/Cheney campaign as well as that of CO Senate candidate Pete Coors. In a fantastically informative summary of columnists across the web, Howard Kurtz, the media analyst for the Washington Post samples the mood of the media on this story.
So, I’ve changed my opinion to say that there was nothing wrong with Kerry’s statement. In particular, imagine a slightly different situation. As suggested by the link above, if in a discussion on immigration, John Kerry’s wife was brought up, would anyone be aghast at that? I don’t think so. She’s campaigned for Kerry and appeared in public as a campaign piece. Now, the wife vs. daughter situation is obviously different. But, for those who, knowing that Mary Cheney is involved in the campaign, are still shocked and disgusted by Kerry’s statement, are they shocked because Kerry pointed out that she’s a lesbian? And what does that say about those people? Being a lesbian is nothing for anyone to gasp about. Subtle, hidden bigotry.
