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Gay Mary Cheney pregnant
By FREE PRESS NEWS SERVICES |
WASHINGTON — Mary Cheney, the openly gay daughter of U.S Vice-President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, is pregnant.
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Mary Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are expecting a baby, said Lea Anne McBride, a spokesperson for the vice-president. The baby is due in late spring. “The vice-president and Mrs. Cheney are looking forward with eager anticipation to the arrival of their sixth granddaughter,” McBride said. The vice-president’s other, older daughter, Elizabeth, is on leave as deputy assistant secretary of state after having her fifth child with her husband in July.
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Given the wonderful debate I had with State Ass. Chuck DeVore on the Red County blog a couple of days ago, I find this bit of news absolutely wonderful.
Vice President Cheney is going to be a grandpa again! I have to wonder how the right wing conservatives feel about this child. What bothers them more: that a gay woman is having a child with her committed partner (and, who knows, David Crosby?) or that the vice president’s daughter is having a child out of wedlock, nevermind that she’s not allowed to marry anyway.
Will Mr. DeVore offer an opinion on the impact of this child growing up in a household without a father? What about James Dobson? Jerry Falwell? Ralph Reed? Ann Coulter? Sean Hannity once told a talk show caller who was a gay mother that he felt sorry for her child. Wonder if he feels this way about Mary Cheney’s baby.ÂÂ
I hope this is an ocassion for the right wing to seriously examine their definition of a family and what really matters is the love and support the child gets from his or her parents.ÂÂ
I am happy for Mary Cheney, her partner and her parents. This is a wanted child and I hope that Mary has a trouble free pregnancy.
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An Update:
Groups mixed on Mary Cheney‘s pregnancy
2006/12
By DAVID CRARY, AP National Writer 14 minutes ago
NEW YORK – Conservative leaders voiced dismay Wednesday at news that Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Dick Cheney , is pregnant, while a gay-rights group said the vice president faces “a lifetime of sleepless nights” for serving in an administration that has opposed recognition of same-sex couples.
“The vice president and Mrs. Cheney are looking forward with eager anticipation” to the arrival of their sixth grandchild, McBride said.
Family Pride, which advocates on behalf of gay and lesbian families, noted that Virginia last month became one of 27 states with a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
The couple “will quickly face the reality that no matter how loved their child will be. … he or she will never have the same protections that other children born to heterosexual couples enjoy,” Chrisler said. “Grandfather Cheney will no doubt face a lifetime of sleepless nights as he reflects on the irreparable harm he and his administration have done to the millions of American gay and lesbian parents and their children.”
Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America described the pregnancy as “unconscionable.”
Crouse said there was no doubt that the news would, in conservatives‘ eyes, be damaging to the Bush administration, which already has been chided by some leaders on the right for what they felt was halfhearted commitment to anti-abortion and anti-gay-rights causes in this year‘s general election.
“Just because you can conceive a child outside a one-woman, one-man marriage doesn‘t mean it‘s a good idea,” said. “Love can‘t replace a mother and a father.”
The news was welcomed by the president of the largest national gay-rights group, Joe Solmonese of the Human Rights Campaign.
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***Now back in the OC, it appears we have the first online reference ofthis blessed event on the blogs anyway. Nothing in Total Buzz, Orange Punch, Red County, or even Hugh Hewitt. Nothing on Orange Juice or Powder Blue. Not even a snarky reference on OC Weekly, but then again, I haven’t checked the news pages.
Shall we send Mary and her dad a copy of “Heather Has Two Mommies?”
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mary cheney is a disgrace. she worked hard to put people into office who would gladly marginilize her child and use her family as an election year polarizer.
***Now back in the OC, it appears we have the first online reference ofthis blessed event on the blogs anyway. Nothing in Total Buzz, Orange Punch, Red County, or even Hugh Hewitt. Nothing on Orange Juice or Powder Blue. Not even a snarky reference on OC Weekly, but then again, I haven’t checked the news pages.
Maybe because it has zilch to do with Orange County.
Ah grasshopper, there are a number of gays and lesbians in the OC would would really like to get married and have a family through one partner’s biological matter or adoption. And given the strong conservative leanings of some in this county, this pregnancy is already a topic of water cooler debate in OC. It hs to make you guys a tad unconfortable, like when Brokeback Mountain came out.
This is a question for any lawyer out there. Is there any potential paternal financial liability for the sperm donor down the road? Let’s say for argument sakes that Mary Cheney tries to go after the sperm donor for child support because she becomes poor down the road(not that this would ever happen to a former VP’s daughter, but I was just wondering). I’m guessing there’s some sort of waiver involved that Ms. Cheney has to sign.
You go Mary C.! Since Mary and Dick and Lynne seem unwilling to stick up for Mary’s rights as an American, maybe this birth will be a turning point. Maybe they will love this child enough to do all they can to ensure that it will not suffer legally or be stigmatized emotionally by an unwelcome and sometimes hostile society.
One can hope!