Cheneys Battle Over Gay Marriage

Two Daughters Take to TV, Facebook in Dispute.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney offered public support Monday to his daughter Liz, who is running for a U.S. Senate seat from Wyoming, as a family dispute over gay marriage unfolded on TV and social media.

Liz Cheney opposes same-sex marriage, a position she reiterated in an interview Sunday. Her sister, Mary, married her longtime female partner last year in Washington, D.C.

On Sunday, Mary and her wife, Heather Poe, used their Facebook FB +1.16% pages to criticize Liz as hypocritical for telling the couple that she was happy for them at the time of their marriage but, in public, saying that gays shouldn’t have the right to marry.

On Monday, Mr. Cheney and his wife, Lynne, said that Liz has always supported a “traditional definition of marriage” and that “her many kindnesses shouldn’t be used to distort her position.” Mr. Cheney has been working to help Liz in her Senate race.

“This is an issue we have dealt with privately for many years, and we are pained to see it become public,” the Cheney parents said. “Compassion is called for, even when there is disagreement about such a fundamental matter.”

The Cheney family dispute reflects a larger disagreement inside the GOP. Most in the party have long opposed gay marriage, but younger Republicans tend to support it. This year, three Republican senators said they were in favor of gay marriage, and 10 Republicans voted for a Senate bill banning workplace discrimination against gays, lesbians and transgender people.

Dick and Lynne Cheney announced their support for gay marriage when Mr. Cheney was George W. Bush’s vice president. With his rock-solid conservative credentials, the matter did little to alter his standing with conservatives. There also was little chance that the Bush administration would do anything to advance gay marriage.

By contrast, Liz Cheney, who is challenging Wyoming Sen. Mike Enzi in the state’s GOP primary next year, has been battling accusations that she is too liberal on gay rights. The group American Principles Fund has aired a TV ad in the Wyoming market that criticizes Ms. Cheney for opposing a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and woman and for supporting the State Department’s decision to extend benefits to same-sex partners of employees.

American Principles Fund spent about $140,000 to run the spot during three weeks last month and will consider more ads, said Sarah Huckabee Sanders, executive director of the group.

On Sunday, Liz Cheney told Fox News, “I do believe in the traditional definition of marriage.” Asked about her sister, she said, “Listen, I love Mary very much. I love her family very much. This is just an issue on which we disagree.”

That prompted a quick rebuttal from Mary Cheney and her wife, Ms. Poe.

“Liz has been a guest in our home, has spent time and shared holidays with our children, and when Mary and I got married in 2012—she didn’t hesitate to tell us how happy she was for us,” Ms. Poe wrote on Facebook. “To have her now say she doesn’t support our right to marry is offensive to say the least.”

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