Some Explaining to Do
Jason Kuznicki on Oct 14th 2004
It seems that most people with whom I tend to agree have completely disagreed with me about Kerry’s mention of Mary Cheney in last night’s debate. Kerry said,
KERRY: We’re all God’s children, Bob. 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.
In my liveblogging reaction, I replied,
Kerry’s response was crass. Dredging up Dick Cheney’s daughter only shows how poorly informed he, too, his about gay issues–and how uncomfortable all politicians are in general with them.
Since then, Dave Jansing, Ed Brayton, Ted Barlow of Crooked Timber, and Andrew Sullivan have all come down on the opposite side of the issue, more or less. Sullivan writes,
The only way you can believe that citing Mary Cheney amounts to “victimization” is if you believe someone’s sexual orientation is something shameful. Well, it isn’t. What’s revealing is that this truly does expose the homophobia of so many - even in the mildest “we’ll-tolerate-you-but-shut-up-and-don’t-complain” form.
In criticizing Kerry, I’ve got some unusual company, including The National Review and Little Green Footballs, a site that I will not even dignify with a link. Google it. And while you’re there, do a search for “LGF” and “Dearborn Iraqis.” Read the comments, and you’ll know why they don’t deserve a link.
So… I’ve clearly got some explaining to do.
My problem with Kerry’s statement is actually fairly simple: He used Mary Cheney to illustrate that being gay or lesbian is not a choice. But I’ve never once heard Mary Cheney weigh in on either side of this issue–and I know that quite frequently, lesbians will say that being a lesbian absolutely was a choice for them. I’d be less dubious it were a gay man in question, because men almost never claim that they chose to be homosexual. With women, the issue is considerably tricker, at least as far as I have observed.
Kerry’s response struck me as crass, not because it outed Mary Cheney or stereotyped her in some way, but because it purported to speak for her on a tremendously intimate subject, about which there really is significant disagreement. Of course, in liveblogging, one scarcely has time to make such subtle distinctions. Still, I thought I’d edge away, just a bit, from some of those with whom I’ve been associated.
Filed in The Basement