The Evolution of Lynne Cheney

Second lady Lynne Cheney has a new book coming out and she spoke with CBS about it as well as about how she has "evolved" on racism and homophobia:

In Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family, "Cheney acknowledges that her world of prom dates and being homecoming queen was not open to everyone - African Americans, for example. And she writes that the times 'were hard on kids who were gay.' It's an issue that Cheney is sensitive to as the mother of a gay daughter. 'I think the society has evolved,' she said. 'I've evolved in my way of thinking, but I think the whole society has evolved. You know, my mother had a rule which was people are just people.'"

Well, last time I checked, society hadn't evolved much.

And according to Dick, Lynne is way out of line for discussing Mary. Because in the "evolved" world of the Cheneys, you can neither talk about your gay kids, nor offer them equal rights. Unless, of course, you have a book to sell.

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Looking at the Business of Gay "Celebrity" Books

Citing numbers from Nielsen BookScan, the Washington Blade's Katherine Volin looks at the disappointing sales of gay "celebrity" books and what's behind the numbers.

Says Charles Flowers, executive director of Lambda Literary Foundation: "The publishers are looking for a way for someone to sell the book and that’s part of the attraction of a celeb book, they’ve got this platform. I’m not sure people make the leap to, ‘Do I want to read a whole book about this person, or by this person?’ So I think it’s something to be careful about in acquiring a celebrity book. If they’re over-exposed, people may not buy a book about them or by them. They already have their opinion made or think they know the person."

I was a bit surprised by the low numbers, though I'm not sure why. It seems all the promotion in the world can't do as much for book sales as a single appearance on Oprah.

A few of the notable books and their sales numbers:

38,000 — "The Confession" by James McGreevey

19,000 — "Silent Partner" by Dina Matos McGreevey

15,000 — "A Guide to Quality, Taste and Style" by Tim Gunn and Kate Moloney

14,000 — "Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins" by Rupert Everett

9,000 — "Man in the Middle" by John Amaechi
9,000 — "Now It's My Turn" by Mary Cheney

8,000 — "There's Nothing in this Book That I Meant to Say" by Paula Poundstone

6,000 — "Tab Hunter Confidential" by Tab Hunter and Eddie Muller
6,000 — "Here's What We'll Say" by Reichen Lehmkuhl

3,000 — "Alone in the Trenches" by Esera Tuaolo and John Rosengren
3,000 — "Include Me Out" by Farley Granger and Robert Calhoun

1,000 — "I Had to Say Something" by Mike Jones with Same Gallegos
1,000 — "La Dolce Musto" by Michael Musto

Gay books a bust [washington blade]

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Bush Reassured Mary Cheney He Tolerates Her Orientation

Actually, he didn't tell her directly. He told Dick to do it.

Via Andrew Sullivan comes this tidbit from the forthcoming book, Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President. George W. Bush told author Stephen F. Hayes that he asked Dick Cheney to clarify the administration's stance on gay marriage to Cheney's lesbian daughter Mary:

"My only ask was that if his daughter doubted my tolerance to her orientation that I would hope that he would help make it clear to Mary that this is a--I was just worried about--the reason I'd federalized the issue is because I was worried about the courts' defining the issue and that we'd end up with de facto marriage that was not traditionally defined, I guess is the best way to put it."

Sullivan notes that this may be the first time we've ever heard Bush use the word "orientation" with regard to gays and lesbians.

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Fred Phelps Not Throwing a Baby Shower for the Cheneys

Hater Fred Phelps isn't too happy that Mary Cheney and her partner Heather Poe had a baby. Or perhaps he just has a burning need to use the word "irrefragable" again. For those of you interested in hearing Phelps' burning message of hate, check it out after the jump...

And AmericaBlog today noted that the White House, in captioning the Dick and Lynne Cheney grandparent photo by which Phelps is so mesmerized, recognized two unmarried lesbians as "parents" of the child:

"Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne Cheney, welcomed their sixth grandchild, Samuel David Cheney, Wednesday, May 23, 2007. He weighed 8 lbs., 6 oz and was born at 9:46 a.m. at Sibley Hospital in Washington, D.C. His parents are the Cheneys’ daughter Mary, and her partner, Heather Poe. White House photo by David Bohrer."

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Mary Cheney Gives Birth to a Baby Boy

Mary Cheney and her partner Heather Poe gave birth to a baby boy this morning at Sibley Hospital in Washington, D.C. It is the sixth grandchild for Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne.

The baby's name is Samuel David Cheney.

Mary Cheney's partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, will have no legal relationship with the child under Virginia law, according to Jennifer Chisler of Family Pride: "In the state of Virginia, it’s very difficult for lesbian couples to have children together. Heather Poe will have no legal relationship with her child. She can’t adopt as a second parent. She won’t have her name on the birth certificate."

So here's the official photo released by the White House. Somehow I doubt we'll see an official photo of Mary and Heather with the baby.

Family Pride is holding a digital baby shower for the Cheney-Poes.

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Vice President's Lesbian Daughter Mary Cheney Having a Boy

Vice President Dick Cheney revealed that his sixth grandchild, the first out-of-wedlock child for lesbians Mary Cheney and Heather Poe, will be a boy. He broke the news to ABC News Radio, the Washington Post column Reliable Source reported today.

Said Cheney: "I'm delighted I'm about to be a grandparent for the sixth time. I'm looking forward to the arrival of a new grandson."

When asked about the same-sex family's legal standing, Cheney said: "I think each state ought to have the capacity to decide how they want to handle those issues...And I obviously think it's important for us as a society to be tolerant and respectful of whatever arrangements people enter into."

Mary Cheney spoke about the child in February at Barnard College. She said: "When Heather and I decided to have a baby, I knew it wasn’t going to be the most popular decision. [points to womb] This is a baby. This is a blessing from God. It is not a political statement. It is not a prop to be used in a debate, on either side of a political issue. It is my child."

She also defended same-sex parenting, placing her at odds with the positions of the Bush administration's religious right-wing base: "Every piece of remotely responsible research that has been done in the last 20 years has shown there is no difference between children raised by same-sex parents and children raised by opposite-sex parents; what matters is being raised in a stable, loving environment."

The baby is due next month.

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Mary Cheney Disses Dobson, Says Baby "Not a Political Statement"

Speaking to a crowd at Barnard College in Manhattan this week, Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter Mary defended her pregnancy and same-sex parenting:

"When Heather and I decided to have a baby, I knew it wasn’t going to be the most popular decision. [points to womb] This is a baby. This is a blessing from God. It is not a political statement. It is not a prop to be used in a debate, on either side of a political issue. It is my child."

Calling Focus on the Family wingnut James Dobson "not someone whose endorsement I have ever drastically sought," Cheney told the crowd exactly what the Bush administration's religious right-wing base doesn't want to hear:

"Every piece of remotely responsible research that has been done in the last 20 years has shown there is no difference between children raised by same-sex parents and children raised by opposite-sex parents; what matters is being raised in a stable, loving environment."

Following the event, Cheney told the NYT that Wolf Blitzer "was trying to get a rise out of my father" when he asked about the baby during an on-air Situation Room interview. (watch)

The Vice President told Blitzer that his questioning was "out of line".

Mary Cheney Publicly Defends Her Pregnancy [nyt] (via americablog)

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #76

DICK CHENEY: Here's the footage of Wolf Blitzer's "out of line" question to Cheney about his lesbian daughter Mary. If looks could kill. (source: good as you)

FRILLED SHARK: Rare prehistoric shark which typically lives at a depth of 600 meters filmed as it dies near the surface off the coast of Japan.

FLASHBACK: Joan Crawford drunk 1968 airport interview.

STATE OF THE UNION: Keith Olbermann takes a look at Bush's past promises.

Check out more of our guides to the Tube here!

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Dick Cheney: Questions about Lesbian Daughter "Out of Line"

Wolf Blitzer talked to VP Dick Cheney in an interview that aired on The Situation Room today, and at the end of the interview asked about Dick's lesbian daughter Mary. Dick wasn't too happy about that:

Q We're out of time, but a couple of issues I want to raise with you. Your daughter Mary, she's pregnant. All of us are happy. She's going to have a baby. You're going to have another grandchild. Some of the -- some critics, though, are suggesting, for example, a statement from someone representing Focus on the Family:

"Mary Cheney's pregnancy raises the question of what's best for children. Just because it's possible to conceive a child outside of the relationship of a married mother and father, doesn't mean it's best for the child."

Do you want to respond to that?

THE VICE PRESIDENT: No, I don't.

Q She's obviously a good daughter --

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I'm delighted -- I'm delighted I'm about to have a sixth grandchild, Wolf, and obviously think the world of both of my daughters and all of my grandchildren. And I think, frankly, you're out of line with that question.

Q I think all of us appreciate --

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I think you're out of -- I think you're out of line with that question.

Q -- your daughter. We like your daughters. Believe me, I'm very, very sympathetic to Liz and to Mary. I like them both. That was just a question that's come up and it's a responsible, fair question.

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I just fundamentally disagree with your perspective.

The full transcript of Cheney's interview, in which he also dismissed as "hogwash" notions that mistakes made in the Iraq war may have hurt his and the administration's credibility, can be found at the TPM Muckraker.

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News: SF Skyscrapers, Lynne Cheney, Eric Dane, Nemesis

Lynne Cheney doesn't understand the "fuss" over Mary's out-of-wedlock lesbian love child: "Well, I think that it's just very lucky for me that I enjoy being a grandmother and I get to do it for the sixth time. Dick and I both very much looking forward to this new baby."

Eric Dane rocks the business suit.

Sex and the City feature film may be back on track. Kim Cattrall: "I'm just so glad we haven't been missed or forgotten!"

Gay couple wed in Brighton UK on first anniversary of civil partnerships. They are the 680th same-sex couple to legally bond in that city.

Proposed Renzo Piano-designed San Francisco high-rises would dwarf every other building in that city. Piano likens them to a cluster of bamboo shoots.

Senator Sam Brownback continues obsession with gays: "Sen. Sam Brownback, who wants to champion social conservatives in the presidential race, said Tuesday he wants a Senate panel to re-question a judicial nominee who attended a same-sex union ceremony. Brownback, a Kansas Republican, said he wants Michigan state judge Janet Neff to testify about her role in the 2002 Massachusetts ceremony, her legal views on same-sex unions and her ability to be impartial if called upon to rule on such cases."

Jacob and Joshua Miller talk to NewNowNext about their "disfellowship" from the Jehovah's Witnesses: "The whole thing ends up being very painful... I don’t think there’s anything wrong with following a faith and believing in God and worshipping, but as a result of this, I think some people close to us will have their faith shaken and compromised, and that’s really unfortunate."

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Groups React to Mary Cheney Baby Announcement

A few Conservative groups have expressed their dismay at the Mary Cheney baby announcement:

Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America (if you remember, these are the wingnuts that raised a stink over the Armistead Maupin Starbucks coffee cup): "It's very disappointing that a celebrity couple like this would deliberately bring into the world a child that will never have a father. They are encouraging people who don't have the advantages they have." Added Crouse: "Not only is she doing a disservice to her child, she's voiding all the effort her father put into the Bush administration."

All that bigotry gone to waste!

Carrie Gordon Earll, a policy analyst for the conservative Christian ministry Focus on the Family: "Just because you can conceive a child outside a one-woman, one-man marriage doesn't mean it's a good idea. Love can't replace a mother and a father."

Gay rights groups had their say as well:

Family Pride executive director Jennifer Chrisler: "The irony is that the grandfather of this child is part of a party and an administration that has relentlessly attacked gay and lesbian families...Unless they move to a handful of less restrictive states, Heather will never be able to have a legal relationship with her child. [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. 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."

HRC's Joe Solmonese lauded the announcement: "Mary and Heather's decision to have a child is an example that families in America come in all different shapes and sizes. The bottom line is that a family is made up of love and commitment."

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Mary Cheney Said to be Pregnant

Vice President Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter Mary is pregnant, according to a report in the Washington Post:

"Mary Cheney, 37, and her partner of 15 years, Heather Poe, 45, are 'ecstatic' about the baby, due in late spring, The Washington Post reported in Wednesday's editions, quoting an unnamed source close to the couple.

There was no formal announcement of either daughter's pregnancy from the vice president's office, but the Post quoted spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride as saying Tuesday night that 'the vice president and Mrs. Cheney are looking forward with eager anticipation to the arrival of their sixth grandchild.'"

So who's the father? "The Post quoted the source close to the family as saying the circumstances of Mary Cheney's pregnancy will remain private."

Of course it will.

And as AmericaBlog notes, Cheney and Poe live in Virginia, which pretty much offers them no legal rights because of the hateful laws it has passed in the last two years: "Those laws may vitiate any legal agreement between the two, period, about anything. The law ensures that Mary's partner has no legal rights whatsoever in their child, or in what happens to Mary (or vice versa), such as if one partner has to go the hospital, the other can't visit. The law may even nullify any wills that Mary and Heather write regarding each other, and it may make it impossible for gay people to go to court to resolve any difference about anything - the courts can't recognize gay unions, so they can't make any decisions that would imply recognition (custody, hospital visitation, wills, etc.) It's beyond ironic that Virginia's new law, one of the most hateful, bigoted laws on the books, is now targeting the vice president's own daughter and soon-to-be new grandchild."

Indeed.

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Shredding Truck Heads to the Cheney Compound

Via Wonkette comes this photo of the Mid-Atlantic Shredding Services truck headed up to the Cheney compound at the Naval Observatory. Who knows what evidence Dick's minions are destroying as we speak?

Although, there may be erotic lesbian Lynne Cheney fiction manuscripts to dispose of — and of course those four-dozen unsold boxes of Sisters.

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Mary Cheney and Ann Coulter: Together at Last

If you hurry now to Amazon, you can save almost 40% to hear two blond pieholes spout off.

Guess it's really not Mary's turn. Cheney's book, It's My Turn, has sold less than 6,000 copies since its release. PageOneQ notes that "with a reported advance of $1 million, the book's publisher, Simon and Schuster, would need to realize a profit of $166.66 on each book sold so far in order to break even, an impossible goal for a book with a cover price of $25.00."

See you at the bargain bin.

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Mary Cheney: John Kerry a "Son of a Bitch", Edwards "A Total Slime"

That's apparently how Mary Cheney feels about Kerry and Edwards for bringing up the fact that she's a lesbian during the last election's televised debates:

From The Vancouver Sun:

"'John Kerry didn't 'out me', nor did he offend or attack me by calling me a lesbian. It wasn't a secret that I was gay, and I certainly couldn't be offended by the truth,' she writes. 'What was offensive was that he was obviously trying to use me and my sexual orientation for his own political gain.' Sitting in the studio audience when Edwards mentioned her sexual orientation, Cheney said she looked at the vice-presidential candidate and mouthed the words 'Go Fuck Yourself', a phrase her father had earlier employed against Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy."

Some choice words from John Aravosis at AmericaBlog:

Of course, the reason Kerry and Edwards mentioned Mary's gayness is because George Bush decided to use gays as a, if not "the," political issue of the 2004 elections. How did Mary react to Bush using her sexual orientation for his own political gain?

In her interview with Diane Sawyer, Cheney said of Bush: 'I think he's a very good man. On these issues, he hasn't caught up.'

Now you have a much larger window into Mary's mind, and closet. In her own personal Stockholm Syndrome, the gay-bashers who started the fight are good people who just haven't 'caught up' yet. The gay-defenders fighting back are 'sons of bitches,' 'slime,' and need to 'go fuck' themselves.

And yes, we all know that Kerry, Edwards, and most of the Dems, also have a lot of work to do in their support of gay rights.

UPDATE:

Kerry spokesman responds:

"Seems like a suspicious lecture from a political operative who flacked for the most anti-gay administration in history and allowed Karl Rove to divide America for political gain. She’d be more credible if she pushed dad’s administration to support hate crimes legislation and equal rights for gay Americans."

Cheney's daughter provokes mixed reaction on gay issues [vancouver sun]

Previously
Cheney: Mary's Not Your Tool, She's Mine [tr]

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