The Gay Vote: the Third Presidential Debate
By Kevin Mooney 10.28.04

An inflamed Lynn Cheney spoke in Pittsburgh, Pa. to denounce Senator John Kerry for employing a “cheap and tawdry political trick” shortly after the third and final presidential debate.

When he was asked about same-sex marriage and gay rights at the third presidential debate, Kerry used Vice President Cheney’s gay daughter to highlight differences between himself and the Bush administration. 

“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,” Kerry said. “I think if you talk to anybody, it's not choice. I've met people who struggled with this for years, people who were in a marriage because they were living a sort of convention, and they struggled with it.”

Bush and Kerry are both against gay marriage. But, Kerry said he favors “partnership rights.” Kerry said he is also convinced homosexuality is not a choice. And Bush emphasized his support for a constitutional amendment to protect traditional marriage against judicial activism. 

“The surest way to protect marriage between man and woman is to amend the Constitution,” Bush said. “It [the amendment] also has the benefit of allowing citizens to participate in the process. After all, when you amend the Constitution, state legislatures must participate in the ratification of the Constitution.”