people does not pertain to you."

This statement was condescending and insulting when

Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush made it to

openly gay Democrat Texas legislator Glen Maxey in the

Texas House chamber in April, 1999.

It's bad enough to make a remark like that to a

political adversary. So, what kind of parent would treat

his own daughter that way?

None other than Bush's choice as a running mate, Dick

Cheney, and his wife, right wing conservative activist,

Lynne.

Lynne Cheney made her first public mark in 1986 as the

chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities

appointed by Ronald Reagan. Lynne Cheney staked her claim

as a conservative cultural warrior when she decried the

sister agency, the National Endowment for the Arts funding

of the photographic exhibit by Robert Maplethorpe,

specifically targeting the photos of a homoerotic nature.

Lynne Cheney has not dampened her homophobic actions

or rhetoric to this day. In 1992 she co-founded the

Independent Womens Forum, a polemicist organization

combating the National Organization for Women's work for

gender and sexual orientation equality.

No one should forget Lynne Cheney as the voice of

"family values" as a host of CNN's Crossfire.

Dick Cheney's anti-gay record in congress and as

Secretary of Defense has been well publicized and for the

sake of space, does not need to be restated here, except to

say that he is one of the least gay-friendly national

officials to ever hold office.

Enter Mary Cheney, 31, lesbian, and the daughter of

Dick and Lynne. She is blonde, athletic, and has been open

about her sexual orientation for many years. Mary and her

partner live in Conifer, Colorado, a suburb of Denver.

Until May of this year, Mary Cheney was the

lesbian/gay corporate relations manager for Coors Brewing

Company. Coors was once boycotted by the GLBT community for its anti-gay political activity. In the early 1990's Coors

did marketing analysis and discovered that the boycott was

costing them money. It was at that time that the company

changed its structure so the anti-gay Coors family could,

through the Coors Foundation, still use corporate profits

to conduct its political activity, while the public

corporation sought a softer, more inclusive image - a

strategy familiar to the Bush/Cheney campaign as it defines

itself as "compassionate conservatism."

It was Mary Cheney's job to sell the GLBT community on

Coors and get the boycotts dropped. Anyone that has been to

a GLBT bar recently can testify to her succcess at selling

Coors.

But Mary Cheney has apparently not been so successful

selling herself to her parents.

Sources close to the family agree that she is a fierce

supporter of her father and will put all other

considerations aside to help get him elected.

Dick and Lynne have not shown the same loyalty to

their daughter.

Most revealing was the July 30 ABC News interview of

Lynne by Cokie Roberts. The issue of Mary's being gay had

just surfaced in the mainstream media and Roberts asked if

her sexual orientation should be a campaign issue.

An indignant Lynne reflexively snapped, "Mary has

never declared such a thing!" She continued, "I would like

to say that I am appalled at the media interest in one of

my daughters. I have two wonderful daughters. I love them

very much. They are bright, they are hard-working, they are

decent. And I simply am not going to talk about their

personal lives. And I'm surprised, Cokie, that even you

would want to bring it up on this program."

Given the anti-gay record of the Bush and Cheney

ticket, there should be no question that Mary's sexual

orientation is an issue whether Lynne likes it or not,

especially if Mary stumps for the ticket.

She becomes a symbol for all of us. The candidates'

character and commitment to real family values will be

judged, not by whether or not Mary is invited to sit in the

Cheney family box at the convention, but by their record on

GLBT equality. And if Mary's presence highlights their

hypocrisy, then so be it.

Always looking for some reason to support Republicans,

even ones whose records are anti-gay, the Log Cabin Club

was delighted at the news that Mary was supportive of her

father. "It's a very positive thing for this country to

see," Log Cabin Director of Communications Kevin Ivers told

USA Today, contradicting Lynne about Mary being openly gay.

"It shows that it is something they know very personally

about. It's an issue they have a special sensitivity

about."

As we have seen in Ohio with State Reresentative Sally

Conrad Kilbane and in California with Proposition 22

sponsor Senator Robert Knight, Republican politicians

having openly gay children does not necessarily mean

understanding of or support for issues of GLBT equality.

As Lynne Cheney demonstrated, it might signal a

relationship more closely resembling Don't Ask Don't Tell,

a law Dick Cheney testified for.

If Mary Cheney decides to stump for her father, she

will be using what she learned at Coors to sell the GLBT

community on politicians that are not in our best interest.

What does that say about her character?

But that may be part of the plan. Given that the

conservatives hijacked the Republican platform process and

defeated all attempts to remove opposition to civil rights

based on "sexual preference" from the party's official

positions, "compassionate conservatism" becomes a tougher

sale.

Facing a close election, could the Republicans have

been searching for just that special someone to make that

sale?

This presidential election could also become a test of

the character of the GLBT voter.

It may well be that what Bush and Cheney, with their

anti-gay records, say publicly about gay people doesn't

pertain to Glen Maxey and Mary Cheney. What about the rest

of us?