WASHINGTON – Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., expressed regret in a new interview over how she previously opposed same-sex marriage despite her sister being gay and married with children, according to NBC News reporting.
During an interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” host Lesley Stahl noted that Cheney came out against same-sex marriage in 2013, while her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, had previously voiced support for it.
Recommended Videos
“I was wrong. I was wrong,” Liz Cheney said in the interview that aired Sunday. “I love my sister very much. I love her family very much, and I was wrong. It’s a very personal issue and very personal for my family. I believe that my dad was right, and my sister and I have had that conversation.”
Cheney, who was stripped of her position as the third-ranking Republican in the House earlier this year over her vocal opposition to former President Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud, said that Americans need to “work against discrimination of all kinds in our country, in our state.”
“We were at an event a few nights ago and, and there was a young woman who said she doesn’t feel safe sometimes because she’s transgender — and nobody should feel unsafe. Freedom means freedom for everybody.”
In February, Cheney joined most Republicans in voting against the Equality Act, which would prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in numerous areas, including employment, housing, education, public accommodations, credit and jury service.
As Cheney mounted a primary challenge to then-Sen. Mike Enzi in 2013, she said in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” that she believed “in the traditional definition of marriage” even though her sister, Mary, is gay.
“I love Mary very much. I love her family very much. This is just an issue on which we disagree,” Cheney said at the time.
Her sister responded in a Facebook post, “Liz — this isn’t just an issue on which we disagree — you’re just wrong — and on the wrong side of history.”
Republican support for same-sex marriage has increased over time. A Gallup poll released in June found that for the first time, a majority of Republicans, 55 percent, said they are in favor of it. In 2013, only 30 percent of Republicans said they backed it.
The Supreme Court ruled in a 2015 landmark decision that same-sex marriage is legal in all 50 states.
Click here to read the full story.