g********d
发帖数: 4174 | 1 WASHINGTON -- Dick Cheney is part of a lobbying campaign to convince at
least one Maryland state lawmaker to back marriage equality, the Baltimore
Sun reported on Thursday. Since leaving the vice president's office, Cheney
has been increasingly vocal in his support for same-sex marriage, but the
extent of his engagement on the issue was not previously well known.
The Sun story, flagged by John Aravosis at AMERICAblog, focused on the fight
in the state over Gov. Martin O'Malley's (D) bill to legalize gay marriage.
It revealed that Maryland Del. Wade Kach (R-Baltimore) had been offered to
chat with Cheney, ostensibly to convince him to support marriage equality.
Kach (R-Baltimore) had been widely expected to vote against the legislation.
He told the Sun that he changed his mind and decided to support it after
hearing testimony from committed same-sex couples during a hearing last week
, which went on for nearly 11 hours. In addition, Kach received some
pressure from high-profile national Republicans:
He also became the target of a last-minute lobby effort, and said his
voice mail was full of messages from important people, including [former
Republican National Committee chair Ken] Mehlman, [New York City Mayor
Michael] Bloomberg and an offer to talk with former Vice President Dick
Cheney, whom Kach regards as a "great man." All three are recognized for
their support of gay rights issues.
"I don't know if this report is true, but it wouldn't surprise me if it is,"
said Jimmy LaSalvia, co-founder and executive director of the pro-LGBT
rights group GOProud. "Vice President Cheney, who owns a home in Maryland,
has always said that the states should decide this issue and that the
federal government shouldn't have a policy regarding marriage. He has also
stated that he is in favor of same sex civil marriage."
A high-profile Republican close to Cheney told The Huffington Post that they
had not heard about the former vice president's involvement. Another source
close to Cheney pushed back against the report. Cheney's office was not
immediately available for comment.
Cheney has, for years, been one of the most prominent Republican supporters
of same-sex marriage.
"I think that freedom means freedom for everyone. As many of you know, one
of my daughters is gay and it is something we have lived with for a long
time in our family. I think people ought to be free to enter into any kind
of union they wish. Any kind of arrangement they wish," he said in 2009,
placing him in the rare position of being more progressive than President
Barack Obama on a policy issue.
If the Maryland General Assembly approves O'Malley's legislation, the state
would become the eighth to legalize marriage equality. | D**S
发帖数: 24887 | 2 有个人亲身经历的，终究容易转化，但也有例外，比如纽约州那个黑皮参议员，自己亲
孙女是lesbian,但是还是死硬饭桶． | m******1
发帖数: 19713 | |
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