Lynne, Dick Cheney Differ on Gay Marriage

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Lynne Cheney, the vice president's wife and mother of a lesbian, said Sunday that states should have the final say over the legal status of personal relationships.

That stand puts her at odds with the vice president on the need for the constitutional amendment now under debate in the Senate that effectively would ban gay marriage.

``I think that the constitutional amendment discussion will give us an opportunity to look for ways to discuss ways in which we can keep the authority of the states intact,'' Cheney told CNN's ``Late Edition.''

The Senate began debate Friday on an amendment that defines marriage as a union of a man and woman as husband and wife.

Supporters acknowledge the proposal is endorsed by only about half the Senate, well short of the two-thirds needed to approve a change in the Constitution. Still, a vote would put lawmakers on the spot in an election year as they seek to balance backing traditional marriage and gay rights.

Asked Sunday about her husband's stand on gay marriage in 2004, Lynne Cheney said, ``I thought that the formulation he used in 2000 was very good.

``First of all, to be clear that people should be free to enter into their relationships that they choose. And, secondly, to recognize what's historically been the situation, that when it comes to conferring legal status on relationships, that is a matter left to the states,'' she said.

Lynne Cheney said the situation in 2004 is somewhat different from the one four years ago because of the Massachusetts court ruling and its effect on states.

Asked again about the difference between the Democrats and the Bush administration on the amendment, Cheney reaffirmed her preference for local solutions.

The vice president's press office had no immediate comment Sunday.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Cheneys-Gay-Marriage.html