Liz Cheney says condemnation of same-sex marriage that sparked a family rift was ‘wrong’

Congresswoman from Wyoming says she was ‘wrong’ about earlier stand on same-sex marriages

Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney said she was wrong to oppose same-sex marriages in the past, a decision that had split her family.

Ms Cheney was asked about her stand on same-sex marriage in an interview with CBS that aired on Sunday. “I was wrong... I was wrong,” she answered.

“I love my sister very much. I love her family very much and I was wrong. It is a very personal issue and very personal for my family. I believe that my family was right. My sister and I have had that conversation,” the congresswoman from Wyoming added.

Quoting her father Dick Cheney, she said “freedom means freedom for everybody” and referred to an instance where a trans woman told her she sometimes did not feel safe because of her gender.

“This is an issue that we have to recognise ... as human beings we need to work against discrimination of all kinds in our country, in our state,” she said.

Ms Cheney, in an interview during a 2013 campaign trail, had said she supported “traditional” marriage, even though her sister identified as homosexual.

“I do believe in the traditional definition of marriage,” she had then told Fox News in one interview, adding she did not support amending the constitution to oppose same-sex marriage.

Ms Cheney's remarks were soon after criticised by her sister Mary and her partner Heather Poe, who both wrote Facebook posts criticising the remarks in the same year.

“Liz – this isn’t just an issue on which we disagree, you’re just wrong – and on the wrong side of history,” wrote the congresswoman’s sister.

“Liz has been a guest in our home, has spent time and shared holidays with our children, and when Mary and I got married in 2012 – she didn't hesitate to tell us how happy she was for us. I always thought freedom meant freedom for EVERYONE,” said her sister-in-law, in her own post, making a seemingly sarcastic reference drawn from the former Republican vice president’s comments.

Mr Cheney had faced flak from the Republican party after he made the comments extending his support to same-sex marriage in 2009.

“I think that freedom means freedom for everyone. As many of you know, one of my daughters is gay and it is something that, uh, 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,” he had said.

Meanwhile, hitting out at her political rival and former president Donald Trump, Ms Cheney said he “doesn't believe in the rule of law.” She is one of the two Republicans on a select committee that is investigating the 6 January violent insurrection at the Capitol Hill building.

“Those who think that by ignoring Trump, he will go away, have been proven wrong ... in my view, the American people, they deserve better than having to choose between what I think are the really disastrous policies of Joe Biden in a whole range of areas, really bad for our economy,” she said.

Ms Cheney taunted the former president with a cheeky tweet, after Mr Trump attacked her last week.

Sharing a photo of former president George W Bush, who was also criticised by Mr Trump, Ms Cheney wrote: “I like Republican presidents who win re-election."