Lynne Cheney Defends Evertz Appointment
Monday, 23 April 2001

http://www.datalounge.com/datalounge/news/record.html?record=14388 

WASHINGTON -- Lynne Cheney, the wife of Vice-President Dick Cheney and a leading conservative voice in the Republican party, told a British Newspaper over the weekend she supported the appointment of Scott Evertz, a gay man, to head the White House Office of National AIDS Policy.

Evertz's appointment was loudly condemned by social and religious conservatives angry over the Bush White House's willingness to select an openly gay man to run national policy on HIV and AIDS.

"Evertz's whole approach is homosexuality is a viable life alternative ... that it's part of God's design in humanity. Bible-believing Christians don't believe that for one second," Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition said recently.

Lynne Cheney's interview with a reporter from the Sunday Telegraph was considered unusual because a portion of its focus concerned gay rights, a subject she is generally reluctant to discuss. That reluctance stems from controversy about the Cheney's daughter Mary, an openly gay woman living in Colorado.

Mary Cheney was the subject of some controversy in the months leading to the 2000 presidential election, given that both socially and professionally she was an well-established with the lesbian and gay community in Denver. Many wondered how this would play out in the campaign, or what impact Mary's presence would have on a Republican platform explicitly hostile to gay and lesbian concerns.

But given the Bush team's efforts to appear moderate, divisive social issues such as gay rights were little discussed. This played in nicely with the Cheney's absolute refusal to discuss any matter relating to Mary's sexual orientation with the press.

Though Mary Cheney was a Coors Brewing Co. liaison for the gay community and lived openly with her female partner for many years, the Cheney's claimed her sexuality was a private family matter and effectively closed down the issue for the remainder of the campaign.

In her interview with the Telegraph, Mrs. Cheney was asked what she thought about the controversy surrounding Evertz. She said though she considered marriage and families as "very good things, I also think that a person who is gay should have every opportunity."

Pressed by the reporter as to whether she thought conservative critics speaking out against Evertz were overreacting, she said: "My personal feeling is that the President is to be admired for appointing people who are qualified and not focusing on what group they belong to."

-- Editor