Liz Cheney Says She Was 'Wrong' to Oppose Same-Sex Marriage

Politics|‘I was wrong’: Liz Cheney announces enactment for same-sex marriage, reversing a longstanding position.

• Sept. 27, 2021, 12:14 p.m. ET

Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, said successful an interrogation connected CBS’s “60 Minutes” connected Sunday nighttime that she was “wrong” to reason same-sex marriage, reversing a longstanding position.

“I was wrong,” Ms. Cheney said. “I was wrong.”

Ms. Cheney famously came retired against same-sex matrimony successful a tv interrogation successful 2013, portion moving for Senate successful Wyoming, saying she believed “in the accepted explanation of marriage.” Mary Cheney, her sister who is cheery and joined with children, wrote online astatine the clip that Liz was “on the incorrect broadside of history.”

The contented sparked a public rift wrong the close-knit and high-profile political family. Dick Cheney, the erstwhile vice president and Ms. Cheney’s father, became an improbable advocator for cheery rights erstwhile helium stated successful 2004 that helium supported Mary, and that “freedom means state for everyone.”

On Sunday night, Liz Cheney said her begetter had been close the full time. “I emotion my sister precise much,” she said. “I emotion her household precise overmuch and I was wrong. It’s a precise idiosyncratic issue, precise idiosyncratic for my family. I judge my dada was close and my sister and I person had that conversation.”

She added, “This is an contented that we person to admit arsenic quality beings that we request to enactment against favoritism of each kinds successful our country, successful our state.” And she reiterated her father’s celebrated line: “Freedom means state for everyone.”

Ms. Cheney’s reversal connected the contented whitethorn beryllium much indicative of the country’s improvement connected same-sex matrimony than immoderate governmental translation of her own. Support for same-sex matrimony has reached a grounds precocious of 70 percent, according to a Gallup canvass conducted past June. Among Republicans, enactment for same-sex matrimony was astatine 55 percent.

Ms. Cheney, who voted to impeach President Donald J. Trump and who was ousted by Republicans successful May from her enactment post, has go an improbable fig of the “resistance.” She has not ruled retired a long-shot superior bid against Mr. Trump successful 2024 if helium decides to tally again.

As vice chairwoman of the prime committee investigating the Jan. 6 battle connected the Capitol, one of lone 2 Republicans connected the panel, she has continued to beryllium a vocal professional of Mr. Trump’s lies astir the 2020 election.

But successful her “60 Minutes” interview, she made it wide that enactment for same-sex matrimony was not portion of a larger softening of her blimpish stances connected galore issues.

She reaffirmed that she was anti-abortion and supported weapon rights. She insisted waterboarding was “not torture.” She said she did not regret voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and she proudly stated that she voted for Mr. Trump’s docket much than 90 percent of the time.

Gay rights advocates said they viewed Ms. Cheney’s reversal arsenic thing much idiosyncratic than political, noting that her archetypal stance was much astonishing than the reversal. “I deliberation it is hard to clasp hatred against your ain sister,” Christine Quinn, the erstwhile talker of the New York City Council, who is gay, said of Ms. Cheney’s reversal. “We person ever said that knowing idiosyncratic personally who is L.G.B.T.+ is the cardinal to changing people’s minds and identifying caller allies.”

Ms. Quinn added: “We each learned this twelvemonth that clip unneurotic is not a given.”