The Family Drama That Plagued Dick Cheney's Daughters
Dick Cheney, vice president under George W. Bush, died on November 4, 2025 at the age of 84. He was survived by his wife and two daughters, Liz Cheney and Mary Cheney. Liz is the more well-known of the two; the feud between Liz and Donald Trump over her work on the January 6 U.S. House Select Committee made national headlines. Liz has taken aim at Trump even from the political sidelines; she lost her seat as a Republican representative from Wyoming in 2022. Mary works more behind the scenes in the corporate world. However, the personal lives of the sisters came to the forefront of public discussion in 2013 when they openly disagreed over the issue of gay marriage. Notably, Mary is a lesbian and she married Heather Poe in 2012. Liz did not attend the wedding.
Mary came out as gay when she was a high schooler, and her father supported her. He said, "With the respect to the question of relationships, my general view is freedom means freedom for everyone. People ... ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to" (via People). However, this wasn't the take that Liz had. In 2013, Liz was running for senate, and during an appearance on Fox News, she said, "I love Mary very much, I love her family very much. This is just an issue on which we disagree ... I believe in the traditional definition of marriage" (via Politico).
Mary and her wife fired back at Liz, and she has since changed her tune
Even with Liz Cheney saying that she loved her sister, it was clear that Mary Cheney wasn't feeling much love. Mary countered her sister's statements, saying, "For the record, I love my sister. But she is dead wrong on the marriage issue" (via The Los Angeles Times).
Mary's wife, Heather Poe, also responded to Liz's public comments about gay marriage. She posted on Facebook, "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. To have her now say she doesn't support our right to marry is offensive to say the least."
Fast forward to eight years later when Liz appeared on "60 Minutes." In the interview, she confirmed that her stance on gay marriage had changed. "I was wrong," she said. "I love my sister very much. I love her family very much ... I believe that my dad was right, and my sister and I have had that conversation." In the interview, Liz also noted that there was still discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community that needed to be addressed.