Michelle Cottle is wrong

She takes Dick Cheney to task in this article at The New Republic for his stance in support of gay marriage. The gist of her argument is that in this one case, Cheney bucks the party line, not out of anything approaching compassion, conviction, or reason, but out of a mere opportunistic desire to advance the interests of his family and compatriots. As Cottle sees it:

I understand that all politics are personal. But are we really supposed to applaud a man who strays from his pinched ideological worldview only when it serves to benefit himself or someone in his circle of intimates? That's not compassionate conservativism; that's political cronyism (or, in Mary's case, nepotism).

The flaw with this argument, of course, is it discounts the very real opportunity available to conservative politicians with lesbian family members - which is to maintain your opposition to gay rights in general.

It also, of course, discounts the other very real possibility open to parents of gay children. According to LAMBDA, 42% of homeless teens report being gay. Though far less common than in the past, expulsion from home is still one of the leading factors in teenage homelessness.

It's not uncommon for people to hold noxious beliefs about gays. It's also not uncommon for those people to maintain those beliefs, even when someone they know or love turns out to be gay themselves. It's also not uncommon, even among those who change their minds, for them to keep the issue as quiet and private as possible.

Faced with a gay daughter, Cheney appears to have given her love and support. He's publicly acknowledged her, both as a gay person and as a member of her family. And more importantly, his support for his daughter has caused him to publicly acknowledge the rightness of gay marriage for all gays.

It may be a parochial position, reasoned from the basis of personal experience. But it is nevertheless a righteous position. And, to the extent that Cheney's beliefs are the opposite of political opportunism (supporting gay marriage isn't exactly a political asset in the power circles of the conservative right), his support should be recognized as politically courageous.

To denounce him on this issue for no other reason than his general noxiousness is counterproductive and wrong.

In this case, Cheney's right. It is right to acknowledge that, and to hope that his words might change some minds which are closed to the pleas of more traditional spokesmen.