If you, like me, find the “outrage” surrounding John Kerry mentioning the fact that Cheney has a gay daughter to be, well, more than a bit lame, silly, hypocritical, and/or downright embarrassing for anyone who tries to peddle it, than you should enjoy political columnist (who also happens to be a homosexual, and an avowed Republican) Andrew Sullivan’s take:
Notice two things [referencing a letter from one of the outraged]. First, the equation of gayness with some sort of embarrassing problem or, worse, some kind of affliction. For people who believe this, of course Kerry was out of line. That’s why Rove’s base is so outraged. But if you don’t believe this, it’s no different than, say, if a candidate were to mention another candidate’s son in the Marines. Or if, in a debate on immigration, a pro-immigrant candidate mentioned Kerry’s immigrant wife. You have to regard homosexuality as immoral or wrong or shameful to even get to the beginning of the case against Kerry. That’s why it’s a Rorschach test. Secondly, Mary Cheney isn’t private. She ran gay outreach for Coors, for pete’s sake. She appears in public with her partner. Her family acknowledges this. She’s running her dad’s campaign! Whatever else this has to do with – and essentially, it has to do whether you approve of homosexuality or not – privacy is irrelevant.
{Rock On, Andrew Sullivan}