Mary Cheney

John Kerry didn't out me, nor did he offend or attack me by calling me a lesbian. I certainly couldn't be offended by the truth.

I came very close to quitting my job for the Bush-Cheney '04 campaign. I seriously considered packing up my office and heading home to Colorado.

I'm probably a little more like my dad. But because of my mom, I never saw being a woman as being an impediment to being able to do something. She had her Ph.D. before I was born.

In the 1980s, there weren't a lot of role models for gay teenagers.

I'm not sure when I first knew that I was gay.

After being sworn in to office, vice presidents have usually been relegated to the sidelines, where they just don't get to do very much.

I'd rather not be known as the Vice President's lesbian daughter.

It won't take 40 years for opposition to same-sex marriage to dissipate.

I didn't know that President Bush would endorse a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

Life would be so much harder if I had to lie about who I was.

There are millions of gay people in the United States, including well-known celebrities.

It wasn't a secret that I was gay. I'd come out to my parents during my junior year of high school, on the day that I also wrecked the family car.