Mary Cheney, daughter of US Vice-President Dick Cheney, may be out of the closet, but one gay-rights group is trying to drag her into the spotlight. Cheney’s openly lesbian daughter is the target of a website urging her to use her political visibility to protect the rights of homosexuals. The 10-day-old site, (www.DearMary.com), features postcards written by visitors exhorting her to oppose a proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. ‘‘We launched this as an effort of psychological warfare against Cheney,’’ said John Aravosis, a Washington, D.C. political consultant who helped create the site. ‘‘My intent was for him to wake up and see this in the newspapers, and say, ‘Oh my God.’ This battle’s gotten personal.’’ President Bush has considered backing a same-sex union ban. Although Cheney said during the 2000 campaign that gay marriage was at states’ discretion, he told the Denver Post last month he ‘‘will support whatever Bush decides.’’The contentious issue has grown pricklier in the wake of the approximately 3,000 gay marriages performed in San Francisco since February 12, which Bush has said ‘‘troubled’’ him.Mary Cheney, 34, became active in politics as her father returned to public office. She served as an aide to her father during 2000 and is director of vice-presidential operations for the Bush-Cheney re-election effort. —(LAT-WP)
