About Mary: An Open Letter to Dick and Lynn Cheney     10/25/2004

PFOX’s Regina Griggs says VP’s daughter deserves better.

Editor’s note: During the presidential and vice presidential debates, the subject of Mary Cheney’s sexuality was raised in relation to the marriage issue. Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX) Executive Director Regina Griggs wrote this letter to Dick and Lynne Cheney:

I am saddened by the outrageous behavior of Sens. Kerry and Edwards, who inexplicably and insensitively injected your daughter Mary's sexuality into the presidential debates.

I am the parent of a homosexual child and the executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays (PFOX), a national organization that offers support and education to families and friends of homosexuals, and advocates for the rights of ex-gays.

Mary is, I'm sure, a fine young woman with many wonderful qualities, and that is how she should be recognized. To label anyone solely by their sexuality is demeaning and inappropriate. As parents, we can and do love our children unconditionally no matter who they are attracted to. Loving unconditionally allows us the freedom to maintain our values and viewpoints while keeping a bridge open to our children.

Sen. Kerry deliberately misled the American public as well as people who have unwanted same-sex attractions when he stated that people are “born gay.” He should know better.

On May 13, 2004, PFOX and ex-gay men and women met with the staffs of Sens. Kerry and Edwards. (See photo.) The ex-gays are living proof that change is possible, and they also provided the staffs with educational information on former homosexuality, including a statement from the American Psychiatric Association that there are no "replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological etiology for homosexuality." Ex-gays explained that although no one chooses same-sex attractions, many men and women overcome unwanted same-sex attractions every year.

Ex-gays also presented the senators' offices with a congressional resolution on tolerance for former homosexuals. The resolution calls for Congress to condemn intolerance against ex-gays and to affirm its commitment to a society that respects all people, including former homosexuals. Now who could be opposed to that? Yet both senators have refused to state whether they support the resolution.

Homosexual activists like those working on the Kerry-Edwards team want "gay marriage" and civil unions in order to gain public affirmation. They think this will make them happy. Happiness requires hope, and real hope is the knowledge that many men and women overcome unwanted same-sex attractions every year, even those who believed at one time that they were born that way and had no choice.

Mr. and Mrs. Cheney, let me conclude by saying that I hope you'll sit down with PFOX some day and find kindred souls and new hope that you might not have known existed.

Sincerely,
Regina Griggs
Executive Director
Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays

Click here to read the letter on the PFOX Web site.

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