Vice President Dick Cheney, whose oldest daughter is a lesbian, said Tuesday he believed that decisions about same-sex marriages should be left to the states, contending that "freedom means freedom for everyone." Despite his personal view, he added, President Bush is his boss, and Bush favors an amendment to the Constitution banning such marriages. "The president makes policy for the administration," Cheney said. His comments came in response to a question during an invitation-only town hall meeting in Davenport. Cheney's remarks were his first this year on the gay marriage issue while campaigning. Religious conservatives, a key part of the Republican coalition, strongly support a federal ban on same-sex marriage. But recent Senate debate on the issue showed that it is a divisive subject among GOP lawmakers. Cheney's view represents a rare break by him from the party's conservative base. "Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it's an issue that our family is very familiar with," Cheney said Tuesday. "With respect to the question of relationships, my general view is that freedom means freedom for everyone. People ... ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to.
