The True Story Behind the Cheney Family Feud Over Gay Marriage and Cheney's Gay Daughter

At the end of the Dick Cheney biopic Vice, viewers are left with one of the movie's most emotional scenes: Mary Cheney, the former vice president's younger daughter, sobbing on the phone to her parents after her older sister, Liz Cheney, publicly rejected her marriage to her longtime partner, a woman.

Vice, written and directed by Adam McKay, takes some liberties with the life and rise of the VP. However, sobbing or no, the feud it dramatizes in the Cheney family over Mary's sexual orientation was very much real.

The conflict, which fractured the notoriously close family, was drawn back into the spotlight with the 2018 release of the film and its presence at the 2019 Academy Awards. The political dramedy — starring Christian Bale in the titular role, Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, Alison Pill as Mary and Lily Rabe as Liz — garnered eight nominations and won an Oscar for the best achievement in makeup and hairstyling.

Here, according to previous PEOPLE reports, other news accounts and statements from the Cheneys themselves, is the true story behind their fight, the crux of which was love — familial and romantic.

How did Mary Cheney's family react when she came out to them?

Growing up, the Cheney daughters were a lively and personable duo on the road, handing out pamphlets and swag at campaign events.

"We were as close as sisters can be," Mary recalled in her 2006 memoir, Now It's My Turn.

While a junior in high school, Mary came out to her family as gay. Her parents responded with affirmations, though her mother said she was wary of a future made potentially harder by the world's homophobia.

While little is known about her big sister's response, her parents later issued a statement that "Liz has always believed in the traditional definition of marriage," per Politico.

Long before Liz entered the political arena, where she ultimately renounced gay marriage, the former VP seemed to have mastered a tricky balancing act. A leading Republican at a time when the party was campaigning on forbidding gay marriage, he voiced support for Mary, who was then in a long-term relationship with her partner and future wife, Heather Poe.

Still, Dick made clear his views were personal, and he took no sweeping political action, couching the question of same-sex marriage as a states' rights issue.

Did Dick Cheney and former President George W. Bush agree on marriage equality?

During his 2004 re-election campaign, former President George W. Bush announced his support for the Federal Marriage Amendment, which would have written a ban on same-sex marriage into the U.S. Constitution. According to NBC News, Dick came out against it, and Lynne and Liz joined in his disagreement.

"Lynne and I have a gay daughter, so it's an issue our family is very familiar with," he explained to supporters at a campaign rally in Iowa, adding, "With the respect to the question of relationships, my general view is freedom means freedom for everyone. People … ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to."

Mary, who'd worked as an aide to her dad and as the director of vice presidential operations, told PEOPLE in 2006 that Bush said he "would understand" if she wanted to put out a statement. She decided to remain silent. 

"For me, that would have been so inappropriate," she told PEOPLE. "I signed on to be a staffer; I didn't sign on to express my own point of view."

Did Liz Cheney attend her younger sister's wedding?

Soon after leaving office, in a 2009 speech to the National Press Club, Vice President Cheney affirmed his personal position on same-sex marriage amid ongoing campaigns to outlaw it across the country.

"The question of whether or not there ought to be a federal statue that governs this, I don't support," he said, as reported by The Atlantic. "I do believe that historically the way marriage has been regulated is at the state level. It has always been a state issue, and I think that's the way it ought to be handled today."

In 2012, Mary married Poe with their two children, Samuel and Sarah, then 5 and 2, respectively, in attendance.

The couple met decades earlier while playing ice hockey, according to The Washington Post. Mary was the goalie, and Poe played defense on an opposing team.

Mary's parents issued a congratulatory statement following their union.

"Mary and Heather have been in a committed relationship for many years, and we are delighted that they were able to take advantage of the opportunity to have that relationship recognized," they said, per ABC News. "Mary and Heather and their children are very important and much loved members of our family, and we wish them every happiness."

Not in attendance? Her big sister, Liz.

When did the family feud become public?

It was not Liz's absence from the ceremony that would ultimately make so many headlines. About a year later, the rupture of the sisters' bond took center stage after Liz launched a campaign for U.S. Senate in their home state of Wyoming.

A hopeful for the Republican nomination in a deeply red part of the country, Liz began to receive angry messages and TV attack ads that accused her of "aggressively promot[ing] gay marriage," Politico reported.

In response, Liz declared the opposite was true, upsetting the family's longtime united front on the issue of Mary's sexuality.

"I am strongly pro-life, and I am not pro-gay marriage," she said.

Liz went on Fox News Sunday and reiterated her stance on same-sex marriage — this time mentioning her sister by name.

"I love Mary very much; I love her family very much. This is just an issue on which we disagree," she told host Chris Wallace on the show in 2013, per NPR. 

Mary and Poe, watching the episode from their home in Northern Virginia, were moved to respond. 

"Liz — this isn't just an issue on which we disagree, you're just wrong — and on the wrong side of history," Mary wrote on Facebook, according to Los Angeles Times.

She told a commenter on her Facebook that her sister's politics "treat my family as second class citizens."

"This isn't like a disagreement over grazing fees or what to do about Iran," she wrote. "There isn't a lot of gray here."

In her own social media post, Poe described the betrayal of Liz's denunciation, raising the specter of a ruthlessness that put politics before family.

"Liz has been a guest in our home, has spent time and shared holidays with our children," Poe wrote. "To have her now say she doesn't support our right to marry is offensive to say the least. I can't help but wonder how Liz would feel if, as she moved from state to state, she discovered that her family was protected in one but not the other."

At the time, the sisters reportedly had not spoken in several months.

The former vice president, who had been heavily involved with his daughter's run for Senate, issued a statement with his wife supporting Liz while describing the sisters' disagreement as a difficult and private family matter.

"This is an issue we have dealt with privately for many years, and we are pained to see it become public. Since it has, one thing should be clear. Liz has always believed in the traditional definition of marriage," the Cheneys said, according to Politico.

"She has also always treated her sister and her sister's family with love and respect, exactly as she should have done," they continued. "Compassion is called for, even when there is disagreement about such a fundamental matter, and Liz's many kindnesses shouldn't be used to distort her position."

Despite her father's backing, Liz's campaign fell short. She soon withdrew from the race, citing family health concerns, but later successfully ran for Wyoming's lone seat in the House of Representatives.

Have the Cheney sisters reconciled?

It remained unclear for years where the sisters stood with each other following their rift, until Liz admitted in 2021 that she was wrong to oppose same-sex marriage.

During an interview on 60 Minutes, Liz shared that she loves her sister and Mary's family "very much" before stating that she was wrong and that her father had been right on the issue, reported CBS News. She added that they "have had that conversation."

"This is an issue that we have to recognize, you know, as human beings, that we need to work against discrimination of all kinds in our country, in our state," Liz continued. "We were at an event a few nights ago, and there was a young woman who said she doesn't feel safe sometimes because she's transgender, and nobody should feel unsafe. Freedom means freedom for everybody."

Following her sister's comments, Mary posted her reaction on Facebook, expressing her appreciation and love for Liz.

"It took a ton of courage to admit that she was wrong back in 2013 when she opposed marriage equality," wrote Mary. "That is something few politicians would ever do. I have nothing but respect and admiration for the strength of character she continues to show on a daily basis. We could certainly use a lot more leaders like Liz Cheney right now. And as her sister — I have one more thing that I just have to say: I told you so."

Vice filmmaker McKay told GQ in 2021 that he believed the biopic played a part in Liz changing her position on gay marriage. 

"There was a part of me that was like, that can't be an accident. I saw that on social media, people went after her because of the movie," he said.

McKay added, "To see her come out for gay marriage? I don't know what to make of that. I like to think we had something to do with that, but I have no way to … I know the Cheneys hated the movie. I know they really hated it. It wasn't a passing annoyance. So I was quite proud of that. We hit him in the real way."