Dick Cheney Takes Daughter Liz's Side In Same-Sex Marriage Family Feud With Sister Mary Cheney And Partner Heather Poe

Former Vice President Dick Cheney took his daughter Liz’s side Monday in a public family feud over same-sex marriage. Liz Cheney and her lesbian sister Mary have been embroiled in a public argument after Liz, now running for the Senate in Wyoming, stated she was opposed to same-sex marriage. Mary Cheney legally married her longtime partner Heather Poe in 2012.

"This is an issue we have dealt with privately for many years, and we are pained to see it become public,” Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne said in a public statement on Monday. “Since it has, one thing should be clear. Liz has always believed in the traditional definition of marriage. She has also always treated her sister and her sister's family with love and respect, exactly as she should have done."

Though Cheney has in the past stated support for same-sex marriage, he appears to support Liz’s side in the family dispute now, though he added that Liz loves her sister and that her "many kindnesses shouldn't be used to distort her position.”

The family feud came to the spotlight over the weekend, when Liz Cheney, who is challenging Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., in next year's Republican primary, appeared on "Fox News Sunday" and declared that she believes in the “traditional definition of marriage” despite her sister marrying her partner in Washington, D.C., last year.

"This is just an issue on which we disagree," she said.

Soon after, her sister-in-law Poe called Liz out for her stance on same-sex marriage in a Facebook post.

“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.”

“Yes Liz, in fifteen states and the District of Columbia you are my sister-in-law,” Poe added.

Mary Cheney shared the post on her own Facebook wall, adding a note that her sister was on the wrong side of history.

“Liz — this isn’t just an issue on which we disagree, you’re just wrong — and on the wrong side of history,” Mary added.