ディック・チェイニー米副大統の娘でレズビアンであることをオープンにしているメアリー・チェイニーさん（Mary Cheney、38歳）が23日、男の子を出産した。メアリーさんと彼女の長年のパートナーであるヘザー・ポーさん（Heather Poe、45歳）のカップルにとって初めての赤ちゃん誕生だ。
二人の子供は Samuel David Cheney 君と名付けられた。
Cheney daughter gives birth to boy [Boston Globe]
Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter Mary delivered an 8-pound, 6-ounce baby boy on Wednesday, the first child for her and her female partner of 15 years, Heather Poe.
Samuel David Cheney was born at 9:46 a.m. at Sibley Hospital in Washington, the vice president's office announced. Vice President Cheney and his wife, Lynne, paid a visit to their new -- and sixth -- grandchild a few hours later.
ただ気になるのは、メアリーさんの出産に関して、ホワイトハウス提供の「公式の写真」が出回っているが、それはチェイニー副大統領夫妻が孫であるサミュエル君を抱いているというものだ。本来ならば、そこに子供の「両親である」メアリーさんとヘザーさんが一緒に写っている写真が「公式に」発表されてしかるべきだと思う。
さらに「現実の生活における」問題がある。以前も書いたように、二人の住むヴァージニア州では、同性婚が禁じられており、シビル・ユニオン法などもないので、同性カップルの子供／養子に関する法的保障はない。つまりヘザーさんに「親権」はないのだ。メアリーさんとヘザーさん、それにサミュエル君らには「家族」としての法的権利はない。
For Mary Cheney, it's a boy [Gay.com]
Cheney and Poe live in Virginia, which has a constitutional amendment banning the marriage of same-sex couples and does not allow gay second parent adoptions.
Those prohibitions leave the new parents without the safety net that heterosexual couples enjoy, according to Jennifer Chrisler, executive director of Family Pride, a LGBT family advocacy group in Washington, D.C.
"There's a question of whether they could even replicate through legal contract the rights and protections that they might have if they could get legally married," Chrisler said.
Chrisler has not had direct contact with either Cheney or Poe, though Family Pride has sent them informational literature in the past. To celebrate the birth, the organization will be hosting a virtual baby shower at its Web site, www.familypride.org/baby/, where people can write in with their thoughts and advice for the couple.
"There is a community of GLBT parents out there already and they are full of wisdom," said Chrisler. "We want to welcome them into the community with us."
Vice president's daughter has baby boy [SF Gate]
Some gay activists have chastised the AOL executive for not being a stronger advocate for same-sex marriage, while some social conservatives have decried the trend of gay couples raising children. But the Cheneys have avoided stepping into a debate about the debate. The vice president bristled when questioned about it.
At an New York City forum sponsored by Glamour magazine last winter, Mary Cheney responded to questions saying: "This is a baby. This is a blessing from God. It is not a political statement. It is not a prop to be used in a debate by people on either side of an issue. It is my child."
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