Dear Mary is a project co-chaired by
Washington D.C gay rights activists
John Aravosis and
Robin Tyler that's goal is for
Mary Cheney, the openly
gay daughter to vice president
Dick Cheney, to stand up to her father and publicly oppose the
Federal Marriage Amendment. This site, www.dearmary.com, encourages anyone to email Mary herself, and leave whatever message you please
Thirty four year old Mary was once very much openly gay. In fact, she was a gay rights activist for the Republican Unity Coalition even during her father's vice presidential term. She made this following statement in April 2002 in Newsweek Magazine:
"We can make sexual orientation a non-issue for the Republican Party, and we can help achieve equality for all gay and lesbian Americans"
Yet, once the Federal Marriage Amendment was first drafted and after it became a strong pillar of the Bush Administration's agenda, Mary soon shut up, took a job as the director of vice presidential operations for the Bush-Cheney re-election campaign, collected her $100,000 a year and didn't speak up much. Although there is a piece of legislation that was threatening to make homosexual marriage illegal and could repeal every pro-gay law and corporate policy in the nation, Mary remains quiet. Or as the Dear Mary website says, she became ANTI GAY FOR PAY.
The website was launched February 13th, 2004 and since then has sent tens of thousands to Mary Cheney herself in an attempt to get her to forget the money and her father's political agenda, and start standing up for herself.
While the site hasn't enjoyed much success in its objective, it has received vast media coverage (including the L.A Times, MTV News, Newsweek Magazine and The Washington Post) and you have to give it credit for being one of the most audacious efforts out there in the gay rights movement.