Yesterday in the US Senate, a measure to ammend the US constitution that effectively banned same-sex marriages was defeated. It comes as no surprise that the push for the admendment came from the Republican party and was whole-heartedly endorsed by George W. Bush. Called to comment, Bush said he was "disappointed" in the failed measure.

I couldn't find any comment from Dick Cheney. Cheney usually has a lot to say about anything to do with presidential affairs, being involved more than any vice-president in recent history. Since Dick is so quiet, maybe I can help here. The following is a snippet from a vice-presidential debate in October 2000. The moderator is Bernard Shaw. He asks both candidates about sexual orientation.

SHAW: ...sexual orientation. Should a male who loves a male and a female who loves a female have all -- all -- the constitutional rights enjoyed by every American citizen?

CHENEY: This is a tough one, Bernie. The fact of the matter is, we live in a free society and freedom means freedom for everybody. We don't get to choose, and shouldn't be able to choose, and say, "You get to live free, but you don't."

And I think that means that people should be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to enter into. It's really no one else's business in terms of trying to regulate or prohibit behavior in that regard.

The next step then, of course, is the question you asked of whether or not there ought to be some kind of official sanction, if you will, of the relationship or if these relationships should be treated the same way a conventional marriage is. That's a tougher problem. That's not a slam dunk.

I think the fact of the matter, of course, is that matter is regulated by the states. I think different states are likely to come to different conclusions and that's appropriate. I don't think there should necessarily be a federal policy in this area.

I try to be open-minded about it as much as I can and tolerant of those relationships.

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