Dear Vice President Cheney

I was just wondering something, when you sleep at night or during briefings with Chinese Presidents or whenever, do you dream about the nightmare world that you and your administration have carefully crafted for my son, your daughter, Mary, and the many, many other gays and lesbians in this country? Do you? I know I do. In fact, I not only have nightmares about it, but too many of my waking moments are also spent worrying about how the GLBT community has been used by your administration in truly despicable ways to grab power and now to desperately hold on to that power. Too many of my waking moments have been spent seething, crying, and worrying myself sick about my gay child’s chances of living the same happy normal life that my 2 other children will take for granted. I also spend too many waking moments worrying about his safety because of your administration’s constant whipping up the base tactic that has worked so well in keeping the believers from deserting your sinking ship. But this successful tactic has had consequences. It has created an atmosphere conducive to violence and gay bashing and that terrifies me. Does it even worry you or are you just too disconnected from the real world in which our gay and lesbian children must live?

Why, you ask, do I use such strong language and caustic words like despicable when addressing you, the second most powerful man in the world? Well, I guess I’d have to say that I sort of expect this desperate cruelty towards gays from people like George W. Bush, Bill Frist, and others not so intimately and profoundly close to people who are gay (at least as far as they know). For them this is just another day at the office and tramping on gays is just another dirty, filthy, and successful GOP ploy to rally the foam-at-the-mouth Snake Oil Christians and keep the dying poll numbers from going Code Blue. But you sir, you have a lesbian daughter. My mind simply reels. How could you allow the marginalization of gays and lesbians in the name of family values to even be an issue? And if you are powerless to change this, why would want to be a part of an administration that considers your daughter and my son necessary collateral damage in the fight to maintain power? Is power more important to you than your daughter? Never mind, you don’t have to answer, it’s just a rhetorical question, your actions and lack of action have spoken louder than any lame answer you could give me.

I know you are a busy man, so I won’t keep you much longer. I have one final question though. How do you sleep at all, let alone during briefings with Presidents from countries we consider threats? This question is not rhetorical, I really want to know. I could use some sleep and any tips you could send my way would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Seething Mom