Who's being outed?

So during the final presidential debate, John Kerry referred to Dick Cheney's lesbian daughter Mary. And so

Vice President Dick Cheney called himself a "pretty angry father" Thursday as he denounced Sen. John Kerry for mentioning his gay daughter during a debate with President Bush.

And what's more, Lynne Cheney was equally outraged.

"Now, you know, I did have a chance to assess John Kerry once more and now the only thing I could conclude: This is not a good man," she said. "Of course, I am speaking as a mom, and a pretty indignant mom. This is not a good man. What a cheap and tawdry political trick."

But Mary Cheney is open about being a lesbian. There's no secret here, no outing. So what's all the pretend outrage about? I mean, it can't really be about John Kerry mentioning it.

Except that yes, it can. Why all the fake outrage? Because, I think, while Dick and Lynne Cheney seem to have accepted and embraced their daughter (good for them), they were hoping that their supporters, many of them homophobic bigots, didn't know about Mary. Thus the attempt to change the subject to some phantom faux pas of John Kerry's.

So who was outed? Not Mary Cheney but her parents, outed in their willingness to declare mention of her sexuality a shameful thing in order to advance their political interests. They should be ashamed. Not that they will be.