The Lament of the Gay Cherokee Reservation Indian

The Cherokee Nation has "put skids on gay marriage," according to the Associated Press, with Principal Chief Chad Smith saying he'll sign a measure that defines marriage as being between one man and one woman. About a month ago, a lesbian couple had applied for and gotten approval to get married under Cherokee law. Because nation laws are not retroactive, that union may stand (it's not fully clear from the AP account).

Meanwhile, the Washington Times, which sadly, hilariously insists putting "gay marriage" in scare quotes, seems worried that Dick Cheney is going squishy on the issue:

Vice President Dick Cheney said yesterday that homosexual couples should have equal freedom under the law and reiterated his 2000 campaign stance that states should have the right to decide what constitutes marriage.

While Mr. Cheney did not unequivocally support President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment banning homosexual "marriage," he expressed support for the president's prerogative to set policy.

"My own preference is as I've stated. But the president makes basic policy for the administration. And he's made it clear that he does, in fact, support a constitutional amendment on this issue."

Could Cheney's faint attempt at independence, which came at a campaign stop in Iowa, be a response to Reason's suspicion that the much-feared vice president is actually the ultimate Yes Man? Perhaps future historians of gay marriage--er, "gay marriage"--will tell.

While history unfolds, you can read Reason's fascinating 1999 account of cronyism, Clintonism, and corruption in the Cherokee Nation here (spoiler: no gay marriage or sex in this story; just very disturbing activity by the loathsome Bureau of Indian Affairs).