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He was asked a general question about gay marriage. In his explanation he used the term "selfish hedonist." The questioner then asked him if it applied to Mary, and Keyes said "by definition, yes." Something like that. He did not "attack" Mary Cheney. He used an intellectual term which he did not invent to describe the idea of marriage being only about sex, as opposed to procreation. Hedonism is the doctrine that pleasure is the chief good in life. Most of the people in shock over his statement probably don't even understand the term. They just read the headlines that say "Keyes attacks Mary Cheney" and draw conclusions from that.

If marriage is about love then what about others kinds of love that are non-sexual? If it is about sex then what about casual or group sex? The point in state-recognized marriage was to encourage stable relationships between mothers and fathers. There is no state interest in seeing homosexuals stay together. The only possible interest would be about STDs, but then that could be used to outlaw sodomy altogether. The state's interest in marriage is not about pleasure or even love. It is about the raising and nurturing of future generations. The marriage laws apply equally to all people. To say they discriminate would be the same as saying Social Security is age discrimination. All programs discriminate of sorts. The question is whether or not they apply equally to all.