Michele Bachman Gay Step Sis Describes How Michele has Hurt Her

Congressman Michele Bachmann's gay stepsister is now speaking out about the strained relationship she has with the woman she once considered a best friend.

The revealing story shows how Bachmann, the former Republican presidential candidate, has grown apart from her younger step sister Helen LeFave in light of Helen's homosexuality.

Bachmann has made her name on her strong stance against gay marriage, likening same sex relationships to that of 'enslavement' and 'bondage'. 

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By MEGHAN KENEALLY

Close relatives: Michele Bachmann's mother married Helen LeFave’s

 (right) father and the two women were very close when they were

younger but not anymore…..

Now as her home state prepares to vote on an amendment for their constitution to potentially ban gay marriage, Ms LeFave decided to speak with The New York Times about the how her relationship with Bachmann has changed.

As teenagers, Michele and Helen became close once Helen's father married Michele's divorced mother Arlene.

 Helen told The Times' Frank Bruni that when she was a teenager she 'looked up to Michele' who was, at that time, a college student who would return home during school breaks.

In the past 40 years that Helen has known Michele, much has changed including the politician's drastic swing from a Carter-supporting Democrat to a far-right conservative Republican who publicly pushed for gay marriage bans in her state.

Traditional marriage: Michele and her husband Marcus have been

 advocates for the fight against gay marriage

While Helen has only made passing comments about her relationship with Michele in the past- for fear of upsetting her 87-year-old father who is still married to Michele's mother- she decided to change that as the vote on the marriage ban approaches.

That isn't to say that Helen hasn't tried to change Michele's mind in the past.

In 2003, Helen wrote a letter to her then-state senator stepsister, urging Bachmann to back down from the political fight she had instigated over gay marriage. 

'You've taken aim at me. You've taken aim at my family,' Helen wrote in the letter.

She says that Michele knows her Helen's partner of more than a decade, Nia Wronski, and they have all spent time together at various family reunions.

Those personal connections have not stopped Bachmann from continuing her fight against the gay community; in fact, they have made her crusade even more personal.

Raising the issue: Helen said that she has written letters to Michele urging her to reconsider her

 stance on gay marriage but she has never had a direct conversation with her about it

'Any of you who have members of your family in the lifestyle, we have a member of our family that is. This is not funny. It's a very sad life. It's part of Satan, I think, to say that this is gay,' Bachmann said previously.

At one point, she allegedly made up a story about how she was not the only one in her family to take issue with Helen's lifestyle, reportedly telling the Star Tribune that their family had done a straw poll over whether or not to support Helen and the vote came up against.

'The reality was she hadn't taken a family vote count, nor would my family ever do such a thing,' Bachmann's stepbrother Mike LeFave told The Daily Beast.

'I just find it terrible that when Michele was taken by surprise by a question she wasn't prepared for, the first thing she did was throw not only my sister but her whole family under the bus.'

Together: Helen has been romantically involved with Nia Wronski (right) for over a decade

Despite her rhetoric, Michele has not cut off all ties to Helen.

In 2008, Bachmann received two tickets to President Obama's inauguration and she passed them along to Helen and Nia knowing that they were supporters.

Most recently, Helen and Michele have seen each other twice over the past year, and one time Michele slipped back to her old ways of hugging Helen and telling her 'I love you' as they say goodbye, leaving Helen confused and hurt.  

Helen said that even if the amendment- which she called Michele's 'very, very sad legacy' from her time in state government- is passed, she and Nia still plan to wed. If it is not legal in Minnesota, they will drive out of state. 

Michele will not be invited.

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Helen LaFave and Nia Wronski at the Inauguration Jan. 20, 2009 from julie phillips on Vimeo.

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