Kerry and Labels

In the second debate Senator Kerry got defensive when President Bush started to call him a "liberal" because of the things Kerry voted for in the Senate, Kerry responded:

KERRY: I mean, seriously -- labels don't mean anything. What means something is: Do you have a plan? And I want to talk about my plan some more -- I hope we can.

Last night Senator Kerry went out of his way to label Mary Cheney as a "lesbian":

KERRY: We're all God's children, Bob. And I think if you were to talk to Dick Cheney's daughter, who is a lesbian, she would tell you that she's being who she was, she's being who she was born as.

If labels don't mean anything - why did Kerry go out of his way to label Mary Cheney as a lesbian? Is this a "do as I say - not as I say" deal or is it a sign of a worse character flaw? Or is being a lesbian just more socially acceptable than being a liberal these days?

If its OK for Kerry to go around saying "Mary Cheney, who is a lesbian" would it be equally OK for Bush to start saying "John Kerry, who is a liberal"? Or would Kerry complain?