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Keyes "family values": the teenage daughter of a right-wing pundit gets the courage to come out and gets the boot from her parents
Advocate, The, March 15, 2005 by Sarah Wildman
Last summer Alan Keyes, the far-right Republican known for his particularly harsh brand of conservatism and his failed presidential bids in 1996 and 2000, was running a wildly unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign against Barack Obama in Illinois. Keyes infamously characterized gay men and lesbians as "selfish hedonists," extending the epithet to Mary Cheney, the vice president's daughter.
His daughter, Maya Keyes, 19, made her own headlines in February when she came out as a lesbian, confirming long-running rumors about her sexuality.
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Alan Keyes, a "family values" conservative, told his daughter that she was no longer welcome in the family's Illinois residence, Maya says, and also refused to pay for her to attend Brown University. Maya was accepted by the Ivy League school for fall 2004 but deferred a year to teach in India.
The Advocate interviewed Keyes by e-mail just a few days after she agreed to appear at a pro-marriage rally sponsored by Equality Maryland. She was using a computer at a Chicago public library, facing the prospect of struggling to find both a home and tuition for college [see "Point to the rescue"].
For the complete interview click on www.advocate.com.
Why did you decide to come out? What was the incentive?
Most of my good friends knew I was queer through most of high school. I came out to my parents at the end of high school. I wasn't planning on it, so there wasn't really an incentive. My morn was searching through my stuff and found some gay-themed media, and so they asked me if I was queer. Last fall when the rumors started I was out in Chicago with my dad. It got pretty crazy, with reporters hounding me and all my friends. One reporter even started asking the 8-year-old sister of one of my friends about my love life. Thankfully, nobody would talk to them, so it never became a story outside of Internet gossip.
When did you first realize that you were a lesbian?
Probably the first time I saw the movie Hackers--my first taste of Angelina Jolie. Seriously, though, probably middle school. I went to an all-girls school, and when everyone was sitting around talking about Leonardo DiCaprio or whoever was the rage back then, I had to make an effort to pretend to care.
What was your parents' response?
Initially they just denied it. They said I wasn't really queer--I was either lying about it or just confused or going through a phase or brainwashed, etc. Then they just got angry, upset. I left the country for a year and things cooled off a bit, but they were always still very harsh if the subject came up. It was best if we just stayed quiet and pretended the whole queer issue never happened. Occasionally we'd have arguments or long talks where they reminded me how horrible and sinful homosexuality is, but mostly if it didn't come up. Recently things have gotten a lot worse, though, because I'm not staying quiet about it anymore. I hope it's just a phase and we work things out again. At the moment it's been a while since I've talked to my parents.
Do you have a career goal?
I've always wanted to become a published writer and to open up an LGBT youth center, with a focus on queer street kids.
Point to the rescue
Just a few days after she says she was kicked out by her father, Maya Keyes found a home and assistance to enable her to attend Brown University this fall.
The Point Foundation--which provides scholarships to GLBT college students with leadership potential, many of whom have been cut off by their families--stepped in.
The group's trustees found Maya a place to stay in Chicago and set up a financial package for her at Brown. She will be provided with a mentor. "She's overwhelmed with everything going on at the moment and this is one less thing she'll have to worry about," says Vance Lancaster. Point's executive director. "We're thrilled we can help."
Wildman is The Advocate's Washington correspondent.
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