Posted on 02/14/2005 9:46:45 AM PST by metalmanx2j
MARYLAND - Scheduled to speak at an Equality Maryland rally for gay rights today, Maya Keyes, 19, daughter of former Illinois Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes, is speaking publicly for the first time about her sexuality and her soured relationship with her parents. Both Advocate.com and The Washington Post ran articles over the weekend wherein Maya Keyes discussed the situation.
Read Maya Keyes' interview with Advocate.com:
Maya Keyes ends speculation about her sexuality.
On Sunday, Marc Fisher of the Washington Post reported,
Maya Keyes loves her father and mother. She put off college and moved from the family home in Darnestown to Chicago to be with her dad on a grand adventure. Even though she disagrees with him on "almost everything" political, she worked hard for his quixotic and losing campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Now Maya Keyes -- liberal, lesbian and a little lost -- finds herself out on her own. She says her parents -- conservative commentator and perennial candidate Alan Keyes and his wife, Jocelyn -- threw her out of their house, refused to pay her college tuition and stopped speaking to her.
Maya, 19, says her parents cut her off because of who she is -- "a liberal queer." Tomorrow, she will take her private dispute with her dad into the open. She is scheduled to make her debut as a political animal, speaking at a rally in Annapolis sponsored by Equality Maryland, the state's gay rights lobby.
She plans to talk about "what it was like for me growing up as a liberal queer in a very conservative household. I've known so many other people in a position like mine, where their families really don't want much to do with them. Maybe I can help by talking about it."
The issue of Maya Keyes' sexuality came up during the 2004 U.S. Senate race in Illinois when Capitol Fax publisher Rich Miller discovered a blog apparently populated by Maya that discussed her family and her sexuality and included pictures of her kissing another girl. The story remained underground during the Senate campaign thanks in large measure to the campaign's unwillingness to confirm or deny that the blog was indeed Maya's.
According to Fisher's piece in the Washington Post, despite the fact that Maya has been kicked out of her home, a San Francisco-based charity, the Point Foundation, has stepped in to provide the money needed for Maya to begin her studies at Brown University.
Interestingly, Maya Keyes seems to harbor little ill will towards her father. Again, from the Washington Post,
Maya still sounds more sad than angry about her situation. "I wouldn't want to do anything to hurt my father," she says. Like other gay relatives of prominent conservatives, she has struggled with how public to be about her sexuality...Maya is looking for work, planning to move in with friends in Washington or a brother in Boston. She hopes to get back in touch with her mom and dad..."It all seems kind of ridiculous," she says, "because I love him. He's my father."
© 2005 IllinoisLeader.com
"Making a 19 y/o leave home and get a job isn't punishment. It's growing up. It would not have hurt anything but her pride to get a job at McDonalds and put herself thru Junior college."
Oh, I agree whole-heartedly. That's pretty much what I did except I worked at a car wash in the blistering heat.
Whatever you think of Keyes, his daughter is making an immoral choice. Her public stance is likely embarrassing her father. Perhaps that's her major motivation. Perhaps not. WE DON'T KNOW and these are real people we are talking about -- who are hurting. It is no more right to make a big political statement out of this than it was for Kerry to bring up Mary Cheney in the debates. And if you want to talk about Keyes campaign comments regarding homosexuality, I am sure he still believes every word of what he said -- literally said, not what it was twisted into.
The irony and the phoniness is being displayed in all those who think it should be "hands off and mouths shut" when it disadvantages them and "hand on and mouths flapping" when it advantages them.
I am familiar with this sort of story in a very personal way. That's all I will say. You cannot take one side, voiced via a friendly media source, and think you have any idea what you are talking about.
I can see that viewpoint. I've been disappointed though to see some of the very harsh comments on this thread directed toward the girl.
"It's growing up. It would not have hurt anything but her pride to get a job at McDonalds and put herself thru Junior college."
Hmmm Junior College vs. Brown...I think that would have more of an impact on her life than "pride."
Naming names is a big no-no, especially when we do not personally know the people. But on the topic, a lot of seemingly normal people suffer from a mental illness. Being degenerate is something you do. Imo, homosexuality qualifies in either category, depending on the case I suppose -- sometimes both.
BTW, great tag line.
Your statement is inherently illogical and makes no sense.
It is obviously a passing phase for those who do not go on to be lifelong homosexuals.
There is a growing body of medical research that shows that the brain is plastic and malleable. Behavior that is persisted in, hardwires the brain to continue in that behavior. The brain is particularly vulnerable this way with respect to high-pleasure activities such as sex and drug use. It is entirely possible for a normal heterosexual adolescent (and heterosexuality is the presumptive hardwiring) to experiment with homosexual activity, or be forcibly experimented upon in a homosexual manner.
For a variety of reasons, such a child could "decide" he or she is homosexual. If the child persists in the behavior, he or she will hardwire the brain to continue in that behavior. The child then stands a real risk of remaining "homosexual" his or her entire life.
But a brain that is malleable one way, is malleable the other way, too. That is the whole point of cognitive therapy in treating OCD. There are many recorded cases of a "homosexual" discovering five or ten years after adopting the lifestyle, that the lifestyle and behavior can be resisted and even reversed. The brain can be rewired.
I have a very close friend who is living proof of this thesis. He has been married now for over 20 years and has two grown children.
Okay, it makes sense. We're essentially saying the same thing. My eyes skipped over a few words in your post.
Glad we got that cleared up. This story is obviously stirring up some very strong feelings.
I used to ask myself when gay or lesbian people would stop throwing their lifestyle in our faces (we don't care). However reading some of the posts in this thread...apparantely some do care, perhaps too much?
Do you know how ridiculous you sound? Apparently your screen name is quite accurate.
Yes, I can see what the Keyes' are doing....treat her like crap until she "decides" not to be gay anymore. This is of course absurd.
I have $50 that says you regret your relationship with your brother before you exit this life.
With all due respect, students "earn their way" through State U's and Community Colleges. You don't earn your way through an Ivy League school, because it's simply way out of range of student earning potential. Our president isn't a liberal because he didn't pay his way through Yale. No matter where you stand on the Keyes' family split, saying she should pay her own tuition at Brown is just ignorant.
Careful, there are Freepers who worship Keyes and think all GOP politicians should talk and act like Mr. 27%-Of-The-Vote.
I don't mean to be disrespectful but that sounds very snobbish to me. In real America a lot of professional people have worked their way thru a Jr. college and then transferred and worked their way thru a university education. IMO what you earn you appreciate more. It's easy to take Daddy's check but it builds character when you put yourself thru school. If this girl believes her father is wrong then she should not be holding her hand out for his money. Kids think we "owe" them an education. We really don't.
Doubtful. The Cheneys simply don't see their daughter's behavior as destructive. Maybe they would prefer that she was straight, but I doubt they see the destructiveness you describe (and I agree with them).
Why can't she go to a state university instead of an Ivy League college? It would be cheaper. Hey, but why do that when it is (or was) on daddy's dime?!
so much for any future political opponent asking him what he would do if he had a gay child. that ship has definitely sailed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.