Maya Keyes: Liberal and Gay

By Aaron Bailey in Arts & Entertainment on Feb 15, 2005 7:28PM

Maya Keyes, daughter of former Republican U.S. Senate candidate Alan Keyes, has publicly come out and declared that she is a "liberal." Oh, and that she's gay.

At a rally for same-sex marriage rights in Maryland, 19-year-old Keyes urged support for gay youth who have been abandoned by their families and said that being gay in a conservative household was difficult: "Liberal queer plus conservative Republican just doesn't mesh well. That was making my life a little bit turbulent."

During her father's Senate campaign last year, it was long rumored that Maya was gay after her blog was discovered. Mr. Keyes refused to comment, although he did label Mary Cheney and other homosexuals as "selfish hedonists."

In an e-mail interview from the Chicago Public Library last week, Maya told Advocate.com that she has been living in her father's Chicago residence, but that her family was kicking her out and stopping financial support:

It's not like it was my apartment that my dad was paying for, as so many people have suggested. It was my dad's Illinois residence, so even after I leave it, it'll still be there and be paid for--it'll just have no one living in it except for a couple days a month when he's back here.

Alan Keyes issued a statement Monday evening saying, "My daughter is an adult, and she is responsible for her own actions. What she chooses to do has nothing to do with my work or political activities."

(photo via Illinois Leader)