Maya Marcel-Keyes

Maya Jeane Marcel-Keyes (born May 23, 1985) is an American social and political activist and daughter of Republican politician Alan Keyes. Despite her staunch conservative upbringing, Marcel-Keyes has been involved with the anarchist and gay rights movements.

Maya Marcel-Keyes
Born
Maya Jeane Marcel-Keyes

(1985-05-23) May 23, 1985
New Jersey, U.S.
Known forSocial and political activism

Early life

Maya Marcel-Keyes was raised in Darnestown, Maryland. She attended Oakcrest School in McLean, Virginia, a Catholic girls high school. Marcel-Keyes worked with a tribal rights group in southern India in her gap year before matriculating at Brown University in 2005.[1][2]

Politics

During the 2000 U.S presidential election season, Marcel-Keyes was instrumental in convincing her father, despite objections from his security detail, to throw himself into a mosh pit organized by activist and film-maker Michael Moore during an Iowa caucus rally. Fellow Republican candidate Gary Bauer charged that the event was a cheap political stunt. In response, Dr. Keyes said that the mosh pit exemplified "the kind of trust in people that is the heart and soul of the Keyes campaign."[3]

Marcel-Keyes also worked on her father's failed 2004 Senate bid as the Republican candidate against Democrat Barack Obama. Her sexual orientation was not widely known at the time. During the race, her father called during an interview Vice President Dick Cheney's daughter a "selfish hedonist" for being a lesbian and then adding, without a prompt, what he would hypothetically say to his own daughter if she was a lesbian. Marcel-Keyes recalled that this was unpleasant and strange. Her parents knew that she was a lesbian since they confronted her about her sexuality in high school.[2]

Family controversy

On January 20, 2005, Marcel-Keyes—who identified as an anarchist—participated in a march protesting the second inauguration of President George W. Bush. Following that march, Alan Keyes relieved Maya Marcel-Keyes of her duties as a consultant, requested that she move out of an apartment funded by Keyes' political organizations in Chicago, and stated that he would not fund her college education.[2][4]

Following the disintegration of her relationship with her parents, Maya Marcel-Keyes publicly announced she was a lesbian.[2][4] Maya Marcel-Keyes's parents had been aware of her sexual orientation since they found a copy of the Washington Blade (a gay publication) in her room and confronted her with it during the latter portion of her high school years; they considered her sexuality "wrong and sinful", but lived with her amicably as long as she did not communicate her politics or sexuality openly. Maya Marcel-Keyes asserted that her father had disassociated himself from her because she is a "liberal queer".[2] Maya Marcel-Keyes acknowledged that she could understand her father's decision because it did not "'make much sense for him to be [financially] supporting someone who is working against what he believes in.'"[5] When asked if she was homeless, she said "'Technically speaking, I don't have anywhere to go. I have lots of friends and I could probably go crash with them. I'm going back to Chicago and I'm not really sure what I'm going to do when I get there.'" Maya Marcel-Keyes also criticized the media's reporting of her family situation.[5] She discussed this series of events in an interview with The Advocate.[6] The death of a close friend who was kicked out of his parents' house motivated Maya Marcel-Keyes to speak out publicly about the situation.[7]

References
  1. Crea, Joe (February 4, 2005). "Ehrlich, Steele mum on Md. marriage amendment: Alan Keyes' daughter to headline pro-gay lobby day". Washington Blade. Archived from the original on December 16, 2005.
  2. Fisher, Marc (February 13, 2005). "When Sexuality Undercuts a Family's Ties". The Washington Post. p. C01. Archived from the original on July 26, 2017. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  3. Gail Collins. "Public Interests; Dignity, Always Dignity." The New York Times. January 28, 2000. Page 1.
  4. "Alan Keyes' Daughter Coming Out". CBS News. 2005-02-13. Archived from the original on 2013-10-10. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  5. William O'Bryan and Randy Shulman (2005-02-24). "Maya Keyes: Her Father's Daughter". Metro Weekly. Archived from the original on 2009-02-28. Retrieved 2007-12-12.
  6. "Maya Marcel-Keyes interview, Tom Musbach, The Advocate, February 2005". Archived from the original on 2006-08-25. Retrieved 2006-11-19.
  7. "Alan Keyes' Gay Daughter Speaks Out". Fox News. Associated Press. February 15, 2005. Archived from the original on August 30, 2021. Retrieved June 15, 2017.

Further reading
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