by Matthew Cardinale
www.OpEdNews.com
"Exciting is one word," to describe the day Maya Marcel-Keyes
officially came out of the closet at an Equality Maryland Rally,
says Maya, 19, in a phone interview for the progressive news
community. "Chaotic is another."
"I'm not used to getting all the attention, except for a couple
weeks in my father's campaign" continues Maya, whose father, Alan
Keyes, garnered national publicity for his extreme mega-capitalist
and fundamentalist views in a U.S. Senate race won by now-Sen.
Barack Obama (D-IL).
Alan Keyes had drawn controversy during the Senate race for
supporting a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage,
supporting private schools and school prayer, calling for the
integration of church and state, and among other things, favoring a
national sales tax to replace the "failed socialist experiment"
known as the income tax.
Maya announced that she was getting kicked out of her house by her
parents on her weblog a couple weeks ago. The blog is available at:
http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=Xmisled0youthX
She had resigned to being homeless and putting off her dream of
attending college when her parents determined they would withhold
all forms of support due to behaviors they described as "hedonism"
and "supporting the enemy."
The Point Foundation
(TPF), a national scholarship organization for gay and lesbian youth
who face unique obstacles, contacted Maya late last week to offer
her a special scholarship in addition to the multiple scholarships
TPF is to award to applicants this year.
"I'll be starting Brown University [in Providence, Rhode Island] in
the fall," Maya says. She says she's inclined to major in Political
Science.
"That's what I'm leaning towards."
The physical resemblance between Maya and her father is stunning.
See the pictures juxtaposed at:
http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42867 . But
the ideological postures of parent and child could not be more
different.
Maya is a self-described "anarchist" with leftist social and
political-economic views.
"I actually voted for Nader in this past election," she notes. "I'm
really an anarchist, but I felt this was an election that needed to
be voted in."
Maya wasn't always interested in politics, she says, but developed
an interest in recent years.
"I started getting interested in high school. I grew up in a
political family. I always knew about politics but it wasn't until I
got into high school that I got into it for myself. I started
reading the newspaper more and having more viewpoints," she says.
"Basically, I got more viewpoints [reading the paper] than those I
was exposed to at home all the time," she explains, adding, "I had a
really conservative home and went to a conservative school. It was a
Catholic private school."
Yesterday in Maryland, Monday, February 14, 2005, Maya spoke to a
huge rally about not only her personal story, but how the
experiences have shaped her vision of helping the homeless.
The rally was in front of the Maryland State House to coincide with
a national lobby day, and included Judy Sheppard (mother of Matthew
Sheppard) and the Executive Director of the Sheppard Foundation as
well.
She was interviewed on CNN and has also enjoyed recent coverage on
CBS.com and in The Advocate Magazine.
"I had spoken [in the rally] about queer kids who are homeless and
the homeless youth problem. Did you know 40% of street kids are GLBT
[gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender]? It's a problem that doesn't
get much attention," says Maya.
"I've seen a lot of friends who were queer who've been kicked out
because they're gay. And what these kids go through makes me want to
do something to help," she resolves.
Not all homeless homosexual youth are as lucky as Maya, though. She
reported the sad news that one of her friends who had been kicked
out of their house by their parents had recently passed away due to
anorexia.
At first, Maya wasn't sure whether she'd still be prepared
emotionally for speaking at the rally, but apparently saw a greater
good in creating
awareness for glbt street youth. The statehouse event had been
setting
the nation's PR rooms abuzz for weeks. The details concerning Maya
and the event had been kept under tight wraps, and she's been
reticent about speaking with the press mostly.
Meanwhile, Maya's life is still turbulent. "I'm still looking for a
place to live," she says. "For school, I had resigned not to go to
Brown [University] and I was going to have to work. I've been
looking forward to going to school for a long, long time. My parents
had been planning on paying tuition, so when they say they wouldn't,
I couldn't get financial aid either, because my parents make too
much money for me to qualify for financial aid."
Maya these days is currently residing with individuals affiliated
with PFLAG, or Parents, Friends, and Family of Lesbians and Gays.
She was able to keep a bag of her belongings at a friend's house.
She's been using library computers to communicate.
Coming out of the closet to her parents was more of a process,
however, than an event, she recalls. "My parents have known I was
queer for a couple of years now. They were in denial about it. They
thought I was just queer in a phase. And after a while they said, we
can't support the decisions you're making. It's not just that I was
queer that was a problem, but that I was willing to talk about it."
One of her friends told her about The Point Foundation after her
parents cut resources off, she says. "It was ironic. I had started
filling out the application and then I got a call. TPF had tracked
me down through Dan Furmansky, the leader of Equality Maryland."
"This is a sadly common and a very real example of why The Point
Foundation scholarships are necessary," said Vance Lancaster,
Executive Director of the Foundation, in a press release. "It is at
times like these that we feel compelled to go outside the bounds of
our standard scholarship process and provide financial and emotional
support to students in severe crisis situations."
Last month, for example, The Point Foundation provided support for
James Barnett, of Dallas, Texas, who had been expelled by his
Christian high school for being homosexual.
"I thank the Point Foundation for their support at this critical
time in my life," Maya said in a recent statement for the
Foundation. "I know my situation is not a unique one, and my hope is
that queer young people in similar situations can hear my story and
know that there are people and organizations that will support them
in times of need."
In the long-term, Maya says she wants to be a leader in helping
homeless youth. "For years I've wanted to start an LGBTQ youth
center, with a focus especially on homeless kids... but especially I
think it's important to find some way to get kids access to proper
healthcare, physical and mental," she says.
Matthew Cardinale is a freelance writer, advocate, and graduate
student in sociology and political science, and is also a Point
Scholar. Matthew's writing has appeared in The South Florida
Sun-Sentinel, The Advocate Magazine, the Berkeley Daily Planet, and
Shelterforce Magazine. He may be reached at mcardina@uci.edu.
