Bloggers
and
online
chat
rooms
were
abuzz
over
rumors
last
month
that
Illinois
Senate
candidate
Alan
Keyes’
19-year-old
daughter
Maya
is
a
lesbian.
Keyes,
who
called
Mary
Cheney
—
the
lesbian
daughter
of
the
vice
president
—
a
“selfish
hedonist”
during
a
radio
interview
in
August
at
the
Republican
National
Convention
in
New
York,
has
refused
to
comment
on
the
rumors.
In
a
subsequent
interview
with
the
Chicago
Tribune,
Keyes
stood
by
the
slur
and
even
said
he
would
say
the
same
thing
to
his
own
daughter.
“I
have
said
that
if
you
are
actively
engaging
in
homosexual
relations,
those
relations
are
about
selfish
hedonism,”
Keyes
told
the
Tribune.
“If
my
daughter
were
a
lesbian,
I’d
look
at
her
and
say,
‘That
is
a
relationship
that
is
based
on
selfish
hedonism.’
I
would
also
tell
my
daughter
that
it’s
a
sin,
and
she
needs
to
pray
to
the
Lord
God
to
help
her
to
deal
with
that
sin.”
If
Maya
is
indeed
a
lesbian
—
and
a
blog
that
purports
to
be
hers
talks
openly
about
being
gay
—
she
joins
a
growing
list
of
gay
children
whose
parents
are
Christian
or
conservative
leaders.
That
list
already
includes
John
Schlafly,
son
of
social
conservative
leader
Phyllis
Schlafly,
and
Richard
Socarides,
whose
father
Charles
is
the
president
of
the
National
Association
for
Research
&
Therapy
of
Homosexuality.
Many
conservative
Christians
believe
homosexuality
is
a
choice
and
as
a
result
their
child
can
be
converted
and
healed,
said
Debbie
Caldwell,
senior
editor
at
BeliefNet,
an
independent,
multi-faith
Web
site.
“They
believe
essentially
their
child
is
sinning,
and
they
would
not
want
to
provide
legal
protections
to
them
because
it
would
codify
the
sin
into
law,”
Caldwell
said.
“It
all
gets
back
to
the
way
they
read
their
Bible.
Their
positions
on
gay
issues
are
not
a
matter
of
what
is
appropriate
for
a
civil
society.
It’s
what
is
important
in
the
eyes
of
God.”
In
explaining
this
curious
family
dynamic,
Margaret
Crosbie-Burnett,
psychology
professor
at
the
University
of
Miami
who
specializes
in
gay
issues
within
families,
said
that
while
there
is
some
research
on
how
families
in
general
handle
homosexuality,
there
is
no
explicit
study
examining
what
happens
when
a
child
comes
out
to
a
parent
who
is
a
prominent
Christian
conservative.
“From
a
religious
perspective,
if
you
believe
everything
your
religion
is
telling
you,
you
have
a
child
who
is
going
to
hell,”
said
Crosbie-Burnett.
“If
that’s
the
level
you
are
dealing
with,
that’s
truly
frightening.
Such
parents
are
also
concerned
with
the
conflict
such
a
declaration
causes.
They
say,
‘How
can
you
do
this
to
the
family?’
They
are
caught
in
this
huge
conflict,
and
they
want
to
keep
this
a
secret.
“Especially
if
they
are
prominent
they
will
ask,
‘What’s
going
to
happen
to
me
and
my
career
goals?
What
if
people
at
work
know
I
have
a
gay
child?’”
But
as
parents
grapple
with
the
issue
of
homosexuality,
the
child
is
often
excluded
from
family
activities,
Crosbie-Burnett
said.
“They
may
be
included
in
some
family
events
but
not
others,”
Crosbie-Burnett
said.
“Some
of
these
extrusions
can
be
as
damaging
as
total
rejection.”
She
added
that
parents
might
be
concerned
with
what
people
will
think
of
them
because
they
“created”
a
gay
child.
“That’s
one
of
the
parental
fears,”
Crosbie-Burnett
said.
“In
some
interesting
ways,
the
family
goes
through
a
coming
out
process
just
like
the
gay
person.
It
parallels
in
many
ways.
The
psychological
journey
is
the
same.”
Mary
Tolbert,
executive
director
of
the
Center
for
Lesbian
&
Gay
Studies
in
Religion
&
Ministry,
said
many
prominent
Christians
who
have
a
gay
or
lesbian
child
become
even
more
dedicated
to
opposing
gay
rights
because
it
has
caused
disruption
in
their
own
family.
“Because
a
lot
of
conservative
Christians
look
at
it
as
a
choice,”
Tolbert
said.
“So
here’s
a
child
who
has
been
raised
not
to
make
a
wrong
choice
—
that’s
the
conservative
Christian
credo
—
and
they
‘chose’
to
be
gay.
People
will
wonder
what
kind
of
teaching
that
kid
received.
And
that’s
the
threat
it
provides.
Because
part
of
what
conservative
Christian
belief
says
is
if
you
obey
all
the
rules,
you
will
be
fine
and
your
family
will
be
fine.”
Tolbert
said
these
Christian
leaders
with
gay
children
don’t
lose
credibility
amongst
their
followers
as
long
as
they
become
even
more
doggedly
opposed
to
gay
rights.
The
trouble
begins,
Tolbert
said,
if
they
choose
to
moderate
their
rhetoric,
the
way
Vice
President
Dick
Cheney
did
when
he
acknowledged
his
gay
daughter
on
the
campaign
trail.
Many
Christian
leaders,
including
Tony
Perkins
of
the
Family
Research
Council,
said
Cheney’s
softer
rhetoric
has
emboldened
conservatives
like
Phyllis
Schlafly
to
help
draft
the
Republican
Party
platform
in
August
to
oppose
not
only
gay
marriage
but
other
forms
of
legal
recognition
for
gay
couples,
including
civil
unions
and
domestic
partnerships.
