ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The daughter of conservative Republican Alan Keyes has referred to herself as a "liberal queer."

And Maya Marcel-Keyes is also urging support for gay and lesbian young people who have been deserted by their families.

She says she's become estranged from her parents because in her words: "Liberal queer plus conservative Republican just doesn't mesh well."

In a statement issued by her father, Alan Keyes says his daughter is an adult and responsible for her own actions and what she chooses to do has nothing to do with his work or political activities.

Last August in a radio interview on a gay-oriented radio station, Keyes said homosexuality is "selfish hedonism," and his hosts asked if Mary Cheney, daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, is a "selfish hedonist."

"Of course she is," Keyes said, according to a Chicago newspaper. "That goes by definition."

Keyes ran for the U.S. Senate in Illinois, but was defeated by now-Sen. Barack Obama. He also unsuccessfully sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1996 and 2000. Before that, he was the assistant secretary of state for international organizations in the Reagan administration.