 Following the breakdown in her relationship with her parents, Marcel-Keyes came out publicly as a lesbian.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.Marcel-Keyes asserted that her father had disassociated himself from her because she is a "'liberal queer'".