Miss USA Controversy
Don't ask the question if you can't stand the answer.
Organizers of the Miss USA Pageant should have known better than to choose gay celebrity gossip blogger Perez Hilton as a judge for the 2009 ceremony. Their decision to give Hilton the chance to ask a random contestant a loaded question has resulted in yet another controversy for the pageant.
According to this FOXNews.com story, Miss California Carrie Prejean (pronounced pray-ʒαn) "sparked a furor" when she responded to Hilton's question about gay marriage.
"Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriages," Hilton asked. "Do you think other states should follow suit? Why or why not?"
Rather than give the politically correct answer everyone expected (something along the lines of "That's a hot topic, Perez. Thanks for asking me. I think states should decide for themselves. That's the way this country's founders designed it in the Constitution."), Prejean answered honestly:
I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other ... In my family, I think that I believe that marriage should be between a man and a women. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised ... I think it should be between a man and a woman."Despite the liberal spin spreading across the web, Prejean's answer was clearly greeted with resounding applause. Liberals have been claiming there were a number of boos. If there were, it sure doesn't show up in the clip (admittedly, I didn't watch the original NBC broadcast).
In the clip, Hilton looks crestfallen on the split-screen, as though he had been expecting the traditional politically correct non-answer that makes these pageants so un-watchable.
While Miss California's response may have cost her the crown, it's also possible that her courageous answer propelled her to the top. Even with the reported controversy she created, Prejean was still named first runner-up, a decision that reportedly outraged gay rights activists.
On his site, Hilton castigates Prejean for not "inspiring" people with her answer. I respectfully disagree. Love it or hate it, Miss California's answer was refreshingly honest.
Since when is honesty an uninspiring quality? Photo © Denise Truscello/WireImage for Getty Images
Comments
Yes, because it only would have been honest and courageous if she gave an answer YOU agree with. Typical Republican hypocrisy.
“Do these pants make me look fat?”
There is honesty, and then there is diplomacy.
Sometimes, it’s good to be honest. And sometimes it’s better to keep your opinions to yourself and not risk hurting anyone’s feelings or sparking debate at an inopportune time/place. There’s a reason that no experienced bartender discusses politics or religion at work, and it isn’t that they have no opinion about those subjects, or that they are dishonest by nature.
Miss USA is supposed to be more of a diplomat; a uniter, rather than a divider. While she has made herself a hero to the conservative community, she did not act like the diplomat, representing all Americans without controversy, that Miss USA ought to be.
Robert,
I don’t think what I’m saying is hypocritical at all. If you take a look at my post, I’m lauding her for her willingness to take a stand one way or the other. To me, that is a courageous act. Had she taken the opposing stance, I still would have admired her willingness to voice her opinion. I may not have written about it, because it wouldn’t have really mattered much to my topic, but I probably would have encouraged the US Liberals Guide to write about it. If that’s hypocrisy, I guess I’m a hypocrite then.
disappointed to see you feel that way. just curious – how would my being legally married to my partner of 10 years in any way, shape, or form impact you or your relationships? as it stands now, we don’t have any rights of survivorship, medical rights should something happen to us, etc. yet we are more commited than most straight couples i know…ironic. if more people educated themselves on the true issue, we might see real change happen. it’s not an “agenda” – it’s simple rights. we’re not 2nd class citizens – we’re who God created us to be. sorry to jump up on my soapbox…
It’s great to see someone stand up for what they believe in. That’s the topic, so relax everyone who doesn’t agree with her.
It’s great to see people stand up for themselves and what they believe in. I commend her strength in herself and her faith. Imagine if she said every state “should” follow VT’s lead…. We would have never heard about it. Have a great day America!
Yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts.
After the epic struggle that just took place in California over Proposition 8, Miss California comes away thinking that “Americans” have the right to choose same-sex marriage or “opposite marriage” (as she bizarrely expressed it)? The fact is citizens have that right in only 4 states.
I think the Miss USA judges expected someone earning that title to be better informed on an important national issue, one especially relevant to those in her age group.
“No offense to anybody out there”, but intelligent, educated young Americans have already decided in favor of marriage equality. It’s sad that Miss California was raised to believe in discrimination and can’t rise above her parents’ prejudices. Let’s hope she can become better informed and more tolerant and understanding of others in the future.
Rob,
Your comments underscore the reason why the gay marriage discussion so often gets derailed. There’s an excellent piece over at GayPatriot.net I highly recommend you check out.
You refer to Prejean’s belief system and that of her parents as “prejudices.” You also very cleverly call her “ill-informed” and “intolerant” without actually using those words.
Unfortunately, your argument about her ideas somehow not reflecting those of other young people falls flat, though, because the very same election in which Americans of “her age group” chose the liberal icon Barack Hussein Obama as our next president, was the same one in which the states of California, Arizona and Florida chose to ban gay marriage. If the youth vote was responsible for getting Obama elected, then it was the youth vote that was responsible for the gay marriage votes as well. You can’t have it both ways.
As for the “bizarre” wording of her comment, I’m not really sure what you’re getting at there (maybe implying somehow that it was a manifestation of her ignorance?), but I attribute it to nerves. I know I’ve personally strung together some pretty weird phrases when I first started speaking before national audiences. It just happens. I suppose you’ve always been very eloquent in your comments when speaking to large groups of people, so I’m sure you can’t relate. For us peons, though, it can be quite daunting.
The problem with this discussion today is too much of it is uncivil and devolves into name-calling. If you and those of your ilk were willing to accept alternative beliefs as “beliefs” and not “prejudices,” perhaps you’d be able to make your point without the other side digging in its heels.
When the name-calling begins, the conversation ends.
Sounds like intolerance to me to deny her the crown based upon her beliefs.
Justin,
(1) Carrie Prejean voluntarily chose to participate in what is essentially a public job interview for a lucrative and rewarding title as Miss USA. If she’s so overcome by “nerves” when speaking in public that she can’t speak accurately about one of the most widely-discussed public policy issues in her own state, she shouldn’t be there.
(2) I’m not “cleverly” trying to imply that she is ill-informed and intolerant without using those words. Let me be more clear: yes, she is most definitely ill-informed if she believes that “Americans” have the right to choose same-sex marriage, since 95% (in 46 states, including California) do not have that right. And, yes, she is intolerant if she thinks that she is entitled to superior legal rights over others just because “that’s how she was raised,” as she cited no other justifications for her opinion on Saturday night or in subsequent interviews.
(3) Your conclusions concerning the 2008 election are invalid, as you well know. The simultaneous outcomes of (a) Obama receiving support from a large majority of young voters, and (b) anti-marriage referenda prevailing in three states, in no way lead to a rational conclusion that “it was the youth vote that was responsible for the gay marriage votes.” Every reputable poll ever conducted on the issue of marriage equality shows that support for equal marriage rights is strongest among younger voters and weakest among elderly voters. In fact, the strongest support of all comes from young, college-educated women, the group Carrie Prejean belongs to, but is far out of step with.
(4) I don’t know if Carrie Prejean considers herself a conservative or not. But as a longtime conservative activist loyal to the principles of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan, I will always support the freedom of individuals to run their own lives without government-sponsored discrimination, so long as they do no direct harm to others. During the remaining seven months of her time as Miss California, Carrie would do well to learn about the importance of marriage equality from her own San Diego Mayor, conservative Republican Jerry Sanders, who is a strong supporter of equal rights. Mayor Sanders believes that his daughter deserves the same opportunities for happiness and fulfillment in life as Carrie Prejean, the same rights Dick and Lynne Cheney support for their daughter.
There isn’t the slightest doubt about where this issue is headed: given the rapidly shifting sentiments of the public, marriage equality will be the law of the land … and sooner rather than later. Discrimination based on nothing more than “tradition” and “how I was raised” inevitably is overcome by human experience and rational judgment. It would be tragic for our conservative values to be associated with the likes of Carrie Prejean, further alienating the young, educated Americans who will be the legislators, business leaders, journalists, judges, and opinion leaders of tomorrow.
WOW someone actually takes a stand for what is Biblically correct rather than what is politically correct and she is villainized.
Miss California’s got cahones for answering the question honestly. The end result is that she’s more popular (or at least well known) now than she would have been if she had won
This question was very open ended and based solely on one’s opinion. That being said, if you are going to ask a question that is based on one’s opinion, how can you bash them for their opinion. Because they don’t agree with you? This has nothing to do with republican or democrat, we are Americans which is exactly what gives us our right to say the things like Miss California said. There was no right or wrong answer to that. It is solely ones opinion. It is ludicrous that we are in America and undoubtedly have to defend our OPINION, which is ours to have in the first place. Perez Hilton shows very little class in the way he has carried on about this. I applaud Miss California on her answer regardless of my opinion.
I am strongly for gay rights but that still doesnt give anyone the right to give her crap for saying what she believes. in. Who really cares?! thats what Miss USA is about, being honest. I love Perez, but he should understand that not everyone is for gay rights, and just like he wants the choice to be able to marry another man, she has the choice to not like that.
She was just being honest. And just like Perex wants the choice to be able to marry another man, she has the choice to not like it.+
I just searched for articles on this topic after reading the bizarre “article” by Laura Baron on the same event. I needed to make sure the world was not going insane by reading a coherent, reasonable article.
This really has nothing to do with gay marriage. This is about rationality. To get angry at someone’s opinion when you asked them what their opinion was simply does not make sense.
Is Miss USA about conforming to a debatable set of beliefs, or about demonstrating undebately honorable behavior?
The tone of Baron’s article gives me Nazi-shivers.