People Who Oppose Gay Marriage Can Win Beauty Pageants

by Michael Jones · 2010-02-01 06:44:00 UTC
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Miss AmericaRemember Carrie Prejean? She was the former Miss USA contestant from California who last April made the hearts of anti-gay folks swoon with her ringing endorsement of opposite marriage. Prejean, responding to a question from Perez Hilton about whether she supported same-sex marriage, said that she wanted her country and her family to view marriage like her Church does -- reserved for straight folks only.

Prejean didn't win the contest that night, but almost instantaneously became a rock star for the religious right. National Organization for Marriage poobah Maggie Gallagher practically called her the future of the Republican Party, and gossip rags consistently wondered what Fox News Show she might end up hosting. Within minutes of the Miss USA pageant ending, Prejean had become a martyr in the hearts of the anti-gay movement, sacrificing her crown to answer a question about marriage that spoke to her religious values. To the Maggie Gallaghers of the world, Prejean lost the crown because of one simple fact: she opposed gay marriage.

Of course, fast forward a year and where are we? Well, after revelations that she filmed several sex tapes, and after an appearance on Larry King where she called the man inappropriate for asking a simple journalistic question, Prejean has essentially fallen off the world's radar screen -- with the exception of a mid-January dust up over whether she purposely let her nipple slip out of her bathing suit while on vacation in Hawaii with her boyfriend, the NFL's Kyle Boller. No comment there.

And as for beauty pageants allowing contestants who oppose same-sex marriage win? Well, look no further than the Miss America pageant, which just awarded the crown to Miss Virginia, Caressa Cameron. Turns out she opposes gay marriage, too, having had to answer a question on the subject during the competition to become Miss Virginia.

"Cameron said she believes marriage should be between a man and woman because of her religious beliefs but doesn't think there should be laws against same-sex marriage," reported the Richmond Times Dispatch.

So what do you know, Maggie Gallagher is wrong again. Turns out that beauty pageant contestants can oppose gay marriage and get their crowns, too. Meanwhile, ratings for beauty pageants continue to plummet. We won't say whether that's related to an epidemic of contestants who oppose gay marriage ...

Photo credit: Miss America

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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