I am a firm believer in everyone getting their own opinion. When people disagree with me on my political beliefs, I deal with it. When people make fun of the Steelers (my major obsession in life), I turn it into a game. The point is, I get to believe one thing and you can believe another, but there is a celebrity blogger who thinks a person who doesn't agree with him is “a bitch.”
One of the components of a beauty pageant is the question and answer session. I suppose this is put in to prove that beauty goes beneath the surface of the skin or whatever. Miss California, Carrie Prejean, was asked a question by Perez Hilton, a judge who is openly gay. He asks her about gay marriage and if she thinks it should be legal or not.
She answers, “Well, I think its great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be between a man and a woman. Thank you very much.”
Perez calls this “the worst answer in pageant history,” and adds that she’s “a bitch.” He apologizes for calling her a bitch, but after the apology Perez vents on his blog that he is just super upset by it. He then wants to talk to her over coffee. However, hours later, Perez retracts the apology and adds that he said “bitch,” but was thinking the C-word.
He wrote, “There is no right answer, but there could have been a much better answer! You can't alienate your audience, especially if you're competing for the title of MISS USA! You need to represent the people, not just YOUR beliefs.”
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Ken
Perez should go on the 'Biggest Loser'. He stayed true to form and showed zero class. Carrie is the winner...Perez is the whiner.
2 - robroy
So now the homosexuals have beauty contestants pass their litmus test? These people spit on our democratic freedoms. What hypocrisy. Barack Obama gave the same answer - marriage should be between a man and a woman. (Perhaps, everyone knows that Obama is lying. He says it with his lips but his actions speak louder and clearer.)
Mr Hilton admitted that he gave her a "zero" for her honest answer. He then called her a "dumb b#tch". When asked about the crude epithet, he responded:
"I don’t apologize,” Hilton said on air. “Over the course of the past 24 hours, the more I’ve thought about it, the more " you know what? " No, I’m going to stand by what I said just like she’s standing by what she said. And I called her the ‘b’ word, and hey, I was thinking the ‘c’ word."
And instead, of condemning this rude member of their society, the homosexual community is defending him. Appalling.
3 - Jordan Richardson
So now beauty contestants are still relevant? I'd have given her a zero, too, but it would have had nothing to do with the content of her answer and everything to do with the inarticulate, confounding way in which she expressed her "bold" opinion that the majority of Americans ignorantly and stupidly adhere to.
"My country," "we can choose," and "opposite marriage" ought to have been enough to sink her ridiculous ship. The rest was just sweet, sweet gravy.
And Perez is pretty much a tool. "Outing" celebs was his idea of "gay rights activism" prior to this, so he simply continues to embarrass himself.
4 - Sam
This is for "Jordan "Richardson", posted earlier. Please tell me you're kidding. Miss California probably answered that question about as POLITELY, ARTICULATELY, AND AS INTELLIGENTLY AS POSSIBLE.
Imagine being in front of thousands of viewers on TV and millions at home and being asked a question about GAY RIGHTS issues, when you yourself are a hardcore Christian and you're being asked this by one of the most vile, rude, a mean-spirited "gay rights" advocates FROM California who is now using you as the gay-rights scapegoat because the issue is hot right now.
And imagine that you still hold on to your values and are not giving in to what you know this puppeteer wants to hear. So what would you say?
This lady STILL managed to make it clear how she felt in a PERFECTLY intelligible and intellectual manner, without offending anyone. I give her the most Kudos in the world. She did awesome, and I commed here.
5 - duane
There are still beauty contests? In the 21st Century? Sheesh. And they expect the contestants to answer questions? Oh, lordy.
6 - Tony
This isn't a political belief issue. It's just plain bigotry. Not a big suprise that the dumb bimbo in the beauty pagent doesn't like gay people. Why didn't they just run Miss Redneck up there, and we could have gotten some good commentary on Blacks, Arabs, and Jews also.
7 - El Bicho
"Why ask the question if you are only expecting one answer?"
He wasn't. You even quoted Perez stating, "There is no right answer, but there could have been a much better answer!"
"Perez, there’s a reason why only four states have made gay marriage legal."
Yes, it is called ignorance, but the trends are moving in the right direction.
"There’s also something to note: Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage in California, passed."
One more thing to note, the constitutionality of Prop 8 hasn't been ruled on yet.
"It really bothers me that girls lose pageants for speaking their minds."
What should really bother you is pageants, but that's another topic. Where else has this happened? It might not be because of her position, but because of how poorly she stated it. And do we know that this is why she lost because frankly her fake breasts looked terrible in the bikini portion.
Sam, if you think that was an intelligent answer, you are as bright as Miss CA. Look at how she contradicts herself. She says "its great that Americans are able to choose one or the other." then says "in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman."
If it's great Americans can choose, which of course is a crock because people don't choose being gay, then why does she want to take that great thing away?
Also, I had never heard of opposite marriage before. The word she couldn't come up with is heterosexual.
8 - Baronius
Of course Hilton was wrong. That goes without saying. What surprises me is that from what I've seen, neither of the contestents was especially pretty.
9 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
This Perez Hilton guy became famous for doing what?
He made his name by being judgmental & wicked critical of popular celebs on his blog & now he is hobnobbing with 'em. What a fucking hypocrite! He shouldn't talk about integrity...
10 - Willnevergiveup
The US government apparently agrees with the beauty. There is a Resolution in the works to change the definition of marriage in the Constitution.
11 - Jordan Richardson
Miss California probably answered that question about as POLITELY, ARTICULATELY, AND AS INTELLIGENTLY AS POSSIBLE.
Somebody who is articulate does not refer to "opposite marriage," or say "in MY country," and so forth. No matter what she was talking about here, the way in which she expressed it was ridiculous and childish.
She did awesome, and I commed here.
She obviously made you very happy if you managed that.
12 - Jordan Richardson
He made his name by being judgmental & wicked critical
There's hope for you yet, B!
13 - Dr Dreadful
OK, let's back up a bit here.
Ms Prejean opines that it's great that Americans can choose same-sex or opposite-sex marriage [except in about 48 states].
Then she turns right around and says that actually, you know what, this 'great' choice that Americans have shouldn't be available to them.
If that isn't the world's stupidest answer, it's pretty close.
14 - Greg
How is it that a gay man was chosen to judge the beauty of a woman? What does he know? In addition, he has shown himself to be a bigot and intolerant of other peoples opinions. It's obvious that intimidation will be a part of future Miss USA competitions. Very few women will have the fortitude to stand up for their beliefs after this.
Miss California has been graceful, kind, and kept herself above Perez's crude comments. By the way, where is NOW?
15 - Douglas Mays
I thought the answer to the question was very good. She respected other's opinions and gave her own personal belief. This gal should get into politics.
Greg, actually a gay man judging the beauty of a woman is probably the best judge. Judging her opinion on social politics, however.....
16 - Jordan Richardson
It's obvious that intimidation will be a part of future Miss USA competitions.
It wasn't always? The entire concept of judging someone based on looks and "poise" is couched in some form of intimidation. It's the most useless, pointless bullshit on earth.
Very few women will have the fortitude to stand up for their beliefs after this.
Bullshit. Absolute bullshit.
This gal should get into politics.
WTF? Why? Because she referenced "opposite marriage?"
Honestly, how is her answer articulate at all? In what fashion, in what language was she being articulate and intelligent?
17 - Jordan Richardson
If that isn't the world's stupidest answer, it's pretty close.
Bingo.
She applauds this mythical "choice" people are supposed to have, then says how she prefers things to be run in "her country."
Honestly, if this is what her defenders equate with bold, intelligent, articulate commentary, I'd hate to see what books they have in their "liberries."
18 - El Bicho
"OK, let's back up a bit here."
Just to comment #7 should be good enough, Doc.
Greg, if you think this is the first gay man to judge a beauty pageant, you obviously haven't been paying attention.
"Very few women will have the fortitude to stand up for their beliefs after this."
Your view of the entire gender of women in that statement disqualifies you from judging bigots.
"This gal should get into politics."
Doug, while having two different positions on a topic is nothing new in politics, although rarely are they voiced sentences apart, voters are tired of inarticulate people after eight years of Bush.
Is it just a coincidence that MsCA defenders come off so poorly?
19 - mio
Did she give her opinion? I ask because the way she worded it sounded like she was giving someone else's opinion, specifically, her parents'. I'm not saying that she shouldn't hold that belief (though, I personally believe same-sex marriage should be legal), I'm saying that she doesn't seem to know why she holds it.
To me, THAT is what makes her answer a bad one.
20 - Jordan Richardson
She said "I think that I believe," which I guess could be construed as her thinking she's expressing her beliefs/opinions. Awkward way of putting it, but yeah.
21 - Dr Dreadful
I think that I'm wearing pants.
Of course, they could be my Dad's.
22 - Hal
I agree that her answer could have been better, and I don't agree with her beliefs myself . . . but it was really mean-spirited and unfair to give her zero points and to dump on her publicly. I don't think the public-speaking portion of the pageant was intended to humiliate the contestants. I think it's supposed to encourage them to develop their understanding of current events and to improve their speaking skills. Public speaking is difficult for most of us, and I'm sure it's even harder when you're on live TV. I think Miss CA's answer showed a typical level of articulateness and sophistication for a beauty pageant contestant on live TV. And she's supposed to be judged against other contestants, not against some imaginary speaker who's perfectly articulate. So I don't see any other explanation for giving her a zero except that Hilton was using the question as a litmus test. And I think it's horrible that he would dump on her publicly because he didn't like her answer. What a jerk.
Incidentally, Miss CA's answer wasn't nearly as offensive as some of the stupid, homophobic comments made by the commenters on this website. It's pretty bigoted to claim that gay men are per se unqualified to give their opinions on either women's beauty or "social politics" (whatever that means).
23 - Dan
"...It's pretty bigoted to claim that gay men are per se unqualified to give their opinions on either women's beauty..."
Well, if the notion of "beauty" is tied with sexual attractiveness-- and a cursory glance at most beauty contestant line ups suggests it is highly correlative--then it could be considered a limiting capacity, at least in the one area of "beauty". Though heterosexual female judges exist, and pretty much everyone generally agrees on the female form. That is, if you consider the similar shapes and faces that dominate these competitions.
As for her answer, I see no points to deduct from her reference to heterosexual marriage as "opposite". It was in the same sentence she used "same sex" to describe homosexual marriage. I would think gay activist's would be least offended by her clinical approach. She could have used "traditional" or most offending, "normal".
And we do "live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage." The ceremony is performed, and subsequent intanglement is available. Although if she is talking about choosing the definition, and legal sanction of a marriage then she could be proven wrong if courts overrule the voters will.
Finally, I would think extra credit would likely be awarded for saying "my" Country. A display of patriotism is normally considered a positive attribute in such contests.
Overall, it seems like she got a loaded question, and it is cause for concern regarding the judges capacity for objectivity.
24 - Jordan Richardson
Nice spin, Dan. I especially love the part about "extra credit" for what was obviously a blunder, not some "display of patriotism."
25 - Dan
It's a blunder to lay claim to the country you're a citizen of? How so?