Carrie Prejean, you beautiful, crazy fool
I don’t generally bother with stuff like this, but I want to point a few things out. After all, everyone’s got an opinion, and I’m no exception. For those of you lucky enough to have no idea who Carrie is or what all of this is about, she’s the former Miss California 2009 beauty queen. Perez Hilton, a gossip blogger, was a judge for the competition and asked Ms. Prejean what her stance on gay marriage was. It should come as no surprise that Hilton, an openly gay man, would be offended by her answer, which was not at all in support of gay rights. Prejean was later fired for “failing to meet contractual obligations.”
I’m not going to get into a big to do over what she said or what’s right or wrong – I think that people have a right to say what they believe, regardless of whether or not we like it. If Perez knew of Prejean’s stance on the issue, it seems an awful lot like a set up to make a beauty contest the platform to air his grievances about it. It just doesn’t seem relevant within that context. I believe in equal rights for everyone, regardless of religion (or lack there of), sexual orientation, gender or color. I also believe in free speech and freedom of thought.
I think that the mania following Prejean’s statements and eventual firing are complete bullshit, though, and that’s why I’m writing a blog post about it. Oh Perez, why did you have to make a beauty contest about gay rights? I’m not saying it’s not important or relevant, but you effectively made the contest a morality issue, and I fail to see how boob jobs, eating disorders and bleached roots have any fucking thing to do with morality and human rights. Hindsight is 20/20, but no matter what Prejean said, it would only ever possibly be a moral issue after you broached the subject. Way to go.
A movement has started to “stand with Carrie” which presents a really touchy issue: do we support Carrie for standing up for her convictions even if that could have cost her the crown, or do we condemn her for winning anyway and making the Prop 8 issue an excuse to behave badly? How can we choose? How can I honestly say that I don’t support Carrie? I may strongly disagree with her, but I sure do support her right to say whatever the hell she wants, even if it pisses off a really angry queen. The reason I support her is the same reason I support gay rights. It’s about freedoms. And I can’t tell you how pissed I am at Perez Hilton for lacking the common sense to see what kind of a hot mess he’d create with that question. There is NO way Prejean could have answered that question without it becoming a huge issue. If she said no, it would have been to please Perez, and the entire thing would have been rigged. If she said yes, as she did, and ANYTHING went awry, it would be because the entire thing was rigged. It’s a no-win situation for Perez. How could he have missed that?
What makes this all the more disgusting is Prejean’s behavior. I’m so loathe to use Fox as a legitimate news source, but I feel like it’s oddly fitting here.
What bugs me about all the people saying she was fired for her convictions, get real. Maybe she was, but it’s equally probable she was fired for being a douchebag and not fulfilling her contractual obligations. Perez basically set it up where she couldn’t be fired without everyone who agrees with her saying it was because of her beliefs, rather than any bad behavior. He also made it pretty much impossible not to support Carrie Prejean, regardless of whether or not you agree with her. Damn it, Perez. Not only did you shoot yourself in the foot, but you basically threw a public hissy fit that landed every supporter of Gay rights under a banner of anti-free speech, no matter how ridiculous that is.
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I was really disgusted with Perez’s reaction. The question itself I half expect was decided upon by the panel and it was agreed Hilton would read it. But his response: “She lost not because she doesn’t believe in gay marriage. Miss California lost because she’s a dumb bitch,” was unprofessional and disgusting, and does nothing to support his position.
Unfortunately, we live in a world – especially those in the public eye, like Perez and Carrie – where the facts and figures of our statements mean less than how we say them and the way they are received by the public. If Perez is interested in raising awareness about this issue and supporting the rights of gay people, bashing those who disagree isn’t going to win the hearts and minds of the opposition.
Plenty of people who support Prop 8 keep claiming they “aren’t bigots,” and I believe that they truly think they are doing what coincides with their beliefs. It will take patience, understanding and a lot of discussion to change their minds and open their hearts. I don’t think that it’s fair or right to bash them by calling them stupid or bigots (even if it’s true), and I think it will only make this issue more difficult.
looks like Donald Trump caved… so much for the tough businessmen exterior
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When I heard about it, my first thought was “Why would you want to associate your beauty pageant…or scholarship competition…or whatever…with Perez Hilton? Why not pre-rehab Britney Spears for good measure?” I mean, that’s as crazy as getting a sleazy, overexposed, financially questionable “rich” guy to run the Miss USA organization would be.
That being said, I can’t imagine Carrie Prejean’s opinions about gay marriage were that unusual compared to her fellow competitors in a state that had already passed Prop 8. She was lead into a trap question, and answered honestly, and some of us could have disagreed, and others would agree, and that should have been that.
But, Perez needs attention, and it appears that Carrie does as well, so we all get to be unwilling spectators. (I almost laughed out loud when the news about the pictures came out. Two or three of our recent Miss NCs have had the same issue. Besides, doesn’t this competition still have a swimsuit portion?)