So Miss California Carrie Prejean gets to keep her crown.
While Prejean, 21, hit the headlines last month for her opposition to gay marriage, it was the emergence of topless photos of the beauty queen that threw her reign into doubt.
At a packed news conference in New York City on Tuesday, Miss USA pageant owner Donald Trump said he had viewed the photos, some of which he described as beautiful and others as risque, and deemed them acceptable.
Prejean said some of the photos — showing her topless but covering her breasts — were taken by a friend for applications for modeling agencies and not for publication. Others that showed her baring her breasts were taken on a windy cliff when she was not aware that she was being photographed, she said.
It was Prejean’s views on gay marriage, and the strident reaction to them, that threw her into the national spotlight in the midst of heated debates over same-sex weddings, which have recently been legalized in five U.S. states but banned in a California referendum in November.
Prejean expressed her opposition to gay marriage last month while answering a question from gay celebrity blogger and judge Perez Hilton at the Miss USA pageant where she came second. She said her answer cost her the Miss USA crown.
“I exercised my freedom of speech and I was punished for doing so. This should not happen in America. It undermines the constitutional rights for which my grandfather fought (in World War Two),” an emotional Prejean told reporters.
“I believe no one should be silenced if they are speaking from their heart. I am a model. I am a Christian,” she said, adding that she forgave everyone who had attacked her for her anti-gay marriage opinions.
Prejean also said she had received an enormous amount of support for her views.
“For everyone out there listening, do not be silenced,” Prejean said. “Take this story of mine and apply it to your own life. I hope I inspired others to maintain compassion, civility respect and tolerance while staying true to your convictions.”
Should Miss California have kept her crown? What do you think about her views on gay marriage?
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5 comments so far
I guess as long as she had an honest opinion that came from her heart, then anything goes. Like, if someone believes Israel should be wiped off the map, or blacks aren’t really humans and shouldn’t marry whites or an 8 year old is perfectly ready for sex. You see, as long as you stand by the convictions you believe and speak, then it’s honorable…whatever.
- Posted by chrisChris, what in the world are you trying to say? That Carrie doesn’t have a right to her opinion? Do you not forget that the 1st ammendment is the right to free speech even if its something that YOU or anyone else doesn’t agree with or like to hear? This is what’s so great about the USA, everyone in the USA has this right.
If someone says (in their opinion) everything that you wrote about Israel, blacks and 8 years old and agrees with it, then they can say that all they want. Is it morally accepted in public? Well, that depends on the individuals who accept it or not. There are some/many who would object to those remarks.
- Posted by bby_70Plus, saying and doing are two different things.
[...] Mr. Trump, I admire you. You had a chance to cave in to liberal censorship but you resisted. The photos that surfaced were a weak attempt to disqualify Ms. Prejean. Sure she should have disclosed the pictures but clearly they are an embarassment to her. Besides, I clearly recall liberals declaring it is alright to lie about sex. You don’t remember that? You must not have been of voting age in 1999, because I’ll never forget James Carville sitting in front of CNN cameras saying, “Everybody lies about sex. What’s the big deal?” [...]
- Posted by One Small Victory in Defense of Free Speech « An American IdiotChris - Are you serious? Your comment was a joke right? Please tell me you are able to recognize the difference between genocide/racism/pedophilia and someone voicing their opinion about what is widely considered and accepted as the traditional definition of marriage. If you can not, let me help you understand the critical difference. Genocide defined is the systematic killing of all the people from a national, ethnic, or religious group, or an attempt to do this. Racism defined is prejudice or animosity against people who belong to other races and finally (the one you are probably familiar with), Pedophilia is defined as a sexual desire felt by an adult for children. Do any of these even seem to be in the same ballpark as what Carrie Prejean respectfully described as her view on gay marriage? I will tell you that up until the comments made by Perez Hilton, I was somewhat sympathetic to the cause and felt the need for more discussion/debate around this topic. But after hearing Perez Hilton’s pathetic comments about Ms. Prejean on what I (and what I’m sure is an overwhelming majority) would consider a very respectful answer to the question posed – I no longer feel that way. Way to shoot yourself and your cause in the foot Perez!
- Posted by SteveShe Has Her Right To Her Opinion And Her Morals, I Mean, What Did They Want The Answer To Be? As For The Recent Nude Pictures………The Whole Thing Was A Mistake And She Will Know Better Next Time.
- Posted by KrystLe Millette