Former Miss USA contestant Carrie Prejean ( above ) during an interview with Rex Wockner. Photo by David Kendal
Either it is a nonstory that "the media" made into a huge story. Or the U.S. gay world hit some kind of tipping point, and it's no longer possible to "get away" with saying anti-gay things in many arenas--just as one can't get away with saying sexist or racist things.
At the Miss USA pageant April 19, judge Perez Hilton, the gay blogger, asked Miss California, Carrie Prejean, this question: "Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?"
Prejean responded: "Well, I think it's great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. Um, we live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage and--you know what--in my country and 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 that it should be: between a man and a woman. Thank you."
In reality, Americans can choose same-sex marriage only in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts and, starting Sept. 1, Vermont. One would think Miss California might remember that tiny little battle over Proposition 8, but whatever.
Prejean, who came in first runner-up, later said, "At that moment after I'd answered the question, I knew that I was not going to win because of my answer."
Subsequent reporting revealed she apparently is right about that, which suggests that having "correct" gay positions has become more important than many of us might have assumed.
Yet, in a video blog, Hilton later opined: "She lost not because she doesn't believe in gay marriage. Miss California lost because she's a dumb bitch. OK? ... If that girl would have won Miss USA, I would have gone up onstage--I shit you not--I would have gone up onstage, snatched that tiara off her head and run out the door."
The boy does have a way with words.
Yet later, Hilton told MSNBC, "I called her the b-word and, hey, I was thinking the c-word, and I didn't say it."
One does not often hear "the c-word," even called just "the c-word," on MSNBC.
At any rate, Hilton appears to believe there is a way for a Miss USA contestant to oppose gay marriage,but that would be some way other than the way Prejean did it.
All of this resulted in so many media stories that Google News probably had to add server capacity. But the interesting question, actually, is: Was this a gay tipping point? All Prejean did--albeit not particularly articulately--was say that she believes marriage is between a man and a woman. Fifty-two percent of California voters think that, too. Or at least they did as of last Nov. 4.
But then there was Iowa. And Vermont. And 8 million media stories and TV things. The bottom line, I guess: If Miss USA can't dis the gays and get away with it, then there probably now are many, many arenas in which one can't dis the gays and get away with it.
If that's true, a "tipping point" is probably exactly what we observed, and the orgy of media coverage may have been ( sigh ) warranted.
Rex Wockner: Clearly, nobody would ever get up there ( at the Miss USA pageant ) and say, "I don't think black people should be able to marry white people" or something like that. Or nobody would get up there and say something sexist. And people are wondering if maybe we've gotten to a moment in American culture where you can't really say something that's interpreted as anti-gay anymore, like you might have been able to five years ago. Do you think maybe that's what could have happened, or, if not, what do you think happened in Vegas that led to all this media stuff?
Carrie Prejean: I think the key thing is tolerance, and I think Perez Hilton had, obviously, a hidden agenda, because of the reaction immediately after the pageant. He didn't agree with what I said, therefore he wanted to go out there and bash me and say things that were very hurtful. So, I think that this wouldn't be happening right now had he not have done that. So, it would have just been me saying my own opinions, which I'm entitled to, just as you are, and I think it would have been over with. But the fact that he went out there and attacked me, you know, verbally, that's why this is all happening right now.
Rex: So, you think if you had just expressed your opinion that marriage is between a man and a woman, which 52 percent of the voters in California agree with you on that...
Carrie: Right, I'm representing not only the state of California but the majority of people in our nation.
Rex: So, do you think the reason it became such a big news story is because he called you a bitch?
Carrie: Um, I think that because of his expression and his verbal attack on me immediately after the pageant, I mean, he didn't even wait one day to do this attack, so I do think there was a hidden agenda there.
Rex: I saw on his blog that he wants to have coffee with you. Is that something you would do?
Carrie: Um, I'm not sure if I would have coffee with him. If I did, I'd bring ( the Rock Church Pastor ) Miles ( McPherson ) with me.
Rex: If you had it to do all over again, would you do anything different at the microphone at the pageant?
Carrie: No, I wouldn't do anything different. I think that I was entitled to my own opinion. He asked me, you know, how I feel about a certain subject and I gave him my honest opinion. So, no, I have no regrets.
Rex: Do you think that same-sex marriage is just a matter of time, that clearly society is evolving in that direction, and that we're going to look back on these days as the way we look back on days when white and black people couldn't get married to each other, or do you think it's going to be a very long fight to try to get Americans to accept that?
Carrie: I definitely think it's going to be a very long fight. As you can see in California, you know, we had already ruled that, you know, with Proposition 8, that was already discussed that marriage is between a man and a woman. We voted on it. Um, so, I think that it maybe will be a matter of time, but I don't see that coming anytime soon.
Rex: And, I guess, last question: What would be so wrong with two women who love each other getting married?
Carrie: What would be so wrong with two women that love each other?
Rex: What would be so wrong with that? Yeah.
Carrie: What don't you see wrong with that?
Rex: I don't see anything wrong with it.
Carrie: Why?
Rex: Uh, why don't--oh, this is fun--why don't I see anything wrong with it? Uh, because they're in love with each other, and they want to spend their lives together, and marriage is kind of the way that our society recognizes that two people love each other and want to spend their lives together and make commitment and be financially intertwined and be faithful and, you know, permanent. So, why should that be something that gay people can't do? There's gay people all around us all the time.
Carrie: Exactly, and this is nothing against gay people. I have a lot of friends that are gay. This is not a verbal attack on gay people. It's just a matter of opinion, and the way that I was raised, the way that I was brought up, that was not an option. I knew I was going to marry a man growing up. And so, for me, it's a biblical thing, it's something that I was raised believing, um, that a marriage, you know, is between a man and a woman. Barack Obama even supports that. The majority of the people in our nation support that. The secretary of state supports that. So, I don't see anything wrong with it.
Rex: It's hard to argue with. I mean, you're right that 52 percent of California voters...
Carrie: Because Barack Obama doesn't agree with you, does that make him a bad president?
Rex: Uh, no, I kind of like Barack Obama as a president, actually.
Carrie: I do, too.
Rex: I understand that you were raised to believe that marriage is between a man and a woman, and I understand that you grew up knowing that you were always going to marry a guy, but you're heterosexual. Um, some people are born gay, maybe, you think?
Carrie: No, I don't think so.
Rex: OK, so now we're getting somewhere.
Carrie: I think it's a behavior that develops over time.
Rex: Why would someone choose it, given that if you choose that, you get discriminated against?
Carrie: Um, because obviously Perez Hilton doesn't think that there's anything wrong with it.
Rex: No, but if being gay is a choice, rather than something you're born with, why would you choose something that's going to lead to your being discriminated against? What would be the motivation?
Carrie: I'm not sure what the motivation would be.
Rex: OK. Me either.
Handler: I'm sorry, Rex, we've got to move on to channel 7.
