http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8009359.stmQuote:
The runner-up at the Miss USA beauty pageant says her outspoken opposition to gay marriage cost her first place in the competition.
During the televised event, Carrie Prejean - Miss California - said she believed that "a marriage should be between a man and a woman".
She had been asked for her views on the subject by one of the judges, celebrity blogger Perez Hilton.
"It did cost me my crown," said Ms Prejean, after the competition.
The eventual winner of the pageant was Kristen Dalton, Miss North Carolina.
'Alienated'
"We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage," said Ms Prejean, in a section of the show that has become a popular clip on YouTube.
"I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman," she continued.
"No offence to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."
The remarks drew a mixture of booing and applause from the audience.
Speaking after the show, which was broadcast on Sunday evening in the US, Ms Prejean said: "I wouldn't have had it any other way. I said what I feel. I stated an opinion that was true to myself and that's all I can do."
Hilton said he had been "floored" by Ms Prejean's answer, which, he said, "alienated millions of gay and lesbian Americans, their families and their supporters".
He told ABC News: "She lost it because of that question. She was definitely the front-runner before that."
Keith Lewis, who runs the Miss California competition, released a statement condemning Ms Prejean's comments.
"As co-director of the Miss California USA, I am personally saddened and hurt that Miss California believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman."
The issue of same-sex marriage is a flashpoint in American politics.
Four US states now allow gay marriage, but many other states have passed legislation outlawing it.
Former Miss California Statement
http://www.psr.edu/news/former-miss-cal ... x-marriageQuote:
Two winners of the title of Miss California, both Christian, one now a pastor in Massachusetts, have different views on same-sex marriage. The 2009 title holder, Carrie Prejean, in response to a question about same-sex marriage at the Miss USA pageant in Las Vegas on April 19, said that her belief, backed up by her faith, was that “a marriage should be between a man and a woman.”
Miss California of 2003 (and winner of the Miss America swimsuit competition in 2004) is Nicole Lamarche, who won her titles while studying for master of divinity and master of arts degrees at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. Married to fellow seminarian Jeremy Nickel, Nicole now serves as minister at Cotuit Federated Church in Cotuit, Mass.
“As a pastor and a former Miss California, I am often asked to interpret what the Word of God has to say on a particular subject,” Rev. Lamarche says. “I am quite confident that God prefers that we human beings stick to speaking for ourselves. And yet there are occasions when God’s Word is used as a weapon, and I feel compelled to speak.
“In the past few days, much has been made of the words of Miss California USA, Carrie Prejean. She stated that marriage is between a man and a woman. I write not in response to her opinion, but rather about her comments that followed: that the Bible condones her words. She said, “It's not about being politically correct, it's about being biblically correct.” While this sentiment is shared by many who seek to condemn gay people and gay marriage, citing pieces of the Bible to further one’s own prejudice fails to meet the Bible on its own terms.
“Most people seeking to condemn gay people point to the Book of Leviticus, where we read that men lying with men is an abomination. However, we rarely hear of other verses found in the book of Leviticus that are equally challenging. For example, Leviticus also tells us that eating shrimp and lobster is an abomination. And that a person should not wear material woven of two kinds of material—an impossible mandate for a pageant contestant!
“In Paul’s letter to the community in Corinth we read, ‘For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church….’ And yet these words have not prevented Christian denominations from ordaining women, such as myself. Sadly, the Bible has been used to further prejudice throughout history. We have used it to permit ourselves to enslave people; to conquer and kill; and to denigrate the earth.
“The truth is that it is difficult to know for sure the intentions of the biblical authors, but we do know something about God. Those of us who know God through Jesus of Nazareth know that he went to great lengths to express God’s love to people who were labeled as outcasts. He spent time with children, prostitutes, and lepers, all of whom were labeled as outside of the grasp of the Holy. As we continue to seek God’s vision for us as a nation grounded in a love for justice, I pray that we might move closer to the cause of grace.”
Mary A. Tolbert, executive director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies in Religion and Ministry at Pacific School of Religion, where she also teaches biblical studies, agrees with former student Nicole Lamarche. “As the New Testament gospels tell us, Jesus summarized all the law and the prophets into two central commands: love God with all your being, and love your neighbors as yourself,” says Professor Tolbert.
“Even our interpretations of the Bible should be held to the standard of these two founding principles. To deny to gay and lesbian families the protections, rights, responsibilities, and respect of civil marriage—rights and respect that heterosexual couples value greatly and hold fully for themselves—very clearly to me violates the command to love your neighbor as yourself.
“If the married state is something you want and value for yourself, you should also want and value it for all your neighbors, gay and straight alike. I think that the current Miss California needs to think through the biblical commands of Jesus in considering this issue; with prayerful thought, I believe she might come to a very different conclusion. Many people reading the Bible already have.”
