Between the potential revoking of the crown of Miss USA California and the ever-more important decision on the behalf of five U.S. states to legalize equal marriage, including, recently, Vermont and Maine, there has been a great deal of chatter on the internet, on the airwaves, and in the streets about the debate over same-sex marriage in the United States, for obvious and important reasons. I don;t think it comes as much surprise to most of you that I wholeheartedly support same-sex marriages. Scratch that. I support marriage equality. There is no reason my marriage should be referred to any differently than yours. But with Miss California USA's recent comments on "opposite marriage" and her defense of free speech (something I also tirelessly support), there seems to be a need for comment. And I am breaking my blog silence to do so.
With regards to Miss California USA, Carrie Prejean's, statement during the competition about her personal support for "opposite marriage" as opposed to full marriage equality for all United States citizens, I object, and I object to her holding the crown, worthless as it may be. As a number of my close friends and advisers have pointed out, if Ms. Prejean had said she believes interracial marriage to be wrong, there is not a chance in hell that she would hold the title she holds today. What we, as a society, need to start acknowledging, is that what she said is equally as wrong. Opposing marriage equality (same-sex marriage/gay marriage) is wrong. It is WRONG, it is immoral, it is un-American and it is intolerable. I am sick and tired of being told that I need to tolerate the opinions of bigots who believe that I am less of an American citizen than they are. I am done. If you believe that marriage (a legal right; I am not referring at all to the Christian sacrament of Matrimony, which is different) should be exclusively between a man and a woman, then, I am sorry, but you are narrow-minded and wrong, and I am not required to indulge your ignorance. What the Miss California USA highlighted is that while same-sex marriage is, inextricably, a complicated and hotly debated issue in the U.S., it is not an issue where both opinions hold equal weight. One side favors the Constitution of the United States, which millions of men and women have, and others, including myself, will willingly, die for, and another favors archaic bigotry. I do not have to accept her point of view. Her point of view is flat out wrong. I put blame on the committee for allowing Ms. Prejean to keep her crown. What she said is not simply a matter of opinion; it is bigoted, anti-American, and wrong.
What gives me hope is for as fast as she says these ignorant comments, more and more states acknowledge my Constitutional right to equality, so her opinion really does not matter. But, seriously, we should not be rewarding it.
