Miss USA Pageant Controversy… sigh.

I don’t follow or care about the pageant world whatsoever, nor have I ever watched a pageant in its entirety (I don’t think I could name even one past Miss America), but I read this little snippet in the news today about the Miss USA runner-up (ironically, from Prop 8 state California) and her response to a question during the show about whether she supported gay marriage or not. I know that there are far more important and interesting happenings in the world than something that was said at a pageant, but bear with me. I’m going somewhere with this.

“We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite,” Miss California answered. “And you know what, I think in my country, 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.”

While I’m a little surprised that the Miss USA pageant would have such a question in the first place, I’m fine with the questions getting a little risky, and I found her response to be one worth examining. Had she left out the “I think in my country,” I’d be perfectly fine with her statement. She has the right to believe whatever it is she wants – as does anyone, from those with communist political ideologies to members of the KKK. When she brings up regulating marriage in a free democratic society though, therein lies the problem (although admittedly, I still put zero value in her opinion on homosexual and, uh, opposite marriage – it’s a question in a bloody Miss USA pageant, but keep reading, I’m still going somewhere with this).

“It’s ugly,” spoke out a gay man who had been in attendance after the ceremony. “I think it’s ridiculous that she got first runner-up. That is not the value of 95 percent of the people in this audience. Look around this audience and tell me how many gay men there are.”

Then in response to the comment he made, the mother of Miss New Mexico yelled back with that old cliched argument, “In the Bible it says marriage is between Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!”

This is where I smack my forehead. Really, what is wrong with this person? Or ‘these people,’ I should say, since that is a sentiment that I know is shared among many and an argument that I have heard very often over the years. Do these people seriously not understand that what the Bible says is irrelevant to the way our democratic society dictates policies? Or is supposed to. No, seriously – is that not clear? Not all people follow your Bible, princess, so swallow your goddamn Adam and Eve argument and shut your mouth. Quit tarnishing the credibility and relevance of Christianity even more than it already has been. You’re just making yourself (and unfortunately in the process, the rest that follow Christianity) look stupid and uninformed.