Carrie Prejean: If I'm A Bigot, So Is The President!
Nov. 10 2009, Published 8:59 a.m. ET
Defending her views against gay marriage, former Miss California Carrie Prejean continues to stir controversy. The former beauty queen's new book Still Standing contains a passage that is bound to raise eyebrows.
Writing about her hysteria-making moment during the Miss USA pageant, Carrie says: "But like most Californians and a certain candidate for president from Illinois, I believed then and I believe now that marriage should be a legally recognized sacrament between a man and a woman. If that makes me a bigot, so is Barack Obama."
(Note to Carrie: Don't expect an invitation to the White House any time soon.)
She continues in the book: "I was not then, nor am I now, aspiring to be the next Anita Bryant. I am comfortable with all God's children. Civil unions between gay people, at least as a matter of law, have always been fine with me. "If asked, I would have told you that I believed that gay couples should have visiting rights in the hospital, just like everybody else."
She also talks about pageant executive director Keith Lewis and her thoughts when she learned he was an openly gay man who lived with his long-term boyfriend.
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Pageant Official Considering Legal Action Over Carrie Prejean Book
"I soon learned that Keith was an openly gay activist who had been with his boyfriend for seven years. Despite the impression you might have of me from the more hysterical concerns of the mainstream media, I took in all this information without judgment. The fact of the matter is, I liked Keith. I think he took to me as his protégé," she added.
DAILY. BREAKING. CELEBRITY NEWS. ALL FREE.
"I believe that the traditional definition of marriage should not be changed. By the same token, I am not bothered by the idea of gay people choosing to live their lives together as they see fit - just as Keith and his boyfriend did - just don't call it marriage.
In a more bizarre aside, she attempts to take apart the word homophobic: "If you ever get bored, look up 'homo' in the dictionary: it means 'man' as in Homo Sapiens or 'the same' as in homogenous, so to be 'homophobic' really means to be fearful of men, which I'm not, or fearful of things being the same, which is a fear I think few people have. 'Homophobic' is merely a made-up word to try to force everyone to be politically correct on gay marriage or risk being accused of being hateful."