…unless you disagree with me! Okay, so I usually do my darnedest to avoid news from Hollywood… frankly, I don’t care how “proud to be out of touch”“…I think it’s probably a good thing. We’re the ones who talk about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn’t really popular. And we, you know, we bring up subjects… I’m proud to be a part of this community… and proud to be out of touch.”
-George Clooney they may be. That said… this story showed up at the very top of my Google news feed and it’s got me all angsty-frustrated. Basically, a Miss America contest is being lambasted for stating (when prompted, mind you) that she believes marriage should be between one man and one woman. She made this statement very tactfully, and even said that “it’s great Americans are able to choose one or the other”. Evidently her giving an honest opinion lost her the crown.
When did it become okay to discriminate against those who share a different opinion than you? I don’t care what side of the gay marriage issue you’re on… we all need to work harder to have a spirited exchange of free speech. The power of this country is that we can disagree with each other all we want, yet still coexist in an environment of respect and toleranceMore on tolerance later… ;o).
</soapbox>
3 Comments for I Support Free Speech…
Patrick | 4/20/2009 at 5:15 pm
Adam | 4/21/2009 at 4:36 am
While I dislike the idea that she even got the question, to say nothing of the California organization’s response to it, I’m having a hard time finding exactly where the JUDGES (not the guy asking the question, and not the woman herself) stated that that answer, and only that answer, is what cost her the crown. I suspect they’re not talking about it, in any case.
Adam | 4/21/2009 at 4:56 pm
Actually, come to think of it, this is a stroke of genius on the part of the Miss USA organization, as it drew more media attention than the pageant would otherwise have gotten, and drummed up much more interest.
If she gives a more noncommittal answer, no harm done. If she answers affirmatively one way or the other, it creates controversy, and controversy draws media attention.
Kyle,
I’d typed out a response that was basically “Miss America is corporately sponsored – her statements can be taken as endorsed by the corporate sponsor, and they reserve full rights to revoke the crown if she says something unpopular and that this isn’t the first time this has happened” but apparently the security code was invalid and upon hitting the “back” button, as instructed by the site, my comment was gone.
Boo on you and WordPress. Also, I have a gift for you – revenge for that book you sent me. It’s actually sort of topical, given this post…