Our Corner

You have to be impressed with the way Miss California 2009 has carried herself despite the negative comments, rumors and photos since her opposing statement on same-sex marriages.

Until the Miss USA 2009 pageant, Carrie Prejean was a 21-year-old blonde model and college student at an evangelical Christian liberal arts college in El Cajon, Calif.

She jumped headfirst into the nationwide spotlight by answering a controversial question during the Miss USA pageant. During the final round of questions, judge Perez Hilton asked whether every state should legalize same-sex marriage.

Instead of being politically correct, Prejean stepped to the microphone and said: “Well, I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one way or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. You know what, in my country, in my family, I do believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there. But that’s how I was raised and I believe that it should be between a man and a woman.”

She took the less-popular stance and lost her chance to wear the coveted Miss USA crown and finished as the first runner-up.

Either way she answered, she would have been attacked. Prejean could have followed the crowd. But she decided to be true to herself and her beliefs and speak from her heart. She took the road less traveled.

While the liberal media outlets and Internet bloggers such as Hilton were blasting Prejean for her answer, the conservative right-wingers offered her their full support.

Prejean won the admiration of millions of people who share her same beliefs – “In the beginning there was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”

Kudos to her for being honest with herself and not giving in to temptation. It would have been much easier for Prejean to lie in order to win a prestigious crown and represent the U.S. in the Miss Universe pageant.

Prejean, a professed Christian, resisted being a people-pleaser and was honest. Being honest and true to yourself is a sign of character.

Afterward, pageant officials wanted her dethroned as Miss California, but pageant owner Donald Trump stepped forward to defend her.

Partially nude photos and news of breast implants surfaced on Web sites and people began mocking her faith.

She claims she’s “not perfect and will never come to be.”

Under our Bill of Rights, the First Amendment gives us the freedom of religion and freedom of speech.

She used her First Amendment right, as have others, to express her opinion on same-sex marriage.

Sure, everyone has an opinion. Prejean and Hilton stand on opposite side of a much-debated issue. But Hilton has contradicted the freedom that he and other activists have been speaking about.

He believes in freedom to marry whom you like, but what about the freedom to believe what you like?

Where but in America can you stand on one of the biggest stages and express you opinion and belief in front of millions of people at once.

You have to admire her.