BLEEUGHHH why, WHY, WHY are you people forcing me to defend the nation’s newest postergirl for homophobia? Carrie Prejean, the pageant queen who gave us “opposite marriage,” is now being investigated by the Miss California USA organization for allegedly posing for topless photos, possibly as a teenager. According to the Associated Press:

Pageant spokesman Roger Neal said Tuesday it appears the 21-year-old Prejean has run afoul of several sections of the 12-page contract that prospective contestants were required to sign before competing in the state contest.

The contract contains a clause asking participants whether they have conducted themselves “in accordance with the highest ethical and moral standards” and if they’ve ever been photographed nude or partially nude.

Ah yes, because the “highest ethical and moral standards” are crystal clear in an organization which PROMOTES LADIES WALKING AROUND IN SWIMSUITS THAT SHOW OFF THE FAKE BOOBS IT BANKROLLS.

The distance that Miss California USA is attempting to place between its own sexism and Prejean’s homophobia doesn’t just call attention to its hypocrisy—it also reveals its deep ignorance of the marriage issue.

Really, supporting gay marriage means embracing marriage equality in all unions, and extending marriage rights to same-sex couples is a tacit rejection of marriage as a sexist institution. Giving two men or two women the right to marry means dismantling the idea that stable marriages are achieved only by embracing traditional roles—one person (the man) is the strong, rational worker, while the other (the woman) is the submissive, emotional caregiver. Gay marriage is, indeed, a threat to traditional “opposite marriage”—and it’s as much about fighting sexism as it is homophobia.

Yesterday, Keith Olbermann and Michael Musto took five minutes out of their busy schedules to skewer anti-gay-marriage Miss California Carrie Prejean after the “news” broke that the Miss California Organization had paid for Prejean’s breast implants. Olbermann and Musto choose to shame Prejean by tearing into her body—riffing on boobs as “performance enhancers,” saying the Miss California Organization’s comments “added saline to the wound,” and comparing her breasts to basketballs.

A blogger at the Conservative XPress responded to the Olbermann segment, writing, “Anyone know of any women’s rights groups defending this woman yet? Nope? Didn’t think so.”

I’ll do it.

Read More “Pro-Gay Beauty Pageant Still A Fucking Beauty Pageant” »

Last night, NBC aired the 2009 “Miss USA” pageant, and apparently about a minute of the telecast was actually kind of interesting. Among the pageant’s barely-recognizable celebrity judges was gossip blogger Perez Hilton, who managed to emerge from the pageant’s cloud of spray tan and tacky gowns to ask Miss California Carrie Prejean a real question (above): What are her thoughts on gay marriage?

Here’s what Prejean had to say:

Read More “Perez Hilton Nabs Miss California on Gay Marriage” »