Be careful what you say in these enlightened times. As Miss California found out when answering a question put to her during the Miss USA Beauty Pageant. Her honesty meant that she missed out on being crowned Miss USA, yet the outcome says far more about what have become acceptable personality traits in today’s society.
The question that was put to her, from Perez Hilton was, “Vermont recently became the 4th state to legalise same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit. Why or why not?" She could have gone on to discuss the Tenth Amendment and state’s rights and given a politician’s answer, but she chose to speak openly about what she believed in. Replying with:
Well, I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offence to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be - between a man and a woman. Thank you very much.
And for being principled she finishes second. In modern times free speech and the values that it encompasses have become belittled and undermined; debate has been sidelined. If you do not think as the ‘establishment’ want you to, then it will be ensured that you do not succeed and that your voice is not heard.
NB: Same-sex marriage should be state-by-state issue decided by the voters in each individual state. The various benefits that ‘married’ couples have accrued need to be stripped back so that it equalises the commitment between two people their genders having no influence on the contract they enter into. Once the benefits have been marginalized marriage simply becomes a contract between two people, something that others should have no say over. Perhaps she wouldn’t have been an acceptable face for Miss USA, but castigation of her beliefs is no way to ensure that the issue is debated properly. The riposte she received highlights how the right for people to choose is overlooked by those who believe they hold the moral high ground: it is the foundation of authoritarianism.
