House passes bill supporting beauty queen who opposes gay marriage
The Alabama House of Representatives has voiced its support for a young beauty pageant contestant who said she opposed gay marriage. The sponsor, state Rep. Jay Love, said he plans to send the resolution to Miss California USA Carrie Prejean.
The body passed the resolution Thursday on a voice vote.
"I just wanted Carrie Prejean to know the people of Alabama support her," Love said.
Prejean finished second in the Miss USA 2009 Pageant, but made the headlines because of her answer to a question from judge Perez Hilton, who is openly gay and runs a celebrity gossip blog.
"We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage," she responded to his question. "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 offense to anybody there, but that's how I was raised and that's how I think it should be, between a man and a woman."
Hilton blasted her, even resorting to name-calling before later stating he appreciated her honesty. He said she alienated millions of gays and lesbians and their family and friends.
State Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, is the only openly gay member of the Legislature. She said she opposes the resolution and disagrees with Love, but she has worked to build bridges and respect among her colleagues while his action is divisive.
"We have critical issues facing Alabama we need to be discussing," Todd said. "This deters us from work we need to be doing."
She said people asked her how she would respond, but she said she did not have time to focus on the resolution. Todd said she did not see the point of getting into a contest with Love over the issue, especially since there is no legislation before them on the issue.
Love said the response to him introducing the resolution has been interesting. He said people locally have applauded his action, but he said he has received about 30 e-mails, many of them from outside of the state, that are split between criticizing him and thanking him for standing up for Prejean.
The lawmaker, who was the Republican nominee for the 2nd Congressional District in 2008, said he was tired of the liberal attacking her. Love said she should be able to share her opinion without being attacked.
Love said Prejean making those conservative comments in front of a Hollywood judging panel could have cost her the Miss USA title, but she kept her respect and integrity.
Every member of the House Republican Caucus and some Democrats signed on as co-sponsors.
-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen
The body passed the resolution Thursday on a voice vote.
"I just wanted Carrie Prejean to know the people of Alabama support her," Love said.
Prejean finished second in the Miss USA 2009 Pageant, but made the headlines because of her answer to a question from judge Perez Hilton, who is openly gay and runs a celebrity gossip blog.
"We live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage," she responded to his question. "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 offense to anybody there, but that's how I was raised and that's how I think it should be, between a man and a woman."
Hilton blasted her, even resorting to name-calling before later stating he appreciated her honesty. He said she alienated millions of gays and lesbians and their family and friends.
State Rep. Patricia Todd, D-Birmingham, is the only openly gay member of the Legislature. She said she opposes the resolution and disagrees with Love, but she has worked to build bridges and respect among her colleagues while his action is divisive.
"We have critical issues facing Alabama we need to be discussing," Todd said. "This deters us from work we need to be doing."
She said people asked her how she would respond, but she said she did not have time to focus on the resolution. Todd said she did not see the point of getting into a contest with Love over the issue, especially since there is no legislation before them on the issue.
Love said the response to him introducing the resolution has been interesting. He said people locally have applauded his action, but he said he has received about 30 e-mails, many of them from outside of the state, that are split between criticizing him and thanking him for standing up for Prejean.
The lawmaker, who was the Republican nominee for the 2nd Congressional District in 2008, said he was tired of the liberal attacking her. Love said she should be able to share her opinion without being attacked.
Love said Prejean making those conservative comments in front of a Hollywood judging panel could have cost her the Miss USA title, but she kept her respect and integrity.
Every member of the House Republican Caucus and some Democrats signed on as co-sponsors.
-- posted by Sebastian Kitchen
posted by South Union Street at
5:31 PM
3 Comments:
:( sigh
"Love said she should be able to share her opinion without being attacked."
Um, she is free to share her opinion, but she is not free from any criticism of it. That's how freedom works. All of us get to say what we believe. Jay Love is a headline grabbing jackass, I put him in the same group as Perez Hilton.
"We have critical issues facing Alabama we need to be discussing," Todd said. "This deters us from work we need to be doing."
Thank you, I really don't care if you sleep with the boogie monster if you can get things done for the people of Alabama.
Regardless of whether one agrees with the young lady's views, I hope the majority of us would like to hear our individual "representative's" answers to these two questions:
1. With all of the challenges the state faces today, including chronic budget shortfalls, why does the legislature waste its time and our money on such a frivolous resolution?
2. What does this resolution do to improve the quality of life for anyone in the state?
Isn't it time we start to weed out the folks in the legislature that aren't doing what they're supposed to be doing for the state? Which by the way, seems to include ALL of them. Please remember this when it comes time to vote.
Good questions, ElmoClyde. Don’t expect answers from most of the members of the Alabama legislature, though.
I agree that it’s even past time to start pulling the weeds out of the Goat Hill garden, but I believe there are still some legislators there who are worthy of our support because they work for the best interests of Alabamians.
I’ve been actively concerned about doing something to improve our state government in general, and our legislature in particular for several years. You, and others, may want to see what I have in mind by visiting my website @ www.doctoriq.com and perhaps joining me and others in getting it done.
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