Gays across America should wake up this morning and rally behind Miss CA Carrie Prejean. And it’s not just because we’re preternaturally drawn to anyone in a tiara.
There are three other reasons:
1. Sex. Prjean’s lingerie photos and gay marriage both come down to one thing: sex. And, let’s face it, when it comes to sex, Americans are prudes. We pretend sex doesn’t exist (at least not in OUR homes) and that, on the rare occasion when it slithers into our lives, it’s ONLY for the very pure purpose of procreation. Gay marriage opens the doors to our bedrooms and raises all kinds of images that folks prefer not to have conjured up. “Racy photos” puts sex in front of the camera–not in the distant projection of a movie, but the intimacy of a camera lens. Never mind that the reality of gay sex isn’t as racy as folks imagine (I mean, really, there just aren’t that many possibilities!) and that Prjean’s “racy” photos are as racy as the Miss USA swimsuit competition (to quote CNN). Gay marriage and Prejean’s photos intimate intimacy…and America wants none of that!
2. Rights. Now, of course, if you can stop your ogling and get past the sex, gay marriage and the photos come down to rights. Equal rights. Giving gays the same LEGAL rights as straights (despite the best efforts of the Rick Warrens of the world, this isn’t about religious rights). Giving Prejean the same rights to do with her body whatever she wants to do with it. Neither is about whether you APPROVE of what gays do in our bedrooms (or elsewhere) or Prejean did in front of a camera. Both ARE about our right to do it, whether it meets with public approval or not. And any gay who takes to the streets to fight for the right to marry should burn up the phone lines today protecting Prejean’s right to pose however she wants. It’s called “democracy” people.
3. Snarkiness. Which brings me to my final reason we gays should rally behind Prejean: to strike a blow against snarkiness. American discourse currently has two sets of rules: there’s the set of rules we claim if you’re with us; and then there’s the set we apply if you’re agin’ us. Case in point 1: teen pregnancy. Republicans love to beat up on Democrats for encouraging teen pregnancy. Then Palin’s daughter gets pregnant and….uh, welll…it’s different…because, you know, she’s a good (read: white) girl. Case in point 2: Dems love to beat up on Repubs for being out-of-touch, rich elitists (Palin’s Repub. Convention anyone?). But, when Dems are out-of-touch, elitists…when Michelle Obama wears $500 tennis shoes to a homeless shelter or the First Family buys a designer dog (instead of the promised mutt)…well, uh…you know…that’s different. Now, if we were talking about Laura Bush’s shoes (or, God forbid, Lynne Cheney’s!) or Bush’s dog, do you think the liberals would be so quiet?? I say, enough with the snarkiness. It’s time to start saying that there’s zero–ZERO–difference between Perez Hilton and Nik Hilton (who’s running the Prejean photos) and Rush Limbaugh and Anne Coulter. Zero. Each feeds their own insecurities by knocking down others. Is that how we want the gay marriage fight to be waged? Is that really a path worth taking on our march to equality?
I don’t think so. That’s why I hope Prejean keeps her crown (and maybe, just maybe, as a reward she’ll let me wear it!)
Moment to Moment 
Honey, I love you more than my luggage.
Supporting Carrie Prejean is an interesting notion, but I think she really merits our indifference. From where I sit, she is just another citizen exercising her rights to free speech — big deal. It happens that I don’t agree with her POV, but there is nothing stopping me from getting out there and expressing them too. By actively supporting (or fighting) Miss CA, we are just injecting energy into her misguided campaign and extending her 15 minutes. I say we ignore her and talk about more important things like whether Adam Lambert is a lock for American Idol.
Now you had me until that Adam Lambert comment. I had never heard of him until I saw his way overdone air-brushed image gracing this week’s cover of Entertainment Weekly. He’s so scary looking that I hope his 15 minutes is more like 8.