Miss California, Hilton lack understanding of real issues

Column by Andrew Waldner

An open letter to Perez Hilton: Give it a rest.

Perez Hilton has made a living out of being obnoxious. On his Web site, it’s typically entertaining. He takes annoying celebrities to task for their misdeeds without mercy, and usually makes you laugh a bit in the process.

His latest tirade, however, is pathetic. While judging the Miss USA contest, he asked Miss California whether she believes all states should allow same-sex marriage. Miss California gave an honest, mostly coherent answer. Despite referring to “traditional” marriage as “opposite marriage,” a comment Perez and media took little time jumping on. She expressed an honest religious belief about marriage, tried not to offend people who believe differently and even squeezed in a shout out to America. Despite the one misstep, it was nearly a perfect beauty pageant answer.

Perez went crazy. He took to his Web site and anyone who would listen to tear her apart by saying she’s stupid and intolerant and should apologize. Really, Perez? She should apologize for her personal religious beliefs? Are you listening to yourself? The media has mostly followed suit in berating her for her comments.

The gay community has spent years fighting intolerance. Only very recently has it made any progress into mainstream America. While many are now tolerant of homosexuality, there’s still far to go. Anyone who knows me even in the slightest knows my views on gay marriage and the religious right’s unconstitutional quest to deny it, but this isn’t about that.

Perez and the media’s outrage over her statements are just as intolerant as those they’re fighting against. If we want to be on the “right” side of the argument, we have to rise above their weaknesses. We have to be perfectly respectful of their views as long as they are held privately and not written into law.

Miss California’s actions since joining up with the National Organization for Marriage to campaign for traditional marriage are absurd. I won’t dispute that, but I’m specifically discussing her actions at the Miss USA pageant. This is about freedom of religion and, even more importantly, freedom of speech.

Her public appearances since the incident, orchestrated by her obviously inept public-relations team, haven’t helped. She’s used one defense after another without ever really pushing the one that matters: the Constitution. She has every right to believe the way she does and she expressed those views in an incredibly and surprisingly non-offensive way. She simply said what she was raised to believe in response to a question.

Her new political campaign is a different kind of act for a different column. If Perez and media wish to attack her for that, be my guest. NOM is a despicable organization and a waste of everyone’s time, so I’ll be right there with you verbally abusing her and the organization. But again, this isn’t about that, so moving on.

Some have surmised that she shouldn’t believe as such because she represents her state, not just herself. Beside the stupidity of this argument and the fact that very few Americans care much about beauty pageants these days, it’s just wrong. I may be against Proposition 8 in California and the ban on gay marriage in general, but it was voted into law by a majority of the Californians who went to the polls that day. They won that battle guys, so let’s stop fighting it and focus on the war.

Hopefully the media and Perez will shortly move on from this sad debacle and leave the girl alone. She’s only gotten crazier by being in the spotlight anyway, so just get her out of it. Lay off and move on. There’s a war for civil rights going on, so stop distracting yourselves with needless battles.