Carrie Prejean Files Suit for Religious Discrimination, Slander

Carrie Prejean, the former Miss California, is suing K2 Productions, which runs the Miss California Beauty Pageant, as well as co-executive directors Keith Lewis and Shanna Moakler and publicist Roger Neal in Los Angeles Superior Court.

According to Fox News, the grounds for the law suit are religious discrimination, emotional distress, and slander.

Carrie Prejean's troubles began at the Miss USA Beauty Pageant when she was asked by one of the judges, gossip blogger Perez Hilton, whether or not she supported same sex marriage. Carrie Prejean replied that her religious beliefs compelled her to not support same sex marriage, though she meant no disrespect to anyone holding different views.

The question and answer took place against a backdrop of bitter acrimony over the passage in California of Proposition 8, which defined marriage in that state as solely between a man and a woman. Perez Hilton was criticized for offering such a politically loaded question. Carrie Prejean got a firestorm of criticism (and much worse) and first runner up in the Miss USA Beauty Pageant.

Carrie Prejean's problems continued when a semi-nude picture taken when she was seventeen cropped up on the Internet. The existence of such a picture may have been grounds for Carrie Prejean losing her crown. However Donald Trump, who owns the Miss USA Pageant, decided that Carrie Prejean could keep her crown and otherwise expressed sympathy for her plight. Donald Trump has not been named a party in the lawsuit.

Carrie Prejean cut an advertisement on behalf of the National Organization for Marriage opposing same sex marriage. Carrie Prejean also presented an award at the 2009 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards and spoke at a convocation at Liberty University.

Carrie Prejean had her crown as Miss California stripped from her for "breach of contract: as well as failure to attend scheduled appearances. Carrie Prejean, in her lawsuit, claims those grounds are false and that she is really being punished for her religious and political beliefs,

Whatever one feels about the facts of the Carrie Prejean case or the issue of same sex marriage, it is indisputable that Carrie Prejean has been made to suffer for her beliefs. People in the United States talk a good game about tolerating differing points of view, no matter how unpopular. But this is not always the case, as Carrie Prejean can attest.

Ironically Carrie Prejean's opposition to same sex marriage is not particularly unpopular. The majority of the people of California did vote in favor of Proposition 8. President Barack Obama, himself no right winger, has expressed opposition to same sex marriage.

Finally it seems to be bad form and bad politics to engage in the personal destruction of an attractive young woman simply because one finds her views on a single issue abhorrent. Carrie Prejean's situation would seem to call for education and persuasion and not a kind of media version of a burning at the stake. All the latter does is garner sympathy for Carrie Prejean and set back the cause of making same sex marriage legal.

Source: Carrie Prejean Files Discrimination Suit Against Miss California Organization, Hollie McKay, Fox News, August 31st, 2009