Just as Miss California Carrie
Prejean's overextended fifteen minutes appeared to be coming to a
close, a dramatic new twist: Her mom is a lesbian, a woman claims.
Prejean became an overnight Christian
celebrity after she denounced gay marriage because of her religious
upbringing during the Miss USA contest and aligned herself with
Maggie Gallagher's anti-gay marriage group the National Organization
for Marriage (NOM).
Valerie Vetrano told ABCNews.com
Wednesday evening that she had a lesbian relationship with Prejean's
mom, Francine Coppola.
“I did date her,” she told the news
outlet. “I'm not going to deny it, but I'm not going to say
anything else.”
Reports about the affair were first
published by Star magazine. Vetrano, an openly lesbian sales
rep from Corona, California, said the relationship ended “a couple
weeks before Carrie Prejean was in the Miss USA competition.”
Allegations about gay affairs surfaced
during Coppola's 1996 divorce from the beauty queen's father, Wil
Prejean. In documents obtained by gossip site TMZ.com, both parties
reportedly made gay allegations against the other.
Despite a controversy concerning
semi-nude photos, Prejean was allowed to keep her crown after Miss
USA owner Donald Trump decided in her favor.