Speaking at the Value Voters Summit,
Carrie Prejean told a conservative audience that she was chosen by
God to oppose gay marriage, POLITICO reported.
The former Miss California spoke on the
opening day of the three-day meet up of conservatives sponsored by Tony
Perkin's Family Research Council (FRC), an ardent opponent of gay and
lesbian rights.
Prejean, 22, told the audience that
“God had a plan for me that day” when she denounced gay marriage
because of her religious upbringing during the Miss USA contest in
April. She later aligned herself with Maggie Gallagher's anti-gay
marriage group the National Organization for Marriage (NOM).
Openly gay celebrity blogger Perez
Hilton, a member of the judging panel, asked her thoughts on gay
marriage. “I could not believe that they were asking that question
at Miss USA,” she said Friday.
The controversy spun out of control
when Hilton posted a nasty video on his website.
After placing second in the contest,
Prejean argued that she was denied the crown because she refused to
back down from her religious beliefs, turning the beauty queen into a
Christian celebrity overnight.
Reflecting on the controversy, Prejean
said, “I’m so proud of the answer that I gave. God chose me for
that moment.”
“I was a woman who stood up for the
truth and people don’t want to admit that,” she said. “I had
the courage and the bravery that a lot of people don’t have.”
“I am not defeated, they have not
defeated me. They can say whatever they want about me and my faith,”
she said. “I always wanted to leave a legacy of courage and
boldness and to show that to young people.”
Miss USA Executive Director Keith Lewis
fired Prejean after the gay marriage controversy died down, he said
it was because she missed several appearances. Prejean is fighting
the dismissal; in a lawsuit filed two weeks ago, she accuses pageant
officials of libel, slander and religious discrimination.