Mon. November 16, 2009
The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has quietly distanced itself from former Miss California Carrie Prejean.
Over the weekend, the group altered the front page of its website, removing a prominent reference to a video the group created that features Prejean.
Prejean's quick ascent into Christian celebrity came after the 22-year-old denounced gay marriage because of her religious upbringing during the Miss USA contest in April. She said she lost the contest because of her answer, giving fodder to the conservative argument that supporters of gay marriage punish Christian opponents.
In its opposition to gay marriage, NOM has vehemently argued that gay marriage has consequences, including teaching young schoolchildren about being gay and silencing Christian voices.
The video No Offense makes the case for the second point. It claims Prejean was denied the Miss USA crown because of her Christian beliefs. A June press release by the group said Prejean "chose truth over the glittering tiara that Hollywood offers." "Of course, they will try to punish her, but we know she will be fine in the end, because her values are in the right place," said Brian Brown, executive director of NOM.
The heightened visibility made her the golden girl of social conservatives. In September, speaking at the Value Voters Summit, she told a conservative audience that she was chosen by God to oppose gay marriage. Reflecting on the controversy, Prejean said, "I'm so proud of the answer that I gave. God chose me for that moment."
Prejean also took the extraordinary step of suing pageant organizers, claiming religious discrimination and libel after she was fired.
But after admitting she had filmed a secret sex tape when she was a minor, Prejean dropped her lawsuit. She told Fox News: "It was me by myself. There was no one else with me. I was not having sex."
But the controversy has clearly tarnished her conservative Christian credentials, especially after allegations surfaced that Prejean had filmed as many as 20 sex tapes for a former boyfriend she met on the Internet.
"What happened to 'the future of our movement, and the future of America' as you referred to Carrie just two months ago?" Fred Karger, founder of Californians Against Hate, a group that supports gay marriage, said in an email. "Was it because she lied again?"
Prejean was scheduled to speak at the Defenders of the Family, a fundraiser for the anti-gay group New Jersey Family Policy Council, on November 6, but was mysteriously removed from the event just one day prior. A speech at the Conservative Capital Hill Club was also nixed.
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