Miss California...pfft!

I have been keeping myself up to date on the Miss California controversy, as it is beyond me how anyone can see any human being as anything less than equal. I have had a few discussions on this topic with my friends, most recently because of the unfortunate point of view Miss California has.

Let it be known that I am from Toronto Canada and although this was not a Miss Canada competition, equality is something that should be promoted worldwide, which is why I have decided to talk about the effects something like this could have on people everywhere.

In case you missed it, you can see Miss California’s response to the question by clicking here - “Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage, do you think every state should follow suit, why or why not?”

Here’s the deal – I’m all over people having opinions, and I’m all over people having opinions that differ from my own; it often leads to very interesting conversation. The difference between having a discussion with a friend (or foe) and having a discussion on national television vary immensely.

When Miss California stated she does not believe in same sex marriage, it perpetuated this negative meaning of being gay. Gay is not a negative word (in fact it once meant happy for Pete’s sake). There are children calling other children names and one of the more popular names at the moment is gay – i.e. “you’re gay”, “why are you being gay”, “what you’re wearing is gay”. This is ridiculous! You don’t find children running around saying “what you’re doing is straight” – it sounds ridiculous – BECAUSE IT IS! Just like running around using “gay” as in an insult is ridiculous.

Being name called “gay” should not be an insult as there is NOTHING wrong with being gay! When Miss California “stood up for HER beliefs” (not her whole country’s which she apparently believes) it told every child out there that “gay” means bad and if I call someone gay it will be an insult. What results from this – 11-year-old children committing suicide because children are making fun of them and calling them gay. Whether the children are in fact gay or not is irrelevant. NO ONE should commit suicide over a three letter word especially a child who hasn’t lived their life.

As stated, I know Miss California has an opinion and I have a different one, this is not to bring her down (as this is an irrelevant blog that no one will read) but rather to let everyone know that there are varying opinions around the word, not all of them are the same. When on national television however, one must keep in mind that people of all shapes, sizes, races, sex, and sexual orientation are watching and though it may be difficult to make everyone happy, one should try to make as many people happy as possible without alienating a huge population (unless that is the intent – which in this case, it was not).

Hope this made sense!