Creep of the Week: Maggie Gallagher

When beauty queen Miss California Carrie Prejean stood up at the Miss USA pageant and declared her support for â??opposite marriageâ? I personally thought, â??Who cares?â? I mean, the fact that people got so angry with her afterwards was nothing short of ridiculous.

Especially Perez Hilton.

I mean, come on. Miss USA contestants are allowed to disagree with the opinions held by the people asking them the questions. And anyway, if you donâ??t want Miss USA contestants off the cuff musing about controversial subjects then donâ??t ask them questions about gay marriage, ask them questions like, â??Do you feel pretty when you get your hair did?â?

Granted, when Prejean didnâ??t become Miss USA she claimed it was all because of her courageous stance against the queers. In reality it had more to do with her bare hooter photos and the fact that her answer to Hiltonâ??s question was borderline retarded (see: â??opposite marriageâ?).

But that was, like, years ago. And in a country with its priorities straight weâ??d all have forgotten about Prejean and moved on to things like who Jennifer Aniston may or may not be marrying. But thanks to the anti-gay right, Prejean has become a quasi-celebrity “one penis, one vagina” marriage advocate.

Looking past the fact that sheâ??s not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, you really canâ??t blame the so-called â??defendersâ? of marriage for glomming onto her. After all, Prejean is young and pretty (which, I realize, is a relative term, especially when you consider her eye makeup. In fact, the other night I heard animals rummaging through my trash cans and am fairly certain I saw Prejeanâ??s head peek out with an apple core in her mouth). Young and pretty isnâ??t typically the demographic of the anti-gay right. In fact, polls show that younger Americans are far more likely to support marriage equality.

Take Maggie Gallagher, president of the National Organization for Marriage. Gallagher, neither young nor pretty, is super hot to hold Prejean (but not in a gay way) out in front while Gallagher does the talking.

In an article in the Aug. 10 issue of The National Review, Gallagher credits Prejean, who she calls â??a stunning, young Christian beauty-pageant contestant,â? with, basically, the undoing of support for marriage equality in America. Her answer to Hiltonâ??s question was, writes Gallagher, â??powerfully movingâ? because we â??see her choose between truth and the tiara.â?

â??Culture consists of ideas. Ideas, like civilizations, can die out. They die when no one is willing to defend them out loud,â? Gallagher writes.

Yes, Prejean, that brave soul, dared to defend aloud the idea that gays should not be allowed to get married. No doubt thousands of little girls watching the Miss USA pageant were inspired by her answer to also defend â??opposite marriageâ? and to starve themselves and hate their bodies.

â??Despair is gay-marriage advocatesâ?? most powerful weapon,â? Gallagher writes, â??especially when it is fed by social conservativesâ?? failure to create solid strategies of hope.â?

Funny how that works. Who knew that a campaign against couples in love who want to marry would lack hope?

The folks who want to keep gays away from marriage are banking on Prejean. Because sheâ??s their best hope. Which isnâ??t saying much.

By Dâ??Anne Witkowski