Another US beauty queen has caused controversy with an anti-gay rant — this time citing Bible passages that call for death to homosexuals.
Miss Beverly Hills 2010 Lauren Ashley told Fox News she would remain a virgin until marriage and shunned drugs despite partying with the likes of Paris Hilton, but it was her answer to questions about same-sex marriage that attracted the most attention.
"In Leviticus it says, 'if man lies with mankind as he would lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination — they shall surely be put to death and their blood shall be upon them'," she was quoted as saying.
"If (God) says that having sex with someone of the same gender is going to bring death upon you, that's a pretty stern warning … and he knows more than we do about life."
Ashley will be competing for the Miss California title that Carrie Prejean carried into the Miss America pageant last year, where she triggered global debate over her objection to gay marriage and got into a verbal war with showbiz blogger Perez Hilton.
But despite the press attention, the 23-year-old personal trainer doesn't think her chances of success have been harmed: she claims to have many gay friends and denies harbouring hatred.
Ashley even accused Perez Hilton of overreacting and taking Prejean's statement personally.
She has the support of pageant director Keith Lewis, an openly gay man who says personal opinion should have no bearing on the result.
"The Miss California USA system has always had a place for an individual's thoughts and opinions when it comes to all sides of political issues," he was quoted by Fox News as saying.
Lewis also revealed he was writing a book about his experience during the Prejean incident — which he says helped him come to terms with his own sexuality.
"This whole thing made me realise that I had a deep-seated guilt about who I was," he said.
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