Responses within the pageant organization Hilton stated on April 20 that the pageant director, Keith Lewis, sent him a statement reading: "I am personally saddened and hurt that Miss CA USA 2009 believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman. Religious beliefs have no place in politics in the Miss CA family." This was denied by Lewis, who said he did not release such a statement. Lewis also said, "I support Carrie's right to express her personal beliefs even if they do not coincide with my own. I believe the subject of gay marriage deserves a great deal more conversation in order to heal the divide it has created."
Donald Trump, who owned most of the
Miss Universe Organization at the time, defended Prejean's answer, saying that "Miss California has done a wonderful job" and that "It wasn't a bad answer, that was simply her belief." He then added that the question was "a bit unlucky" and that no matter which way she answered the question "she was going to get killed."
Other responses On
conservative blogs and radio talk shows such as
Michael Medved, Hilton was highlighted for what they viewed as an inappropriate expression of intolerance. Columnist
Michelle Malkin commented that the "Celebrity leech/trash blogger" used the media to humiliate a beauty pageant contestant. She also compared Prejean's statement to a statement Barack Obama made against same-sex marriage. Malkin concluded, "The Miss USA pageant should be ashamed for providing Perez Hilton a platform for his intolerant bigotry and abuse of Carrie Prejean."
Ann Coulter, wrote that "the Miss USA contest held a press conference to announce that Prejean had breast implants. Take a
Christian position in public and Satan's handmaidens will turn all your secrets into front-page news." Regarding the release of "genuine 'semi-nude' photos," Coulter commented that "
Liberals believe
abortion is a
sacrament, but smoking, wearing short skirts and modeling lingerie are
mortal sins. (And if wearing women's underwear is a basis for being disqualified from the pageant, that's the end of
Perez Hilton's judging career.)" Liberal columnist Matt Littman wrote in
The Huffington Post that Prejean's beliefs are the same as President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. He criticized the negative response to Prejean, stating that "Miss California will end up walking away from this with her head held high. Will the people who picked on her be able to say the same?"
Gavin Newsom, mayor of
San Francisco, defended Prejean's statement even though he disagrees with her position: "I want to challenge her on her point of view, but she spoke her conscience; I think she's being a little unfairly maligned". On April 24,
Fox News correspondent
Bret Baier pointed out on the program,
Special Report with Bret Baier, that Prejean's statements were very similar to President
Barack Obama's previous statements regarding gay marriage, replaying a speech in which Obama said marriage should only be "between a man and a woman".
Television personality Elisabeth Hasselbeck defended Prejean, saying that if the beauty queen was pro-gay marriage she would not be the source of relentless rumors and media coverage. And on June 15, 2009, the
Empowering Spirits Foundation, a national
LGBT civil rights organization issued a press release asking for the LGBT community to "move forward and engage in respectful dialogue." A. Latham Staples, the foundation's executive director, was quoted as saying, "Demeaning Carrie Prejean or others by using terms such as
bigot will not advance our cause of civil rights and social justice. The LGBT community must use this period of heightened attention on LGBT issues by engaging others in positive ways." Staples went on to wish Prejean "much success in her future endeavors."{{cite news|url=http://www.wireservice.ca/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1285|title=ESF Statement to the LGBT Community in Defense of Carrie Prejean ==Aftermath==