MISS CALIFORNIA USA SPARKS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE DISPUTE

California's Miss USA state director said the organization is "shell-shocked" over the state winner's opposition to same-sex marriage during the Miss USA finals Sunday.

Shanna Moakler, executive director of California's Miss USA program, said Carrie Prejean's response was "devastating and hurtful" and "is going to hurt our franchise because our sponsors are in an uproar."

"We believe in equal rights for everybody," said Moakler, who won the Miss USA title in 1995 while competing as Miss New York.

Prejean, 21, was the last contestant to take a question. She was asked by judge Perez Hilton, a gay celebrity gossip blogger, whether same-sex marriage should be legalized.

"We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage," Prejean said. "And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that's how I was raised."

Boos and cheers erupted in the pageant venue at Planet Hollywood Resort.

Moakler said Prejean's first runnerup finish to Miss North Carolina Kirsten Dalton, was "kind of a bittersweet win for California. Her opinion does not represent what the California Miss USA family represents. We want to make that clear."

California has been a battleground over same-sex marriage. The state's voters last fall overturned Proposition 8, which established marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

During the telephone interview, Moakler said it was upsetting that Prejean, who is attending San Diego Christian College, had been befriended "one of our most amazing sponsors. He brought her into his world as family. It's kind of like a slap in the face," said Moakler.

"We are shell-shocked here," added Moakler, whose 2006 catfight with socialite Paris Hilton made headlines. Moakler's stormy marriage to drummer Travis Barker has also been in the news.

Before her politicial comments caused a stir on Sunday, Prejean's claim to fame was her romance with Olympic swimming star Michael Phelps.

Prejean had raised eyebrows prior to the pageant when she took issue over changes in her bio, Moakler acknowledged.

In her original bio Prejean and other contestants were asked to name one of the craziest things she had ever done. According to Moakler, Prejean wrote that when she was nine, she broke into her mother's medicine cabinet and overdosed on prescription drugs.

"We had the bio changed. She was angry at us for changing it," said Moakler.

--NORM CLARKE, Vegas Confidential