Gay Marriage Advocate and S.F. Mayor Newsom: Miss California 'Being a Little Unfairly Maligned'

The attacks on Miss California Carrie Prejean have gotten so bad that even same-sex marriage champion and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is taking notice.

Prejean, the runner-up of last Sunday's Miss USA pageant, has been the target of reports from the Hollywood media intelligentsia after her feud with gossip blogger Perez Hilton for the stance she took on same-sex marriage. And Newsom, who had just announced his intentions to run for governor of California, has noticed.

"I want to challenge her on her point-of-view," Newsom said in an appearance at Sapphire Energy, a bio-tech company, which aired on NBC's San Francisco affiliate on April 23. "She challenged me on my point-of-view and she spoke her conscience. What more can you ask? I speak my conscience, she should speak hers. So, I think she's being a little unfairly maligned."

Newsom might have realized Prejean's point-of-view is the same as a majority of California voters. Last November, California voters adopted Proposition 8, which established marriage as a union between a man and a woman, by a 52 percent to 48 percent margin.

Prejean has been the subject of continued scorn from Hilton and has been the subject of misleading media reports that she is in danger of losing her Miss California crown for her stance, which hasn't been popular with those in Hollywood.