Alicia Jacobs was met with much criticism after expressing her support for gay marriage - even receiving death threats at one point. She remains firmly commented to expressing her opinion. It seems ironic that she sat beside Perez Hilton during the Miss USA Pageant - the nexus that began Carrie Prejean's downfall - yet he's currently embroiled in a scandal of his own for calling Will.i.am from the Black Eyed Peas "a faggot" during an alleged verbal and physical brawl recently. Funny, that!
Alicia Jacobs: It's harsh. I can't believe because of gay rights, or really lack of gay rights, people have taken it upon themselves to just hate my guts.
Jenna Zine: I know! I was just reading your interview in The Advocate and the subsequent death threats. That sounded crazy. It's ironic because people on the other side are arguing about Carrie Prejean being able to speak her opinion and then you speak your opinion and you end up with death threats. It doesn't make any sense!
AJ: It shocked me to no end! I'm not asking, saying, or telling anyone anything. I'm expressing my opinion. To me it's really about love. Let two people who love each other be together. What's wrong with that? It's not going to impact your life. If you're not into gay marriage, don't marry a gay person. It's not going to hurt somebody else. You could make an argument about abortion, regardless of what side you're on, that that's a decision that affects another person. But marriage?
JZ: If you're lucky enough to find love in this lifetime, have it be mutual and have a desire to be with someone... what more do you need? We don't have a lot of time, as we know, and if you want to spend time with someone you love that's beautiful. Especially in this day and age it surprises me that we'd be trying to regulate someone else's relationship. It seems crazy.
AJ: It's been shocking to me to realize the amount of prejudice that's out there against gay people. I feel like an idiot saying that, but I had no idea. As many gay friends as I have in my life, I should have known better. But, to they're credit, my friends don't talk about it that much. If that were me, I'd be sobbing everyday! But they rise above it and they live their lives and they forge ahead. They don't need anyone else's approval and I give them a lot of credit for that. I don't have that kind of thick skin.
JZ: It amazes me that this kind of thing still exists.
AJ: It's kind of like women not being able to vote. These
days you'd think, "Huh?" [laughter] Can you imagine?
JZ: That's what surprised me at the time, the feedback that you received. The irony - what people don't understand - is they're angry that Carrie Prejean got lambasted for sharing her opinion. But then you shared your opinion and got death threats. I don't see the logic in that.
AJ: I don't try to explain myself anymore. I tried to answer every negative comment that I received, but I was becoming mired in it and nothing was changing. I decided to do my job and move ahead. And if they don't like me because of it? I know that I'm a good person and I know I'm not doing anything wrong. Every time I tried to write back and explain, that person would write me back something three times longer. It was a circle.
JZ: I saw some of those comments [on your blog]. Paragraphs and paragraphs! Who has that much time?
AJ: I don't have that much time!
JZ: Are things safer for you now?
AJ: Yes. It took awhile. I think I came out ahead, I hope.
Maybe I opened up somebody's mind a little bit. Either way, if I'm burning in
hell at least I'll have good company!
JZ: I'm probably going there too. At least we'll get to meet Angelina Jolie! [laughter]
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