Miss Universe 2010 backs marriage equality for same-sex couples

What a day! First Fidel Castro owns up to the persecution of gays in Cuba while the island was under his command, and then this monumental story...

OK, I am kidding but this is sorta newsworthy.

While watching Miss Universe a few days ago (yup, I watched the actual pageant when it was broadcast back on August 22nd), it quickly became obvious that Miss Mexico - Jimena Navarrete - would take the crown this year.

And yet, when she answered her Top 5 finalist question on the effect of unsupervised internet use by minors and she said that it was important to teach kids "values" as taught "in the family" I cringed a little bit.  Not that it's bad to teach kids family values, but I wondered if she was simply parroting the "family value" rhetoric of the religious right in Mexico and elsewhere.

That, apparently, is not the case.

Interviewed yesterday on Mexican radio, here is what she said:

Salvador Camarena (W Radio): I want to ask you about a topic that has been very controversial and it's the topic of marriage between people of the same gender. Do you agree with this type of relationships...

Jimena Navarrete: Look, I believe that every person in this world has the right to profess the beliefs they have and I am in agreement. We have to respect what each human being decides to do with their lives, you know? Clearly, there are limitations, of course, also, as there are with heterosexual couples, right? Better said, there are limitations for any of the two - if they are heterosexual or homosexual - but I believe we have to learn to be respectful because they are people who are the same as us. There is no difference. And I don't believe it's just to discriminate somebody based on the gender they prefer, right? Based on the partner they choose to select, if it's a man or a woman. The truth is that I am absolutely against discrimination and, well, what can I say. I have many friends who are homosexual and I adore them. And they are equal folk: There is no reason we should want to set them aside, there is no reason why we shouldn't let them enjoy what they want to enjoy with their partner.

I've posted a link to the audio clip, in Spanish, below. The remarks on marriage start at the 4:50 minute mark...

Viva Miss Mexico! Viva Miss Universe 2010