Ms. Cal is topless -- is it relevant?

Indecent photos of Ms. California, aka Carrie Prejean, the famed campaigner of straight marriage, have surfaced on the internet, leading some to question the validity of her argument against gay marriage rights.

But are the pictures relevant to the debate on gay marriage? There are two sides to this: first, consider what mocking and degrading Prejean would entail. Any criticism of her may be taken as criticism of her choice to do with her body whatever she wants. That's a personal freedom that every American should have a right to, and is ironically partially the basis on which we can argue FOR same-sex marriage.

At the same time, we can look at Ms. Prejean's words and her actions and note a clear double-standard: while she holds no qualms over what she does with her body, what gay and lesbian couples do in the privacy of their own homes is not OK, which justifies her belief that gay marriage is wrong.

Ms. Prejean, being a public figure, is privy to such criticism and should, to some degree, expect it. However, those criticizing her should only do so in conjunction with the argument that her words and actions do not line up with one another. Forgetting to do so may carry dire consequences for the gay marriage movement, which could be seen as mean-spirited, thus giving conservatives reason to dislike the movement even more.