January 9, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The newly-chosen “Miss Belgium 2012” has caused an uproar in the ultraliberal country for failing to express sufficient enthusiasm for the idea of homosexual “marriage.”
During the Miss Belgium beauty contest, nineteen-year-old Laura Beyne was asked: “what is your opinion on homosexual marriage?” She responded: “it’s true that there are an increasing number of homosexuals, but it is also important to know also that they are human beings. I think that they can do more or less what they want. At this time I am more or less in favor of homosexual marriage.”
Following her tepid endorsement of “matrimony” for same-sex couples, Beyne caused further outrage by holding back on homosexual adoption, adding, “there are other problems like the adoption of children, and I think that that is a different subject, a little more difficult, but I am not against homosexual marriage.”
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Although Beyne won the title of Miss Belgium and will continue to the Miss Universe contest, she attempted to placate her critics by saying she had “expressed herself poorly,” but did not retract her rejection of homosexual adoption.
“My response regarding homosexual marriages was not made out of spite,” she told the press. “It is above all for homosexuals that I would like to tell them that I expressed myself poorly due to stress.”
“I now know very well that I must pay attention to how I express myself,” she added.
Belgium, with a 60% Dutch-speaking population, was the second country in the world to legislate the creation of homosexual “marriage” in 2003, following the Netherlands itself. The country is 75% “Catholic,” despite the Catholic Church’s condemnation of homosexual union legislation and other socially liberal causes.
Beyne, who is part Congolese in her ancestry, speaks three languages: French, Dutch, and English. Her religious convictions, if any, are unclear.