Miss California to star in TV ad from conservative group

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Carrie Prejean, the Miss USA contestant from California who declared her opposition to same-sex marriage on the pageant stage, will star in a new $1.5 million ad campaign funded by the National Organization for Marriage.

Prejean appeared Thursday at a news conference in Washington to unveil the new ad, called "No Offense."

Prejean was roasted by same-sex marriage advocates after she stood up for what she called "opposite marriage" (marriage between a man and a woman) when responding to a question from celebrity blogger Perez Hilton during the pageant. But she's also become a fresh-faced standard-bearer for same-sex marriage opponents, who have rallied to her defense.

"Marriage is good," Prejean said at the news conference. "There is something special about unions of husband and wife.  Unless we bring men and women together, children will not have mothers and fathers."

"She is attacked viciously for having the courage to speak up for her truth and her values," the National Organization for Marriage said in a press release. "But Carrie's courage inspired a whole nation and a whole generation of young people because she chose to risk the Miss USA crown rather than be silent about her deepest moral values."

Executive directors and producers of the Miss California USA pageant released a statement Wednesday lamenting that Prejean had taken on such a "polarizing" issue.