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Erika Harold has always been committed to saving sex for marriage. Before she became Miss America, she toured her home state of Illinois, giving speeches and encouraging other teenagers to avoid premarital sex. Abstinence was her platform as she competed in several pageants.

When she became Miss America last September, Erika knew she still wanted to talk about the issue when she gave speeches. To her, it seemed like a good opportunity to be a role model and to share something that was important to her.

"I didn't want to waste the opportunity of being Miss America by not mentioning my commitment to abstinence," she says.

There was just one problem, though. Abstinence is an issue that "doesn't have too many fans," Erika says. When she mentioned that she wanted to speak out about her stance, pageant officials objected, saying it wasn't part of her official platform of "Preventing Youth Violence and Bullying."

Still, Erika believed that it was important to speak her mind. If she gave in and didn't speak about abstinence just because the issue is controversial, she said, she would be letting bullies—adult bullies—win. And she wasn't having it.

"I will not be bullied," she told reporters who asked her if she would avoid the topic. When she spoke to pageant officials, Erika explained that saving sex—like refusing drugs and alcohol—is a way to be responsible and to plan for the future.

Plus, she didn't want students who'd heard her before she became Miss America to think she was giving up the abstinence message. Eventually, the pageant officials agreed that she could talk about abstinence as part of her larger message.

Erika says God eased the fear she felt when she had to take her stand: "There were moments when I felt fearful about people who were trying to oppose me, but God really gave me a sense of peace during the whole situation. I felt him saying, 'I put it on your heart and you'll have to trust me to make it happen.'"

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Campus Life magazine.
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