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Carrie Prejean, the 21-year-old Miss California who caused a stir with her answer to a question about marriage equality during the Miss USA pageant on Sunday night, told FOXNews.com that she has “no regrets” about her answer.

“I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman,” Prejean said in response to a question from pageant judge and gay blogger Perez Hilton. “No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think that it should be, between a man and a woman.”

Her answer was denounced by Hilton -- who later called her a “dumb bitch” on his video blog -- and others including Keith Lewis, codirector of the Miss California pageant.

But Prejean, who believes that her answer cost her the crown, refuses to back down.

"I wouldn't have had it any other way,” she said to Miss USA host Billy Bush on his Monday talk show. “I stated an opinion that was true to myself, and that's all I can do."

"It did cost me my crown," she continued. "It is a very touchy subject and [Hilton] is a homosexual, and I see where he was coming from and I see the audience would've wanted me to be more politically correct. But I was raised in a way that you can never compromise your beliefs and your opinions for anything."

"I feel like I won," she said. "I feel like I'm the winner. I really do."

Prejean added that her sister, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force and a supporter of marriage equality, applauded her for standing by her own beliefs.