Former Miss America, Alabama native marries girlfriend

Former Miss America, Alabama native marries girlfriend

A former Miss America, who won as Miss Alabama, is making headlines with her recent same-sex “marriage.”

Deidre Downs Gunn, Miss America 2005, married attorney and writer Abbot Jones in a ceremony in Birmingham, an event covered exclusively by People magazine.

Downs Gunn, 37, is a board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist and assistant professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham medical school. She received her medical degree from University of Alabama-Birmingham School of Medicine and her undergraduate degree from Samford University in Birmingham.

During her term as Miss America, Downs was a member of Baptist Church of the Covenant in Birmingham. News reports did not indicate where she attends church now. She has as an 8-year-old son from her first marriage to Andrew Gunn. (BNG, TAB)