A little while back, I wrote about how the haters in Maine are using fear of "gay sex education" in public schools as a weapon to scare people into stripping rights away from gay couples in Maine. Here's the bulk of the original e-mail Stand For Marriage Maine sent out:
For many of us, this week marks the start of the new school year. So in honor of back-to-school season, let's try a little pop quiz. Which of the following does not belong in the same group as the others:
(A)History
(B)Mathematics
(C)English
(D)Homosexual Marriage
If you guessed ''D'' - you're right! Mainers firmly believe homosexual instruction has no place in the classroom. Maine's public schools should focus on reading and writing, not mandatory gay sex education.
There's only one problem: an irresponsible piece of legislation known as LD1020. If allowed to take effect this law would throw to the trash heap our decades-old interest in promoting traditional marriage. It would legalize homosexual, genderless marriage. And if marriage is redefined to be genderless, then same-sex marriage must be taught as being the same as traditional marriage. This has profound consequences for your child's classroom education.
Today, Bill Nemitz of the Portland Press Herald picks up the theme debunks the e-mail while ripping the chair of Stand For Marriage Maine, Marc Mutty, a new one:
All of which raises an intriguing question: Who really wrote this - and what have they done with the old Marc Mutty? Mutty was out sick Thursday and thus unavailable to explain what's causing him to see things in Maine's same-sex marriage law that, from any reality-based angle, simply aren't there.
But the Rev. Bob Emrich of the Emmanuel Bible Baptist Church in Plymouth, a member of Stand for Marriage Maine's executive committee, said the group stands by Mutty's claim that the same-sex marriage statute will require "explicit homosexual instruction in the classroom."
One problem. Emrich and Mutty are wrong. Nowhere in the law do the words "school" or "classroom" even appear.
And if you're looking for phrases like "explicit homosexual instruction" hidden in some obscure statutory subsection, trust me - it's not there. Not even in code.
[...]
In a statement issued via e-mail Thursday, Jesse Connolly, campaign manager of No on 1/Protect Maine Equality, predicted that Maine voters will "see through these cynical campaign tactics" by Mutty & Co. as the debate heats up in the coming weeks.
"This is an attempt to divert attention and raise unfounded issues," said Connolly. "Question 1 has nothing to do with schools and no one is voting on curriculum in November."
Connolly is right - and anyone who's taken the time to carefully read Maine's same-sex marriage law knows it.
Including, of all people, Marc Mutty.
This hits the nail right on the head. We still have a fight on our hands, though. The Catholic Bishop in Maine is taking up a second collection in churches around the state for money to fight LGBT equality. Karen Ocamb, who in my opinion has done the best reporting on the optics of the Prop 8 fight in CA, has a brilliant expose at Dirigo Blue on how the same entire religious right that mobilized there is setting up shop in Maine. The haters in Maine are using the same consulting firm, Schubert Flint Public Affairs, that the Yes on 8 campaign used in CA.
Basically, the right has put all in on this.
The Church, Knights of Columbus, Focus on the Family, and other groups have already anted up. So, as Joe Sudbay writes, we've gotta do our own second collection. Please chip in whatever you can at the OpenLeft/Better Dems page. Let's get the second try right.
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