Stand for Marriage Maine Responds to Attorney General's 'Independent' Opinion

PORTLAND, Maine, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following statement
can be attributed to Marc Mutty, chairman of Stand for Marriage Maine, the
official campaign of Yes on Question 1:

"It was a foregone conclusion that the Attorney General, an ardent supporter
of same-sex marriage, has taken the position that there will be no change in
public school curricula if Question 1 fails and LD 1020 takes effect.

"Ms. Mills has long supported LD 1020, the gay marriage legislation. Nearly a
week before she released her opinion, she told a local television reporter
that she was 'appalled' by our ads, which do nothing more than point out the
real consequences to school children and parents if a new legal definition of
'any two will do' marriage replaces the union between a man and a woman.

"In her capacity as Maine's Attorney General, Mills testified in support of it
before the Legislature's Judiciary Committee at the LD 1020 public hearing on
4/22/09, saying, in part, 'I speak as someone who is now charged with
enforcing Maine's civil rights laws, and hopes that passage of LD 1020 will
make my job so much easier.' [Emphasis added]

"Her legal opinion has not even a shred of pretense of independence or
objectivity.

"The request for and her opinion itself is nothing more than the classic
lawyer scheme of creating a straw man argument simply for the benefit of
striking it down. The opinion poses a position that our campaign does not
advocate -- that LD 1020 affirmatively changes the curricula to require
instruction on gay marriage. That is not our position. Our position is that no
change to Maine's curricula is necessary in order for homosexual marriage to
be taught in our schools. Further, that homosexual marriage is taught in other
states where it has been legalized. When they study the facts, Mainers will
see right through Ms. Mills' opinion for what it is: a shameless political
ploy by supporters of homosexual marriage.

"There is no getting around the fact that gay marriage has been taught in
Massachusetts and California. There is no denying that the author of the
'Who's in a Family' book that discusses homosexual relationships and is
currently used with young children in Portland said, 'The whole purpose of the
book was to get the subject out into the minds and the awareness of children
before they are old enough to have been convinced there's another way of
looking at life.' And it is a fact that the Maine state-government sanctioned
LGBTQ Youth Commission suggests that gay advocates be placed in every school
and every school building, giving greater influence to the gay rights
structure that already exists through the Gay Straight Alliance and the Gay,
Lesbian Education School Network.

"Yes on Question 1 has shown -- and our opponents have been forced to
acknowledge -- that existing curricula ALREADY create an opportunity for
teaching about same-sex relationships under the guise of 'safe schools'
instruction. We know, for example, that the Portland schools already show
films on gay relationships. What is to stop them from showing films about
homosexual marriage if it becomes legal?

"Quite simply, the issues we have raised in this campaign were the very same
issues raised by many at the single public hearing on LD 1020; none of our
arguments are news to our opponents. They had ample opportunity to blunt our
concerns by expressly prohibiting same-sex marriage from being discussed in
public schools, but they did not do so.

"It is irrefutable that there is nothing in LD 1020 that prevents our children
from being taught about same-sex marriage. Maine Department of Education
spokesman David Connerty-Marin confirmed that point earlier this month when he
told a Maine reporter, 'There's nothing in Maine's standards that requires or
encourages teaching on that topic and there's nothing that prohibits it
either.' [Emphasis added]

"We have demonstrated how it could be taught in schools, and that it HAS been
taught in other states that have legalized gay marriage. It's a shame that
Maine's top lawyer is using her good office for such a transparent political
stunt."

SOURCE Stand for Marriage Maine

Scott K. Fish of Stand for Marriage Maine, +1-207-458-7185