The people of Maine will get to decide the definition of marriage on November 3, after marriage was redefined by the state Legislature earlier this year to include homosexual couples.
The Stand for Marriage Maine campaign has focused on the effects of gay marriage in public schools. They didn't have to look far for examples, and they've used them effectively in their ads. In Massachusetts, the gay marriage law quickly led to a court case involving parents' rights. Rob and Robin Wirthlin were told by a court that they had lost the right to be informed when homosexuality was going to be discussed in their son's second-grade class.
A second example came during an NPR interview with an eighth-grade teacher in Massachusetts who was pleased to have legal cover for speaking to her students about homosexuality. "In my mind, I know that, 'OK, this is legal now.' If somebody wants to challenge me, I'll say, 'Give me a break. It's legal now,' " she told NPR.
Read more quotes from the interview on our DriveThru blog in Candi Cushman's post, "Legalizing Gay Marriage Directly Impacts Our Schools."
Similar to the Prop. 8 campaign in California last year, state officials in Maine are jumping on the gay marriage bandwagon. Maine's attorney general, Janet Mills, has stated that gay marriage will have "no impact on educational curriculum" in Maine schools.
This is ludicrous, of course. If Question 1 passes, the marriage of one gay-identified teacher would make it an issue in the classroom. And, just as in Massachusetts, parents will be powerless to quiet teachers' advocacy of gay marriage—since it would be state law.
Talk of discrimination and equality disguises what is really at stake: the role of marriage as our most pro-child institution. Do we still believe it's important that children are connected, whenever possible, to the mother and father who together made them? As I've written previously, marriage is not a legal vehicle for the purpose of equality; it's a social institution with children at its heart.
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