Mainers See Through the Opposition's Lies and Stand Up for Marriage Equality

Periodic guest blogger for Unite the Fight, straight ally Jane Wishon does a great job of summarizing the underhanded tactics used by the anti-marriage equality Yes on 1 campaign in Maine and describes how "real Mainers" who see through the lies are being used for the NO on 1 ads.

Writing for JaySays.com, Jane reports:

Watch the current Yes on 1 ads in Maine and you’ll see some familiar faces. Yes, right there on your TV screen you’ll see Robb and Robin Wirthlin bemoaning the fact that their child’s teacher read the book King & King to the class. Why do they look familiar? It’s exactly the same footage used in the Yes on 8 campaign spots from California last year.

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“In each, according to our opposition, a young child is hurt or damaged when exposed to a book that depicts a gay couple as happy and healthy. This message – ‘your kids are in danger’ — is a lie designed to frighten and polarize voters, including but not limited to young parents of young children. This misinformation is what our opposition relied on as far back as Anita Bryant’s 1977 ‘Save the Children’ campaign, and they’re using it again in Maine this year,” according to David Fleischer, media analyst and Lead Organizer of the LGBT Mentoring Project in New York.

In Maine, you’ll also see a school teacher promising that homosexuality will be taught in public school and a law professor promising “a flood of lawsuits.” Meanwhile there is a casting call for a ‘Yes on 1’ commercial looking for a “working waitress type” and a “teacher type,” according to a recent article in the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram. Sound familiar?

What may not sound familiar is the reaction these tactics are garnering in Maine. In his October 2nd Real Mainers step up for ‘No on 1’ ads, Bill Nemitz calls out the opposition for its subterfuge. He begins with pointing out that the handsome traditional family featured on the Stand for Marriage Maine website is actually clip art and calmly and systematically picks apart the spokespeople for the Yes on 1 campaign as not what they purport to be.

Read more of Jane's post to find out why the supposed law professor and public school teacher in the ads are anything but.

Though I have offered friendly criticisms to the NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality ads in the past, believing they can be more hard-hitting by truthfully calling out the lies in the opposition's ads before they even air (because, c'mon, we've seen these ads before!), Jane shows how real Mainers are already seeing through the lies of the Yes on 1 campaign.

The NO on 1/Protect Maine Equality campaign needs your help now more than ever. With less than a month to go before elections and Mainers already turning in early voting ballots, time is of the essence.

Volunteer and donate!