I remember from covering Prop. 8 here in California how one pernicious lie from the theocrats was used over and over again in political ads – the idea that, if marriage equality became law, your children (think of the children) would be taught how to be gay in schools. The anti-equality forces never argued about the law itself, only these bogus ancillary issues. Well, in Maine, they did a smart thing, in response to the theocrats using the same lies – and in some cases, the same ads. The Department of Education asked the Attorney General for a ruling on how the marriage law would impact the public school curriculum, and the AG, Janet Mills, responded:

I have scoured Maine laws relating to the education of its children for any references to marriage in the public school curricula. I have found none.

As you are well aware, the guidelines for Maine’s public school curricula are established by the “Maine Learning Results,” which set out educational standards for mathematics, reading, science and technology, as well as minimum graduation requirements in English, math, science and other core subjects. These guidelines are then reviewed at the local level as locally elected school boards determine the exact content of each district’s curricula. Nothing in state law dictates that any particular text books or other reading materials should be used or made available in the public schools.

In fact, for parents concerned about educational practices in Maine, safeguards for persons with religious beliefs are already provided in the law: The Maine Learning Results statute, 20-A M.R.S.A. sec. 6209, requires “accommodation provisions for instances where course content conflicts with sincerely held religious beliefs and practices of a student’s parent or guardian.”

Shorter AG of Maine: they’re lying.

This won’t stop the fundies from telling the lies, of course. But it may give the pro-equality side the opportunity to force some of their ads off the air. And with the media picking up the AG’s ruling, it certainly can be used to put opponents on the defensive. Used properly, this is an important ruling.

UPDATE: This hasn’t stopped Yes on 1 from releasing a new ad once AGAIN hitting the “teaching gay marriage in schools” non-issue. The No side could easily get this thrown off the air, using the AG ruling.