No on Question 1 ad urges equality

by smkovalinsky | October 26, 2009 at 06:35 am

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But questions of public schools and the "gay agenda" remain a hotly debated topic in Maine:

This Vote No on Question One ad is airing on television in the state of Maine, as the November vote nears:

Question One is a referendum put on the ballot in the state of Maine, in an attempt to rethink and revote the legalization of same sex marriage. It is modeled on Proposition 8 in California.

The 'Yes' on Question 1 vote is for the limiting of unions to man and wife, while the 'No' seeks to protect the diversity of families which the governor's legalization of gay marriage has brought to actualization.

Campaigners on both sides of Question One say they expect " a very tight race". (For more on the race, see: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113943323 )

Another of the hotly debated topics swirling around this referendum is the question of whether or not same sex marriage, if it stands, would lead to the teaching in public schools of its acceptance:

But the commercials have raised questions about the involvement of schools in the already contentious same-sex marriage debate. The state's same-sex marriage law has no bearing on what can be taught in public schools, Attorney General Janet Mills has said in a recent ruling.
First appearing in an advertisement last month for the "No on 1" campaign, Nokomis literacy coach Sherri Gould was included briefly to rebut claims that same-sex marriage would be taught in public schools if the law were not repealed.

Gould is a former chairwoman of the English department at Nokomis, but it was only her designation as Maine's 2005 Teacher of the Year that identified her in the commercial.

"I've been teaching in Maine since 1983. We teach respect and Maine values. That will never change," she says.

In response, supporters of Question 1 aired another commercial that included Donald Mendell, Nokomis's school social worker who serves as a guidance counselor to students. He refers to Gould, who he has known at the school for more than 20 years, as a "gay activist already pushing this type of agenda."

"Vote yes on Question 1 to prevent homosexual marriage from being pushed on Maine students," he says.

Cecelia Billington, 17, a junior at Nokomis, said she thought it was "pretty cool" when she saw Mendell, her counselor, in the TV commercial. At first, Billington said, she didn't understand what the commercial was about, but realized by the end.

She agreed with Mendell. "People of the same sex should not get married," she said.

James St. Michel, 16, a junior at Nokomis, said he didn't think the commercials have had any impact on at the school.

"I'm kind of neutral," St. Michel said. "I'm comfortable we can all express our opinions, as long as it's not in the classroom."