Gay rights debate hits high gear in TV advertisements, forums

ORONO – As the campaign over whether to repeal the state’s new gay rights law enters its final days, the fight intensified Wednesday with a flurry of debates, and the release of new television advertisements and financial reports.

“This law is not needed, it’s not wanted, and it’s not good policy for the state of Maine,” said the Rev. Sandy Williams of the anti-gay rights group the Coalition for Marriage, which unveiled two much-anticipated television advertisements Wednesday.

Williams, a Baptist pastor from Freeport, made the comments at a morning debate at the University of Maine, where he faced Stephen Wessler of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence, which released a report last month documenting cases of discrimination against gays and lesbians.

“I don’t think anybody who reads these stories … can reach a conclusion other than discrimination is a problem,” said Wessler, a former assistant state attorney general, told the small gathering of students. “I don’t think anyone could reach a conclusion other than this is very sad.”

The morning forum – as well as a later debate between Ted O’Meara of the pro-gay rights group Maine Won’t Discriminate and Michael Heath of the Christian Civic League of Maine at Colby College in Waterville – come less than a week before voters will consider Question 1 on the Nov. 8 ballot.

The question reads: “Do you want to reject the new law that would protect people from discrimination in employment, housing, education, public accommodations and credit based on their sexual orientation?”

A “Yes” vote will repeal the new law, which has been put on hold pending the results of the referendum. A “No” vote will allow the law to take effect.

The UM debate featured some of the harsher exchanges of the campaign, with Wessler and Williams dueling not only over the need for the law, but its ultimate purpose.

“It is about one issue – discrimination,” Wessler said, dismissing opponents’ claims the law would pave the way for same-sex marriage.

Williams called the law “an attempt to normalize what is not normal,” referring to homosexuality, and pressed Wessler on whether the law would allow a school system to fire a kindergarten teacher who decided to change his “sexual identity” midway through the year.

Wessler related the argument – based on what many agree would be an exceedingly rare occurrence – to those who fought against civil rights protections for minorities in the 1960s by predicting problems with blacks teaching white students.

With the release of their new ad campaign Wednesday, it was clear that the law’s opponents were seeking to make children a central issue in the campaign’s last days.

One ad, titled “Education,” begins with the urgent ringing of a school bell and asserts that unless the law is repealed, kindergartners could be taught that homosexuality and bisexuality are normal behaviors, “forever changing the innocence of our children.”

“Protect your parental rights,” warns the ad, which begins running today on cable stations serving subscribers in and around Portland and Bangor.

“This ad is one in a long line from the Coalition for Marriage trying to talk about what this campaign isn’t about,” countered Jesse Connolly of Maine Won’t Discriminate, who noted that the anti-discrimination law says nothing about school curriculum, which has traditionally fallen under the purview of local school boards.

Jim Melcher, a political scientist at the University of Maine at Farmington, said Wednesday that the 30-second “Education” ad could prove risky for opponents of the law.

“It can stir people’s emotions, but it can also cause people to think you are manipulating them by bringing children into the debate,” Melcher said.

Maine Won’t Discriminate on Wednesday launched their second ad Wednesday featuring the father of a gay man who was fired because of his homosexuality.

“No person should be fired from a job simply because they’re gay,” Dave Giampetruzzi of South China says in the ad, which is running on broadcast and cable markets in Bangor and Portland. “All we ask for our children is fairness.”

Wednesday also marked the release of a new round of finance reports – the last before the election – showing supporters of the law outspending and outraising opponents.

In the period from Oct. 1 to Oct. 27, Maine Won’t Discriminate raised about $425,000 bringing its total for the campaign to about $900,000. At the end of the period the pro-gay rights group had about $127,000 left in the bank.

The law’s opponents, namely the Coalition for Marriage – an arm of the Christian Civic League of Maine – and the Maine Grassroots Coalition, raised a combined $116,000 this reporting period bringing their total to $336,000 for the campaign. As of Oct. 27, the groups had a combined $21,000 on hand.

On the Net: www.mwd2005.org; www.coalitionformarriage.net.