Protect Maine Equality has responded to Stand for Marriage Maine’s Prop 8 copycat ad I posted about last week. They now have two new ads out, one that directly addresses the allegations raised by the right-wing ad.
In my previous post, I cautioned the Maine equality group against responding in the same way the No On 8 group responded in California. The California response, I wrote, “focused on the lack of harm that marriage equality would cause the children of straight parents rather than stressing the harm to children of LGBT parents and LGBT youth themselves. The former will lead to many straight parents not caring whether the measure passes; the latter has a chance of appealing to their protective parenting instincts.”
Did Protect Maine Equality succeed? Here’s the first video. Read my opinion and see the second video after the jump. Add your own thoughts in the comments.
I think this is better than the No On 8 response, but still has its faults. On the good side, it positions Stand for Marriage Maine as a group of outsiders trying to harm the state’s children. I think that argument will go over well with native Mainers.
The ad talks about being proud of every child, regardless of his or her parents. That’s good—but then saying that the right-wing actions make our kids “feel ashamed” is soft-pedaling the harassment and bullying that can occur in an environment where all families are not valued equally. I want the ad to showcase one of the true stories from the Prop 8 battle, such as a six-year-old child tearfully asking his mom if they were still a family now that Prop 8 had passed, or an eight-year-old asking if it meant her moms would have to break up. (Marriage Equality USA has helpfully compiled these stories into a handy report (PDF).)
Additionally, at one point in the ad, a teacher speaks of schools being places where all children are welcome. Fair enough, but the ad never makes a strong connection between safe schools and marriage equality. It needs to show how inequality can lead to an environment that breeds harassment and bullying.
Queerty opined that the ad is “still letting that group [Stand for Marriage Maine] dictate the conversation about marriage equality.” True, to the extent that SfMM is trying to make it be about who is acting in the best interests of the children. As I said in my previous post, however, I think we do have the opportunity to reclaim that argument from the right—but we have to do so more strongly than simply saying inequality makes our kids “feel ashamed” and has some vague connection to safe schools.
Protect Marriage Maine put out a second ad last Friday as well, which isn’t children-specific, but includes some images of families with children. I think it’s a much stronger message of personal choice and independence. Let’s hope it does the trick.
What do you think of the ads? Will they sway the movable middle? What, if anything, would you have done differently?