The No on One campaign, which seeks to uphold Maine's same sex marriage law, has accused its opponents of hypocrisy in its latest TV ads. In a press conference in Portland this morning, No on One activists referred to the Yes on One campaign's latest ads in which the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland endorses domestic partnerships as a worthy substitute for marriage equality.
"The diocese, through a new TV ad by its campaign against marriage equality says that they 'want to be tolerant of gays,'" says former state representative Ben Dudley, who wrote the law that created the Maine domestic partner registry in 2004. "This is the same domestic partner registry that they tried to defeat in the Legislature five years ago."
Dudley quoted from two letters of opposition to the registry written by Marc Mutty, principal lobbyist with the diocese, who's now chairman of Stand for Marriage Maine, the campaign spearheading support for Question 1.
Mutty says No on One's claims are "irrelevant." In a statement, he says Stand for Marriage Maine "is a coalition of folks from many different faiths and others of no particular faith committed to preserving our age old understanding of marriage as the union of one man and one woman. To focus in on one particualr piece of legislation and one specific partner whose record of defending the common good and the dignity of all people is widely known and respected in this debate is nothing more then a distraction from the fundamental issue at hand."