The truth behind Frank Schubert's deceptive multi-state anti-equality ad

Now playing in four states: virtually identical ads designed at heading off marriage equality at the ballot box. These ads are merely a retread of the template created to defeat marriage equality in the Proposition 8 ballot referendum of 2008 in California.

They are all produced by the kingpin of anti-gay politics: Frank Schubert. They are all premised on the foundation of one basic lie: that a state implementing marriage equality will compel the state to teach children in public schools all about gay marriage.

It won't.

Regardless what happens with the marriage equality question, the power to define educational curriculum for each state lies in individual legislatures and the various boards of education, however these states organize such decisions. None of these bills contain any directives, amendments or anything that obligates any schools to teach anything. For what it's worth, Politifact rated this claim as "False" in 2011.

More detailed, state-specific responses from the marriage equality campaigns are here: "deceptive and debunked," Maine; 'false,' Maryland; 'misleading,' Minnesota; "Dead wrong, outdated," Washington.

The ad claims: "Courts ruled parents had no right to take their children out of class or to even be informed when this instruction was going to take place."

There was a court case, but this is a complete misrepresentation of what happened.

The man making this false claim, David Parker, was a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit against a Massachusetts school district. The suit contended their rights had been violated when a book was given to their son as optional, non-required reading material. The book the Parkers objected to was Who's In A Family? It is not the book depicted in the commercial. The book in the commercial contains a same-sex kiss'doubtlessly the reason it was included'which the book the Parkers objected to does not, nor does the book the Parkers objected to contain any mention of marriage of any kind. The illustration that enraged Parker can be seen in the upper right corner in the image at the right.

In fact, what the courts actually found was that the Parker's lawsuit was baseless, in part because "Massachusetts does have a statute that requires parents be given notice and the opportunity to exempt their children from curriculum which primarily involves human sexual education or human sexuality issues.  Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71, § 32A."

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