AUGUSTA — The state's same-sex marriage law has no bearing on what can be taught in public schools, Attorney General Janet Mills said Thursday.
Mills examined the issue at the request of Education Commissioner Susan Gendron, who had been fielding questions from school officials and the news media.
The issue has been a central part of the campaign on Question 1, which would repeal the state law that allows gay and lesbian couples to marry.
"I have scoured Maine laws relating to the education of its children for any references to marriage in the public school curricula," Mills wrote in her opinion. "I have found none."
Voters will be asked on Nov. 3 whether they want to reject the new state law, which redefines marriage as the union of any two people.
It was passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor this spring, and is on the ballot because of the people's veto process.
As part of the campaign, opponents of same-sex marriage have said, in television advertisements and in public statements, that if the law is not repealed, gay marriage will be taught in schools.
Marc Mutty, a leader of the Yes on 1 campaign, said the campaign had to study Mills' opinion and would release a statement today.
In response to Mills' opinion, Gendron sent a letter to superintendents saying the attorney general had confirmed her understanding of the law, which is that state standards "do not require or encourage the inclusion of the subject of marriage in school curriculum."
Mark Sullivan, spokesman for No on 1/Protect Maine Equality, said he hopes the opinion from Mills ends the debate about the school issue.
"We hope the Question 1 campaign will stop attempting to hijack the fundamental issue at stake," he said, adding that opponents believe the issue is equality and fairness.
Mills wrote that state educational standards do not include the teaching of marriage, but that individual school boards "determine the exact content of each district's curricula."
If parents have concerns about what is being taught in their schools, they can ask their school boards to make accommodations for their religious beliefs, she wrote.
Regardless, those provisions are in place now and won't be changed with the outcome of the Nov. 3 vote, she said in an interview.
"The state's definition of marriage has no bearing on curricula of public schools," she said. "It's apples and oranges."
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