The gay marriage battle in California has evolved into a war over children and whether their curriculum would include gay marriage if Proposition 8 – the ballot initiative that seeks to forbid gay marriage in the state – should fail.

The Yes-On-8 campaign started the feud with two advertisements airing in California in which the anti-gay group claims that without Prop. 8 children would be subjected to learning about gay marriage in public schools.

In the group's second ad, a mother is frightened as her daughter tells her that she learned that she could marry a princess at school.

A counter-ad by gay marriage proponents quickly called the claim a “lie.”

“Their attacks have come before and they always use the same scare tactics,” an announcer says as Yes-On-8 ads are displayed in television screens. “This time they want to eliminate rights and they're using lies to persuade you. Prop. 8 will not affect church tax status. That's a lie. And it will not effect teaching in schools. Another lie. It's time to shut down the scare tactics.”

Yesterday, the shouting match intensified yet again as gay marriage opponents released a press release critical of a recently reported field trip where children attended the gay wedding of their teacher.

“[J]ust two days after the No-On-8 'Lies' television commercial began airing, a first grade public school class in San Francisco was taken on a field trip to a lesbian wedding at City Hall, officiated by mayor Gavin Newsom,” the press release said.

In a heightened, even exaggerated tone, the release counters that it is the No-On-8 campaign that is lying about children being taught about gay marriage.

“On one coast of the country [Massachusetts] they tell judges that gay marriage should be taught to children in school at the youngest possible age,” said Yes-On-8 Campaign Manager Frank Schubert. “But, on the opposite coast, here in California, they have the audacity to tell voters that gay marriage has nothing to do with public schools.”

“Lying ... who's really lying?”

“Not only do the organizations leading the No on 8 campaign want gay marriage, under the guise of 'diversity', taught in public schools, they believe it is important to teach it at the earliest possible age,” Schubert said.

The campaign railed against Massachusetts' Parker v. Hurley, where a federal district court found against parents who objected to their children learning about gay marriage as it applies in the state. The court found that parents have no authority to veto the school's marriage curriculum on the basis of disliking its inclusion of gay marriage.

The decision is not a gay marriage victory, but a constitutional one. In Massachusetts, the constitution says gay couples have the right to marry and the constitution overrules the dislikes of certain groups.

But there is little marriage taught in California's public schools. The only mention related to marriage in the California education code has to do with navigating the financial and legal responsibilities of marriage – an optional class for school districts. Additionally, Parker v. Hurley would not apply in California.

Because the gay marriage ban, for the first time, leads by five points, the Yes-On-8 campaign is certain to continue making its argument that without the ban children would be taught gay marriage in public schools, no matter how tenuous that link may be.