Claims that the legalization of gay
marriage in Maryland will affect school curricula have been debunked
as false.
Groups fighting against marriage
equality in the four states where it's on the ballot released a
barrage of ads making similar claims in the final weeks of the
campaign.
In Maryland, Baltimore NBC affiliate
WBAL took a look at the arguments.
“If gay marriage happens here,
schools could teach that boys can marry boys,” a female announcer
says in the ad.
“This claim is false,” the network
concluded. “Question 6 has nothing to do with Maryland public
school curriculum.”
A couple from Massachusetts, David and
Tonya Parker, testify in the ad: “After Massachusetts redefined
marriage, local schools taught it to children in second grade,
including the school our son attended. 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.”
The network labeled the claim
misleading, saying the couple's son was in kindergarten at the time
and that the book refereed to, Who's in a Family, teaches
about different types of families, not sex as the Parkers claim.
And regarding the claim that “same-sex
marriage could be taught in local Maryland schools” if Question 6
is approved, reporter David Collins called it “false.”
“There is no direct link between
Question 6 and public school curricula. The state Board of Education
sets the standards for curriculum related to reading, writing and
mathematics. And the state does not get involved in local board
decisions. Before a school board changes curriculum, the material is
vetted by parents, teachers and the community. State school board
officials say that the subject has never been a curriculum subject in
Maryland and they are not aware of any interest in making it one.”
(Watch
the segment at WBAL.)