Editorial Of The Day

From Maine's Kennebec Journal:

Protect Marriage Maine, the coalition opposing same-sex marriage, bases this ad in part on an interpretation of a state law passed in 2004 to allow gay couples to register as domestic partners. The ad says the law allowed rights that married couples have in "virtually all" circumstances. "Virtually all" should come with a pretty high standard. Maine law does allow for protections in some circumstances, but there are many cases in which it doesn't. The anti-gay marriage coalition hasn't fared well so far in Truth Tests, getting two falses earlier this year for claims made on its website using bad information on child-rearing studies and saying tax-exempt status could be at risk if gay marriage passes.

This claim is a little more true, but barely. "Same-sex couples already have the legal protections of marriage in virtually all circumstances." [snip] Verdict: It's misleading to say "virtually all" benefits of marriage exist for domestic partners under law, because there are many references to "spouses" in state law. Surely individual changes to law could be made to address them if legislators choose to do so, but approving gay marriage would allow couples to take advantage of that language in one swoop. We rate this claim mostly false.