As the campaign to preserve marriage equality in Maine enters its
crucial final month, a key difference emerges between the opposing
sides’ presentation of "real" Maine families in their advertising, a columnist
for a state newspaper observes.

A case in point is the image of a family (pictured) on the antigay Stand for Marriage Maine website. The photo can be downloaded from an online stock photography store, according to Portland Press Herald columnist Bill Nemitz.

Nemitz suggests that the tactic, while common, represents a broader unwillingness or, more likely, inability among marriage equality opponents to find authentic state residents to fill their advertising.

“Since it took to the airwaves a month or so ago, Stand for Marriage Maine has attached four -- and only four -- faces to its televised ad campaign,” writes Nemitz. “And of those four, only one person is actually from Maine.”

Nemitz compares that number to the wave of Maine residents excited to appear in commercials supporting marriage equality.

“The anti-repeal No on 1 campaign overflows with real Mainers who are willing -- no, make that eager -- to go public in their support of equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.”