Documentary depicts head of gay marriage repeal effort as conflicted over ads

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http://bangordailynews.com/2011/10/24/politics/documentary-depicts-head-of-gay-marriage-repeal-effort-as-conflicted-over-ads/

PORTLAND, Maine — The head of a 2009 campaign to repeal gay marriage legislation in Maine is depicted in a new documentary as being conflicted about advertisements warning that the law essentially would force homosexuality to be taught in schools. Marc Mutty also is shown as bothered by the role a California-based public relations firm played in the Maine campaign.

New York filmmakers Joe Fox and James Nubile held a media screening of their 90-minute documentary “Question One” on Monday morning at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland. The film follows the two campaigns on opposite sides of 2009’s Question 1, which asked Maine voters whether a recently passed law allowing gay marriage should be repealed.

“A lot of people wake up and see the results, but they don’t realize what went into those results,” Nubile said Monday morning. “The passive observer might think it’s a film about gay marriage when it’s really about people devoting their lives to this issue. … I think they’re people of strong beliefs on both sides and they weren’t shy about expressing themselves.”

The repeal ultimately passed at the polls with 53 percent in favor and 47 percent against.

While most of the figures in the film are shown making what are now well-known — but passionate — arguments for and against gay marriage, the documentary shows Mutty, chairman of the successful “Yes on One” campaign, as being conflicted about aspects of the campaign. He is shown behind the scenes questioning the accuracy of his group’s advertisements and grumbling about the heavy role of Frank Schubert of Schubert Flint Public Affairs, who led the efforts to block gay marriages in California a year earlier. Mutty, who took a leave of absence as spokesman for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland to lead the 2009 campaign, also worried about his legacy in the aftermath of the campaign.