Kids Reacting To Same-Sex Marriage Will Brighten Your Day

Things are changing. That’s all I could think while watching this new “Kids React To” video, where a group of children ages 5-13 are shown two of my favorite recent flash mob proposals (one + two) and then asked to talk about what they saw. Watching this gave me my daily dose of the warm-and-fuzzies, both because these kids are downright adorable and because they had some really smart, insightful things to say.

The metaphors these children use to explain why they believe in marriage equality are much more elaborate and sophisticated than I would have come up with when I was in elementary or middle school. I noted references to slavery, interracial marriage, the Civil Rights Movement, women’s suffrage and separation of church and state, especially from the older interviewees. The younger ones were almost completely on-board with the ability to love whomever simply for freedom’s sake. The adorably confused Mr. Evil Eyebrows was the main exception here, but even he wasn’t sure what was so bad about gay people getting married, just repeating over and over that “gay is bad for you.”

Some of these kids have clearly thought about gay people before and are probably borrowing language overheard from adults — Which is a good thing! Let’s teach equality to our children! — but even those who are baffled by the “boy proposing to a boy?!” quickly assured the hosts that people should be free to love whomever they want. Of course, that’s no reason not to throw some sass in the direction of the anti-marriage-equality crowd, as 13-year-old twins Megan and Shannon did, instantly becoming my new personal heroes:

"Get a hobby." "Cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it."

“Get a hobby.” “Cry me a river, build me a bridge, and get over it.”


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Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn lives in New York, which is the simplest answer you're going to get if you ask her where she's from. She went to journalism school and is arguably making the most of her degree as a writer and copy editor. She utilizes her monthly cable bill by watching more competitive cooking shows than should be allowed.

Kaitlyn has written 69 articles for us.

49 Comments

  1. You could tell the lone anti-gay marriage kid would be bad news right off the bat, because he has a major case of evil eyebrows. It’s not his fault; he was predestined to be a vaguely threatening B-movie villain.

  2. This is just too cute and funny! I wish my little cousins were this funny/open-minded but no their turning into little machines of intolerance because my uncles and aunts suck.

    *imagines air hug…and vest because it’s cute and I need it in my wardrobe*

  3. This makes my heart warm! This is the kind of thing that gives me hope for humanity in a world when my hope is crushed daily. Thanks for lifting my heart kids!!!! AIR HUG RIGHT BACK!!!! And air high five for that matter!

  4. AIR HUG!!!

    I love how forward thinking these kids are! Waterworks through the whole video! -___-” They said some sweet sweet things. I’m your friend too!!

    This is definite proof we live in a modern world!

    2013 is definitely the year of the gay.

  5. “I don’t know I’m just all new to this” is simultaneously the most honest and the most adorable thing ever said. Also adorable, the fact that her main concern about gay marriage is fine dining etiquette.

  6. I am obsessed with the eyebrows child’s eyebrows. I took a screenshot of them and made them my desktop wallpaper and my girlfriend is really perturbed.

    I wish I knew how to put pictures in here so I could show off the greatness.

  7. My favorite was the brown-haired girl’s comments on homophobes. “I wouldn’t exactly say, ‘You suck, get out of my life,’ but…I’d say that in the nicest words possible.'”

    Also, despite the adorable Mr. Evil Eyebrows’ whole “gay is bad for you” thing, I was actually pretty impressed that he even knew what “gay” meant. I sure didn’t when I was his age. Sadly I guess it’s probably because he hears people talk a lot about how bad it is to be gay.

    I feel like OSTEM or something should steal the microscope thing and make t-shirts that say “Microscopes make you gay.”

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