Article Lead Image

When it comes to same-sex marriage, kids understand what many adults don’t

From "outrageous" to "too cute," these kids have a lot of words for what they just saw.

 

Michelle Jaworski

IRL

Posted on Nov 4, 2013   Updated on Jun 1, 2021, 2:45 am CDT

Sometimes, kids are more spot-on than we give them credit for.

When shown two different marriage proposal videos featuring same-sex couples, the children in the Fine Brothers’ Kids React series—ranging from ages 5 to 13—reacted how you might imagine people would to marriage proposals. They were floored at the declarations of love. But for them,  the gender of the couples didn’t matter to them.

But many people don’t see same-sex marriage that way, as Benny and Rafi explained to them afterward.

Before being shown the video, a few of the younger kids didn’t really know much (or anything at all) about about same-sex marriage.

Most didn’t see what the big deal was, and they became angry when they found out that not everyone could get married in the U.S. Even some of the children who didn’t know anything about same-sex marriage beforehand couldn’t understand why people were so against it. They were born that way, and that’s OK.

“If one person should be able to do something, then everyone else should be able to do it,” one boy said.

“Why would you be that mean to someone?” Dylan wondered.

But not everyone was for gay marriage. One boy didn’t know why he thought it was bad and said he wouldn’t be friends with someone who came out to him, but he did say that some people are born liking the same gender. Even though he had a differing opinion, the Fine Brothers didn’t treat him any differently than the other children.

This isn’t the first time that the Fine Brothers have handled tough topics in their videos. They’ve talked to teens about bullying and rape culture and why people didn’t like the biracial Cheerios commercial.

For most of these children, it all boils down to one simple thing.

“When it’s yourself, don’t let people tell you what to do,” Jayka said.

Photo via TheFineBros/YouTube

Share this article
*First Published: Nov 4, 2013, 11:01 am CST