10-Year-Old Writes About Why Her Dads Should Be Able to Marry

The Illinois Senate voted on Valentine’s Day in favor of marriage equality, and the state House looks likely to follow suit. The best argument I’ve seen in favor of it is this essay from 10-year-old Braiden Neubecker, “My family and marriage equality.”

In it, the girl talks about what her family likes to do together, and why life with her two adoptive dads is better than the life she had under foster care. She writes, “Would there be any purpose to ban the marriage of two men or two women when they can treat children the same or even better than other couples.”

She also reflects:

How would you feel if you couldn’t marry someone just because the government said you weren’t allowed to. . . . Also, my church tells me that you should treat other people the way you want to be treated.

The piece appeared in this week’s Windy City Times, which notes that Neubecker “wrote this essay for school and received minor help from her teacher in crafting her original draft into an essay.”

Bravo to Neubecker and to the teacher who did not shirk from allowing her to write this potentially controversial (though it shouldn’t be) piece. Go have a read and a smile to start your morning.