The National Organization for Marriage has sunken to a new low: quibbling with fourth graders. An anonymous fourth grader’s two-paragraph essay defending marriage equality went viral on Reddit last week, prompting Salon contributor Katie McDonough to deem it the “world’s most perfect argument” for the cause. Here’s what the elementary school student wrote (spelling errors and all):

Why gay people should be able to get married is you can’t stop two adult’s from getting married because there grown and it doesn’t matter if it creeps you out just get over it. And you should be happy for them because it’s a big momment in their life. When I went to my grandparents wedding it was the happies momment.

As you can see gay people should have the right to get married and you shouldn’t judge other peoples lives because if you was gay you wouldn’t want people talking about you.

NOM claimed, “we’re not interested in arguing with a fourth-grader,” but nevertheless took exception to McDonough’s characterization:

Proof again that the activists pushing same-sex marriage aren’t interested in reasoned debate and argument: just silencing the other side. A tactic fitting maybe for a schoolyard, but not the public square.

This “Nuh-uh!” response utilizes the exact same tactic it attempts to rebuke — simply disregarding opponents’ points — and ignores the actual merits of the student’s argument. It’s quite true that no ban on same-sex marriage has ever stopped same-sex couples from forming and raising their own families. Certainly, the gay community is not going to suddenly start marrying people of the opposite sex, as the “responsible procreation” argument suggests. Banning same-sex marriage definitely does not have any impact on whether straight men over the age of 55 cheat on their wives, as some conservatives have claimed.

In fact, one of the biggest gaps in NOM’s arguments against equality is the fact that the protections of marriage would greatly benefit these same-sex families. Children raised by same-sex couples fare just as well as other children, and allowing their parents to marry will only add to their protection.

It could very well be that the fourth-grader who wrote this essay actually has same-sex parents. Regardless, there are plenty of nine-year-old’s who do. It’s unclear whether NOM would ever concede that this reality “creeps them out,” but considering that they felt the need to take umbrage to this essay, they certainly don’t seem ready to “get over it.”

This Friday (4/19) is the annual Day of Silence (DoS), when students across the country choose not speak in school in protest of the mistreatment of LGBT youth. While some conservative groups are once again encouraging parents to keep their kids home, Focus on the Family and the Alliance Defending Freedom are hosting their annual pre-buttal, the so-called “Day of Dialogue” (DoD) on Thursday (4/18). The blatant goal of this event is to encourage Christian students to condemn homosexuality and transgenderism to their peers, but under the facade of opposing bullying.

Most of the materials on the DoD page were written by Jeff Johnston, Focus on the Family’s resident ex-gay, who rejects transgender identities as disordered and healthy and who describes homosexuality as “sexual brokenness.” For the Day of Dialogue, he encourages young people to talk about homosexuality with their classmates by suggesting they pursue ex-gay therapy because being gay is the same as being a prostitute or an adulterer:

Without God, and without following His intentions for us, all the good of sexuality is distorted. The good news, in the midst of our sexual brokenness, is that God still loves us deeply. He longs to reconnect with each of us and to begin healing, restoring and transforming us. He invites each of us to respond to His love.

All throughout Scripture, we see that God has a special place in His heart for people who messed up sexually. Jesus’ ancestors included prostitutes and adulterers, and He brought forgiveness and restoration to many people who were caught in sexual brokenness.  In the same way, Jesus is standing with His arms open to each of us. We’ve all had our identity, relationships, sexuality and desires impacted by sin. He invites us to experience new life, forgiveness, true relational intimacy with Him and healthy relationships with others.

As Christians, children of God and followers of Jesus, we have a unique opportunity to offer this good news to our classmates and those around us. In a disordered and hurting world we can offer hope, healing and renewal.

Interestingly, the DoD site does not use the word “gay” or “homosexuality” except on its page, “Responding To Challenges.” Participants are not encouraged to use the words at all, but respond that “God has a plan for our sexuality” (and it’s not homosexuality). Here’s an example of how Focus on the Family encourages students to explain that being gay is a chosen identity:

The fact is that nobody knows how same-sex attractions develop—it appears to be a combination of factors (from biology to individual temperament to culture to environment). There is no proof that it is purely genetic. For more information, you can read Are People Really Born Gay? as well as other resources posted here.

You can explain that the real issue, for those who follow Jesus, is not about changing from “straight” to “gay”, or what kind of sexual identity a person has, but about having a relationship with God. And as our relationship with him grows, we learn to manage our feelings, desires and behavior according to His best plan for us.

The fact is that many people have experienced great changes in their lives and voluntarily chosen  to align their feelings to God’s best plan.

These are blatant falsehoods. The American Psychological Association has determined over decades of research that sexual orientation is innate and attempts to change it are ineffective and harmful. Moreover, the most recent research in a growing field known as epigenetics suggests that sexual orientation is at least partially determined by genes — just not directly. Rather than being coded into the DNA directly, certain sex-specific switches on the genes known as “epi-marks” can be triggered during fetal development, causing variations in hormone levels that determine how the genes will express gender and sexuality for the rest of the individual’s life. It’s still not a perfect explanation, but it’s a clear indicator that biology has a significant impact on determining sex and gender and that they cannot simply be changed by shame-based therapy.

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In February, Spring High School in Texas told student George “Tony” Zamazal that she would not be allowed to wear a dress to prom, even though she feels more comfortable dressing as a woman and identifying with female pronouns. The ACLU intervened on her behalf, and now the school has relented, explaining that Tony could wear a dress so long as she complied with the prom’s dress code as it’s enforced for all female students.

The senior is ecstatic:

TONY: All I wanted was to get to wear a dress to prom, because I wouldn’t have felt comfortable at all showing up in a tux. I’m so grateful that my school has agreed to let me be myself on such an important night.

Respecting people’s identities does not have any major consequence except allowing them to feel safe and authentic.

Tennessee has been a toxic place on issues of sex and gender recently, with the University of Tennessee recently caving to Fox News’ complaints and cutting funding for students’ “Sex Week” programming. This week there was some good news, however, because two anti-gay pieces of legislation died in committee.

The first was the odious “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which was originally designed to censor school officials and teachers from discussing homosexuality in grades K-8. Versions introduced this year included requirements that school counselors out LGBT students to their families or prevent counselors from providing mental health services whatsoever. The bill did not receive a second when it was moved in the House Education Subcommittee and subsequently died. State Rep. John Ragan (R), who sponsored the bill because “it was about school safety,” has promised to reintroduce it next year.

Another bill targeted institutions of higher education, threatening to cut support for campus police if universities required student groups to abide by “all-comers” nondiscrimination policies. The intention behind such measures, like one recently passed in Virginia, is to allow Christian groups to discriminate against gay students. Tennessee Attorney General Robert Cooper (D) called the bill unconstitutional and Gov. Bill Haslam (R) said he saw no reason to have the bill considered. Last year, he vetoed a similar bill targeting university nondiscrimination statements. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Mark Pody (R), took the bill “off notice,” killing it, but his apparent vendetta against Vanderbilt University’s “all-comers” policy suggests this isn’t the last of his efforts.

The death of these two bills is a nice reprieve for Tennessee’s LGBT community, but it seems neither of these fights is permanently over.

Tennessee Rep. John Hagan (R)

Tennessee’s odious “Don’t Say Gay” bill has not yet advanced, but it might be getting another new provision to make it even worse. Its original intent — to ban teachers in grades K-8 from even mentioning homosexuality — was bad enough, and this year’s bill also includes a provision to out gay students to their parents. Now House sponsor Rep. John Ragan (R) is offering a new amendment that would completely bar school personnel from providing any kind of “mental health” guidance, according to WBIR:

A measure in the works in the Tennessee legislature would bar school personnel from advising students on “mental health” issues, ‘lifestyle’ choices or other conditions or activities outside career and educational counseling” unless they have been licensed as a clinical psychologist or psychiatrist. [...]

“School counselors in general are licensed, hired and paid to be counseling on academic and career education,” said state Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge. “We do not pay them nor license them to counsel on anything else.” [...]

Teachers, counselors and principals instead would be asked to give students a referral for psychiatric care if they bring up mental health or lifestyle issues. School districts would also have to train educators on how to handle such questions.

It’s troubling enough that LGBT students would not be able to ask any counselor about their issues — and would be told they need to see a therapy. But Ragan could not be more wrong; this amendment completely undermines the work many counselors do every day, including providing support for depression, suicidal thinking, eating disorders, problems at home, grief, and overall social development. Tennessee already requires that school counselors have completed a graduate degree in counseling, as opposed to just education. Ragan is trying to prevent them from doing the very job they are expected to do.

This is the significant overstep from the usual assumptions about “parents’ rights,” the line of reasoning that attempts to justify censorship in schools, as this bill does. The entire point of school counselors is to supplement what support students may or may not get at home. Ragan’s amendment is nothing short of a guarantee to make schools less safe and ensure young people have even less support for their academic success.

(HT: The New Civil Rights Movement.)