When a 17-year-old that goes by the handle averagesmurf posted on Reddit this past week about a paper he submitted for class, Redditors went into a frenzy to provide supporting or opposing arguments for the controversial topic he decided to write about: gay marriage. The teenager, who reportedly lives in rural Missouri and attends a Catholic high school, said that he decided to write the paper after his teacher asked them to write a research paper about a “moral dilemma,” in this case gay marriage, and why it is wrong and dangerous, so the teenager wrote about the opposite.
The teen said that it all started earlier this year, when the teacher of a class called “Morality” asked the students to submit anonymous questions and had the class discuss the topics. Afterwards, she apparently would inform the students on the church’s position on such moral topics and would not allow the students to refute the points afterwards.
According to the teen who submitted the paper, the topic of gay marriage sent him into a rant in class about why the church’s stance is incorrect that led to all discussion ending the next day and a video being shown by the teacher that taught the students that homosexuality is a choice or the result of abuse and unhealthy relationships. As for the paper, the 17-year-old student said this in his post:
“The exact words my teacher said in class were that you have to provide the church teaching to ‘show and prove that the church’s position is right’.” The student’s disagreement with the church’s position on gay marriage is what sparked their long research paper on the topic.
Titled Gay Marriage Is Fabulous, the teen launches into an in-depth look that covers everything from the damage that living in a patriarchy does to society to conversion therapy to the idea that being gay is a choice. With 127 pages, 52 footnotes, and a shockingly long Works Cited page, the student leaves no stone unturned in making their point about why homosexuality is not a sin and reiterates the point they made in class: that homosexuality is not a sin and that the Bible preaches love, not hate, towards gay people.
Though there hasn’t been an update on how the paper was received in class, the student did comment that during the previous in-class discussions, many of their classmates applauded the teen on the points he made in favor of gay marriage and in opposition of the church’s viewpoints. In a later update after constant interest in the contents, he even posted the full paper online, which can be viewed here. With references from the Bible, the Catholic Church, Plato, the American Psychological Association, and countless old and modern sources, he was sure to rely on tons of experts to fill in his argument. He started his paper in early January and just recently finished, though he said that he felt his conclusion was rushed because of the deadline for the presentation.
“All I wanted to do was say to kids, who feel crummy about themselves because some jacka** tells them it’s wrong to be themselves, that they’re loved and they don’t have to hate who they are,” he said of his motivation to write the paper and post it on Reddit.
Based on past posts and parts of his paper, it appears that the teen identifies as bisexual and has struggled with his sexual orientation in the past because of his religious upbringing. He was raised by his grandparents, who are “devout Catholics,” and his grandfather even intended on becoming a priest before he met his grandmother and married her.
Even if the teenager hadn’t identified as a part of the LGBTQ community, this paper would have been great at boosting other’s confidence in themselves, especially those who find themselves similarly isolated in their rural towns and shrouded in religious beliefs. The teen preaches loves and acceptance, which allows for others to feel like they are loved by god just as they are, even if they are gay or have a different gender identity.
