Image: Some rights reserved by Patrick Gage
[box_light]Youth speak out on Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage.[/box_light]For the president to say he supports gays and lesbians is a big statement. I’m an 8th grader, and I know I might not know a lot, but I think it’s a good thing that he said that. A lot of people will support the president. It will get more people who are be able to come out and say they are gay. It’s going to affect the new generation too, because many years from now what if same sex marriage is a common thing because of support like this, and gay couples will be able to hold hands in public without someone saying something bad? Many people think he might be saying this to win support, since it is time to vote. But I think it might be somewhat genuine. I do think he could have picked something else to win voters’ attention. Either way, there might be something good and something bad that comes out of it.
Jane Carretero
I feel that young gays are most of the time not accepted in the community. I am for gay marriage because I see no problem with having feelings for the person you like, boy or girl. If Obama creates the law for gay marriage then most people will accept the change and will be happy for the couple. Obama said he supports gay marriage about a week ago but he still hasn’t shown any progress to really support gay marriage any time soon. As a teen, I feel that he just said that to get more voters, since Romney said he’s against gay marriage. People may not realize how this topic is going to affect mostly youth because we still have to adjust to the future. They should ask teens how they feel about this topic instead of just adults.
Te’Lona Love
President Barack Obama’s newfound support for same sex marriage has definitely stirred up a lot of tension across the nation. But who’s to say he’ll pull through? It’s interesting how he magically woke up in the morning and decided to support gay marriage just in time for 2012 campaign when he had the past four years to do so.
I suppose he notices the fact that this rising generation is currently increasing in LBGT and Obama is slightly smarter than Romney to take advantage of it by “Supporting” them. I feel like Barack Obama believes that this young and active generation is easily convinced and he knows that he’ll gain a lot of their support for the 2012 elections by closing in on a topic that he knows young people will react to.
Being a young 18-year-old, I’ve seen that even the people who don’t have an opinion on gay marriage will usually end up siding with them anyway in order to prevent conflicts. And I believe Obama had taken notice of that too. By claiming to support gay marriage, not only will he gain support from LBGT people, but also the support that comes from the group of people who feel compelled to do so. Obama should also take note of is the fact that there’s a handful of young people who can see right through his political tactics.
Sarah Thao
In 2006, over 25 youth began participating in weekly after-school writing workshops where they congregated in the hallway of a two-story building in West Fresno and learned the essentials of creating media and telling their stories. The group evolved over the next five years and is now proudly recognized as The kNOw Youth Media.
Through our program, we create opportunities for our youth participants, who in turn create long-term positive change in their communities. Our approach weaves youth development and youth media innovation to produce our biannual youth publication, multimedia projects, and community forums.
The kNOw began as a project of New America Media, which was the country’s first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2000 ethnic news organizations. In 2018 The kNOw became a project of Youth Leadership Institute.
