At a school in Queens, New York, a fifth-grader named Kameron Slade won a class speech contest that earned him the right to compete in a school-wide speech competition. But when the principal found out his speech was about same-sex marriage, he told Kameron to change his topic or be kicked out of the competition. 

Here’s an excerpt from his speech (which can be seen in full here), courtesy of ThinkProgress:

Some people are for same-gender marriage, while others are against it. Like President Obama, I believe that all people should have the right to marry whoever they want. Marriage is about love, support, and commitment. So who are we to judge? If we judge people like this, this is a form of prejudice. We must learn to accept all differences.[…]

My mom is very open to me about same-gender marriage. However, some adults may feel uncomfortable and think it’s inappropriate to talk about this to children.I think adults must realize that as children get older, they become aware of these mature issues that are going on in the world. If children read or watch the news, they can learn about things like same-gender marriage, so what’s the point in trying to hide it?

In conclusion, I hope that everyone understands how important it is to respect everyone for who they are. Same-gender marriage is becoming more popular. I believe that same-gender marriage should be accepted worldwide and that parents and teachers should start to discuss these issues without shame to their children.

Wow. This kid is as brave as anybody I’ve ever met, and his school completely cut him off from introducing his peers to what will surely be an important topic as they come of age. Wow.