On Marriage Equality...

My husband and I support marriage equality, so Theo has grown up with the belief that a man can marry a woman or a man, and the same is true for a woman. However, one of his little friends recently told him, "No, boys can't marry boys!"...and of course, he believes his friend over us. (Sigh...) So we've been doing a little damage control and trying to reinforce the idea of marriage equality. This led to an interesting conversation this morning, in which Theo try to reconcile the tiny bit he knows about the tensions in the Ukraine with his limited understanding of marriage:

Theo: Mom, a boy cannot marry another boy.
Me: That's not true, Theo. Depending on what state you live in, as long as you are an adult and both of you want to get married, a man can choose to marry a man or a woman.
Theo: But Mom! My friend said boys can't marry boys, and I agree with him.
Me (deciding that, because we've already had this discussion a dozen times, it was time for a full explanation): You're not old enough to make that decision yet. You want to know the grown-up truth? Not too long ago, men could only marry women, and women could only marry men. But then a lot of people realized that it wasn't fair to tell adults who they were allowed to marry and who they weren't, so in some states, a man can now marry a man, and a woman can now marry a woman. Some people don't agree with that—some people think men should only marry women, and women should only marry men. But many people—and Daddy and I believe this—think that as long as two people are adults and want to get married, they should be allowed to get married. So the laws are changing, and in many states you can now marry a man or a woman.
Theo: Well, how long ago did that change?
Me: Very recently. Like within the last couple of years.
Theo: And Russia is arguing about it.
Me: No, Russia is arguing about things, but not to do with who can get married in the United States.
Theo: Well, I'm going to marry a girl.
Me: That's fine. When you're an adult, if you want to marry a girl, that's fine. And if you want to marry a boy, that's fine too. As long as both of you want to get married, Daddy and I will love and support you.
Theo: But what if you want to marry someone, and they don't want to marry you?
Me: Then you don't marry that person.
Theo: Is it okay if you don't get married?
Me: Of course! You don't have to get married to anyone, but if you want to get married, it can be to a girl or a boy. You'll understand more when you're older.
Theo: Well, I'm just going to marry Ella, Mom. And I know she's going to want to marry me, too.

Of course. Because who wouldn't? :-)