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Faced with an anti-gay teacher, a student makes an incredibly detailed case for equality.

Lots of high school students have a bit of a rebellious streak in them, but most don't show it in the form of incredibly thorough research papers.

That's exactly what one junior at a Missouri Catholic high school claims to have done in a recent post on Reddit. According to the original poster, who goes by the name "averagesmurf," the assignment was to write a paper tackling a "moral dilemma" between the church's teachings and modern life. In his case, he was tasked with writing about same-sex marriage.

Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images.


According to another post of his, the teacher who assigned the paper is pretty virulently anti-gay, making unfounded arguments about gay relationships being unhealthy, saying that "kids need a mom and a dad," and suggesting that gay men are predisposed to be pedophiles.

So instead of writing a paper that agreed with the church's view on the issue, the student turned it in an awesomely full-throated defense of equality for all.

The paper, titled "Gay Marriage Is Fabulous," weighs in at 127 pages and is a straight-up cool passion project.

Citing books, blogs, and sources of all sorts, the author makes a strong case pushing back on anti-LGBTQ teachings in the church. But it gets even better once you learn a bit more about why the author felt it was so important to write.

You see, the concluding paragraph in the paper is a very personal paragraph, one that stands out above all.

The author needs you, the reader, to know that he is bisexual. And he needs you, the reader, to know that his sexual orientation does not make him a mistake. In the spirit of the assignment, he even cites the Bible as proof:

"God created you, and he made no mistakes, God created me bisexual, and he made no mistakes, and he creates some people gay, and makes no mistakes: 'For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected' (1 Tim. 4.4-5). Marriage is not between man and woman, marriage is between love and love. Love is not wrong, love is not a mistake, love is not an abomination, love is just love."

Four months ago, the author of the paper shared an emotional post on Reddit that gives some insight into why he refused to write the paper the way his teacher assigned it.

In that post, he wrote about coming to terms with his own bisexuality in the face of forces like school, religion, and a potentially unaccepting family.

"I'm starting to really get why people hate when other people say, 'it's a choice.' Of course it's not a choice, no one would choose to be hated or condemned by friends and family, they just want to be happy. I'm so glad I've found these friends, because I know they accept me for who I am and that no matter what they'll always love me, they're one-of-a-kind, and I love them."

The note is so relatable for anyone who's ever come out as LGBTQ or needed a bit of help from friends and loved ones. You can almost feel the odd mix of anxiety, relief, joy, and sadness in the words themselves.

This 127-page paper is so much more than a rebellious troll against a teacher who refuses to accept him for who he is.

It's a powerful statement of truth and a defense of who the author is as a person.

It is, as the title of the paper says, fabulous. Check out the full paper here.

The gaze of the approving Boomer.

Over the past few years, Baby Boomers (1946 to 1964) have been getting a lot of grief from the generations that came after them, Gen X (1965 to 1980), Millenials (1981 to 1996), and now, Gen Z (1997 to 2012). Their grievances include environmental destruction, wealth hoarding, political polarization, and being judgemental when they don’t understand how hard it is for younger people to make it in America these days.

Every Baby Boomer is different, so it's wrong to paint them all with a broad brush. But it’s undeniable that each generation shares common values, and some are bound to come into conflict.

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Lots of people give plenty of advice to help you cope in the early days but after the baby arrives, the focus shifts to solely the baby. It's obviously not a deliberate shift. Babies are just more shiny and new that the parents. But not everyone forgets about the parents once baby makes their grand entrance–some go out of their way to make sure the parents feel supported.

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Identity

Formerly enslaved man's response to his 'master' wanting him back is a literary masterpiece

"I would rather stay here and starve — and die, if it come to that — than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters."

A photo of Jordan Anderson.

In 1825, at the approximate age of 8, Jordan Anderson (sometimes spelled "Jordon") was sold into slavery and would live as a servant of the Anderson family for 39 years. In 1864, the Union Army camped out on the Anderson plantation and he and his wife, Amanda, were liberated. The couple eventually made it safely to Dayton, Ohio, where, in July 1865, Jordan received a letter from his former owner, Colonel P.H. Anderson. The letter kindly asked Jordan to return to work on the plantation because it had fallen into disarray during the war.

On Aug. 7, 1865, Jordan dictated his response through his new boss, Valentine Winters, and it was published in the Cincinnati Commercial. The letter, entitled "Letter from a Freedman to His Old Master," was not only hilarious, but it showed compassion, defiance, and dignity. That year, the letter would be republished in theNew York Daily Tribune and Lydia Marie Child's "The Freedman's Book."

The letter mentions a "Miss Mary" (Col. Anderson's Wife), "Martha" (Col. Anderson's daughter), Henry (most likely Col. Anderson's son), and George Carter (a local carpenter).

Dayton, Ohio,
August 7, 1865
To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee

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