Jimmy Kimmel: Are Kids ‘Sophisticated Enough’ to Understand Gay Marriage?
Can kids explain gay marriage? Late night host Jimmy Kimmel set to find that out-- with a generous laugh track included.
For Jimmy Kimmel Live June 29, the host began by stating the difficulty parents faced in explaining what gay marriage is to their kids. “One of the common arguments you hear is ‘How do I explain this to my kids?’” he stated. “And it’s a good question. At the very least, it’s a fair question. You wonder if children are sophisticated enough to wrap their head around something like this.”
To find out what kids knew, Kimmel’s agents hit the streets to get clips of “kids shar[ing] their thoughts on same-sex marriage.”
For the first question, the Kimmel show asked a little girl, “Could you tell me what gay marriage is?” “Um, it’s when two men and two women get married,” she responded.
The show pressed one little boy, “Why would anyone want to get married?” He answered, “Because they love each other and just feel a connection really.”
Another, longer, conversation with a little girl went like this:
KIMMEL SHOW: Do you know what marriage is?
GIRL: Yes.
KIMMEL: What is it?
GIRL: It's when a husband and wife get married.
KIMMEL: So what do you think gay marriage is?
GIRL: When a boy and a boy get married and a girl and a girl get married.
KIMMEL: Ah, you’re right. Do you think that's very hard to understand?
GIRL: For some kids.
KIMMEL: But not for you?
GIRL: No, not really.
“Do you think anybody should be able to get married if they want to?” they prompted another boy.
“Yes,” he explained, “because if they want to they should be able to.”
Kimmel acknowledged that not everyone supported the recent Supreme Court ruling. “Some people just don’t like it, they don’t believe in it, they don’t think it’s right,” he stated. Yet he didn’t find room in the segment to include kids who expressed that opinion.
— Katie Yoder is Staff Writer, Joe and Betty Anderlik Fellow in Culture and Media at the Media Research Center. Follow Katie Yoder on Twitter.
