The Island’s sharply divided debate over same-sex marriage has prompted a 15-year-old CedarBridge Academy student to step forward as “a voice for others”.

“The way our society is now, people who are gay or bisexual have been silent,” said Debre Evans, an S2 student. “I will not be silent, because everyone deserves equal rights.”

The debate over unions for same-sex couples widened in September with the launch by the Bermuda Government of town hall meetings to solicit views. Debre was moved to speak her feelings one morning on the way to school, after hearing opponents calling in on the radio for the partnerships to remain illegal.

“It upset me,” she told The Royal Gazette, saying she and her little brother Kauai Evans had been “raised to accept everyone, no matter how different they may be”.

For her mother Kimale Evans, the attitude is something of a family tradition: her mother Diane Trott was “always very open with me and my siblings”.

“I was in an environment where there were gay people, and I had questions,” Ms Evans said. “My mom always explained, and this is how I talk openly with my children. I find the easiest way to break it down.

“My ten-year-old said ‘It’s not for me, but I don’t really care’. For me, everybody deserves the same respect regardless of nationality or race. It does not matter.”

Debre said the acceptance of same-sex marriage could save lives: “A lot of children get depressed, or even commit suicide due to being different, because that’s what people tell them.”

A boy in school had said that if his own son were gay, “he would kill him”, she recalled.

“I think that if someone is gay, you can’t make them like someone else. Why can’t we balance between gay and straight people?”

After she put her views on paper, Debre said, her English teacher recommended sharing it with the newspaper, as well as “asking me if I had thought about becoming a politician”.

Writing that she found society “so messed up, just thinking about it gives me a massive headache”, Debre wrote: “We constantly go on about how whites and blacks should have equal rights, but why can’t the gay and straight people have equal rights also?”

Her essay continued: “The concept of diversity encompasses acceptance and respect” and added: “Love is still love, no matter what.”

Asked if she believed today’s young people were fundamentally different from those of her own youth, Ms Evans agreed: “They are exposed to a lot. Some have the benefit of parents that explain, and some want to shelter them ... once they get out in the big world, they’re in shell shock. It’s definitely changed.”

Debre’s essay discusses the legal hurdles that same-sex couples face where their partnerships are not recognised, such as hospital visitation rights, joint tax returns, welfare benefits for spouses and estate inheritance.

The essay closes: “Evolution will always continue and at any given point in time, something will occur that we will not like in this world, but we can overcome this. Gay marriage is a controversial issue that people have been fighting for years and it has finally come to the surface. We should take charge of it. Wake up everyone, it’s 2015! Accept people for being different, it’s what makes us different that makes us unique and being unique isn’t boring, it makes life exciting.

“I’m going to leave you with this question: what if it was the other way around — would you want them to fight for you?”

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