We, the youth of America, might seem to be a generation more concerned with texting and parties than anything happening in the world. However apathetic Generation Y may be, we have an amazing political weapon that is only now beginning to show: that of our inborn tolerance.

We grew up in an age where Martin Luther King Jr. is honored annually as a national hero. We cannot, because of the racial understanding that pervades society today much more than it did several decades ago, fully comprehend the magnitude of President Obama’s election as deeply as those who grew up during the Civil Rights Movement. A large part of my generation has been conditioned, rightfully so, to understand that race has little to do with the measure of a person, and that anything to the contrary is wrong.

This trend will doubtlessly continue as we age, with race playing a smaller and smaller role in elections and other aspects of our nation and government. Toleration and understanding have come with liberation from narrow beliefs, and only continue to diversify and strengthen the United States today.

Enter Referendum 71.

R-71, introduced a few months ago, aims to strike out part of Senate Bill 5688 that gives civil rights to state-registered, same-sex domestic partnerships without the relationship being called a marriage. The referendum cuts deeper than California’s Proposition 8, as it removes basic rights instead of merely the marriage title.

I lack the space to properly address my position, but I can try: R-71 is an attempt by one group, either uncomfortable with the idea of homosexuality or out of religious compulsion, to impose their beliefs on others. There is no good social, moral or, most importantly, constitutional reason to remove gay rights.

Here’s where generation Y comes in. Thankfully, a majority of my peers feel the same way I do — even if they don’t agree with gay marriage, they at least believe in fairness and equality in the realm of civil rights. We have gay friends, have watched the gay character on TV or in the movies, and find ourselves extremely accepting of homosexuality.

Once this trend carries through into the voting age, results will show. The gay-rights movement has gained momentum over time, with support more than double what it was 30 years ago. R-71 is a last-ditch effort to hold back a tide of tolerance, ultimately brought by my generation. Within the next few decades, homosexuality will become accepted as another part of life as tolerance prevails, just as race and gender have before it.

That is, I assert, a true power of youth today.

Nick Defiesta is an Inglemoor High student.