A key tradition in the celebration of a Bar or Bat Mitzvah is a speech reflecting on the Torah portion during the ceremony. Thirteen-year-old Oregon resident Duncan McAlpine Sennett used his speech to reflect upon how his portion about Jacob’s wedding shows how traditional marriage has evolved since the days of the Bible.

“Jacob married two sisters who were his first cousins,” he noted.

Duncan explained that his passion for marriage equality was sparked by his family friends, who have been married in three states and saw their union struck down by Proposition 8 in California.

The video was posted on the YouTube channel of Congregation Beth Israel, a reform synagogue in Eugene, Oregon that Duncan said is 100 percent for all people having the freedom to marry. A proposition granting all state residents that right will likely be on Oregon’s ballot in November of 2014

“The definition of traditional marriage has changed a lot since the days of the Torah,” he reasoned, “so why can’t it change just a little bit more so everybody can marry who they love?”