September 7, 2012
Zach Wahl's Defends Marriage Equality at DNC
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 2 MIN.
The Eagle Scout who became famous after a YouTube video went viral, which showed him passionately defending marriage equality before the Iowa legislature, spoke Thursday at the Democratic National Convention, the Daily Iowan reported.
Zach Wahls, who was raised by two mothers, spoke at the DNC and once again defended marriage equality and why voters should re-elect President Barack Obama.
"Governor Romney says he's against same-sex marriage because every child deserves a mother and a father," Wahls said. "I think every child deserves a family as loving and committed as mine. Because the sense of family comes from the commitment we make to each other to work through the hard times so we can enjoy the good ones. It comes from the love that binds us; that's what makes a family. Mr. Romney, my family is just as real as yours."
Wahls, a former University of Iowa student, plans to go back to school next spring but has become a LGBT rights advocate, the newspaper notes. He rose to stardom in January 2011 when his speech to the Iowa House Judiciary Committee about gay marriage spread across the net. He then made headlines once again in June 2012 after the student delivered a petition with 275,000 signatures to the Boy Scouts of America that demanded the organization change its anti-gay policy.
Gay activists have applauded the student's support for the LGBT community.
"Zach Wahls is an important advocate for LGBT equality," Molly Tafoya, the communication director for One Iowa, a gay rights group, told the Daily Iowan. "He's able to communicate with people on a very emotional level. I think that his presence at the convention is going to reach a wide audience. He'll be able to share his story of equality and what it means to his family."
When Wahls talked to the publication he defended nontraditional families.
"I think what we've seen from the other side of this issue, is an attempt to paint families like mine as weird or deficient, and my message is that, that's simply not true," he said. "I think there are a lot of folks out there who try to say that the most important thing for the child is whether or not they have one parent with an X and a Y chromosome and another parent with two X chromosomes."
Watch the video of Wahls speaking at the DNC below:
