This speech by 19-year-old Zach Wahls, a student at the University of Iowa, is one of the most eloquent and passionate statements against anti-gay legislation I’ve heard in a long time.
Wahls, who was raised by two women, spoke at an Iowa House of Representatives public forum on House Joint Resolution 6, which would end civil unions in the state.
Here’s an excerpt:
Our family isn’t so different from any other Iowa family. When I’m home we go to church together, we eat dinner together, we go on vacations. But we have our hard times too. We get in fights. Actually my mom Terry was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2000. It’s a devastating disease that put her in a wheelchair. We’ve had our struggles.
But you know, we’re Iowans. We don’t expect anyone to solve our problems for us. We’ll fight our own battles. We just hope for equal and fair treatment from our government.
Here’s a TV interview we just did with Zach Wahls where he talks about what it was like growing up with two mothers, what led him to decide to go and speak before the House of Representatives, how his life has changed after being thrust into the public eye, and what other young people can do to fight for equality and speak out against intolerance.
http://patv.tv/blog/2011/04/06/talking-with-yale-cohn-with-zach-wahls/
Why does this Iowan sound as if he belongs in a bowling alley-slash-pizza joint in Hoboken?
The body English, the gestures, even the cut of his costume… He seems as far away from a cornfield as one can get. Are we being pranked?
The thing I am most curious about is him becoming an Eagle Scout—I was pushed out of the Scouts because I was an atheist—they discriminate on religious grounds, & obvious on the basis of gender, but they are also huge bigots when it comes to gay people. I am guessing that a friendly Troop helped, but I would have a hard time belonging to an organization so vocal in condemning my parents. Well, not MY parents, I’m not close with them, but you know what I mean.